======================================================================== WRITINGS OF F B MEYER - VOLUME 1 by F.B. Meyer ======================================================================== A collection of theological writings, sermons, and essays by F.B. Meyer (Volume 1), compiled for study and devotional reading. Chapters: 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 00.00. Meyer, F. B. - Library 2. 01.00. A Good Start 3. 01.000. Preface 4. 01.01. Chapter 01: A GOOD START. 5. 01.02. Chapter 02: Tempers, and What to do With Them 6. 01.03. Chapter 03: Exaggeration 7. 01.04. Chapter 04: On Falling in Love 8. 01.05. Chapter 05: On Being Straight 9. 01.06. Chapter 06: On Doing a Good Day's Work 10. 01.07. Chapter 07: Savorless Salt 11. 01.08. Chapter 08: Our Holidays 12. 01.09. Chapter 09: How to Spend Sunday 13. 01.10. Chapter 10: Amusements 14. 01.11. Chapter 11: Use of the Senses 15. 01.12. Chapter 12: Christmas 16. 02.00. Abraham, or the Obedience of Faith 17. 02.00c. Content 18. 02.00p. PREFACE 19. 02.01. Chapter 1, The Hole of the Pit 20. 02.02. Chapter 2, The Divine Summons 21. 02.03. Chapter 3, He Obeyed 22. 02.04. Chapter 4, The First of the Pilgrim Fathers 23. 02.05. Chapter 5, Gone Down Into Egypt 24. 02.06. Chapter 6, Separated from Lot 25. 02.07. Chapter 7, The Two Paths 26. 02.08. Chapter 8, Refreshment Between the Two Battles 27. 02.09. Chapter 9, Melchizedec 28. 02.10. Chapter 10, The Firmness of Abraham's Faith 29. 02.11. Chapter 11, Watching With God 30. 02.12. Chapter 12, Hagar, the Slave Girl 31. 02.13. Chapter 13, Be Thou Perfect 32. 02.14. Chapter 14, The Sign of the Covenant 33. 02.15. Chapter 15, The Divine Guest 34. 02.16. Chapter 16, Pleading for Sodom 35. 02.17. Chapter 17, Angel Work in a Bad Town 36. 02.18. Chapter 18, A Bit of the Old Nature 37. 02.19. Chapter 19, Hagar and Ishmael Cast Out 38. 02.20. Chapter 20, A Quiet Resting Place 39. 02.21. Chapter 21, The Greatest Trial of All 40. 02.22. Chapter 22, Machpelah, and It's First Tenant 41. 02.23. Chapter 23, The Soul's Answer to the Divine Summ 42. 02.24. Chapter 24, Gathered to His People 43. 03.00. Back to Bethel 44. 03.01. Arise, Go Up To Bethel 45. 03.02. The Song of the Lord Began 46. 03.03. Holiness Unto the Lord 47. 03.04. The Trinity of Temptation 48. 03.05. The Rule of Our Thoughts 49. 03.06. The Strong Man Armed 50. 03.07. God's Rubbish Heap 51. 03.08. The Holy Spirit in this Dispensation 52. 03.09. The Grain of Mustard Seed 53. 03.10. Life, A Poem 54. 04.00. Bible Readings on the Psams 55. 04.01. Chapter 1 56. 04.02. Chapter 2 57. 04.02. Chapter 2 - The Bending of the Twig 58. 04.03. Chapter 3 59. 04.04. Chapter 4 60. 04.05. Chapter 5 61. 04.06. Chapter 6 62. 04.07. Chapter 7 63. 04.08. Chapter 8 64. 04.09. Chapter 9 65. 04.10. Chapter 10 66. 04.11. Chapter 11 67. 04.12. Chapter 12 68. 04.13. Chapter 13 69. 04.14. Chapter 14 70. 04.15. Chapter 15 71. 04.16. Chapter 16 72. 05.00. Blessed Are Ye - Talks on the Beatitudes 73. 05.01. "Blessed Are Ye" 74. 05.02. The Key to the Kingdom 75. 05.03. The Secret of Comfort 76. 05.04. The Heritage of the Earth 77. 05.05. Hungry-Thirsty-Filled 78. 05.06. It Goeth Forth and Returneth 79. 05.07. The Beatific Vision 80. 05.08. Swords Into Pruning-Hooks 81. 05.09. Martyrs and Prophets 82. 05.10. Through the Gates 83. 06.00.0. Calvary to Pentecost 84. 06.00.1. Preface 85. 06.00.2. Contents 86. 06.01. The Wondrous Cross 87. 06.02. The Resurrection 88. 06.03. Ascension Day 89. 06.04. Christ In You the Hope 90. 06.05. Spiritual Environment 91. 06.06. The Exorcism of Self 92. 06.07. Agonizing to Perfection 93. 06.08. The Peace That Guards 94. 06.09. The Art of Sitting Still 95. 06.10. The Supreme Gift of the Ascension 96. 07.00. Cheer for Life's Pilgrimage 97. 07.01. Statutes and Songs 98. 07.02. The Night is Far Spent, the Day is at Hand 99. 07.03. It is the Lord 100. 07.04. Our Gentle Schoolmistress ======================================================================== CHAPTER 1: 00.00. MEYER, F. B. - LIBRARY ======================================================================== This is a single resource for an individual author. Any resources that begin with the letter “S” are a single chapter work. Files will be updated as additional resources are added. Meyer, F. B. - Library Meyer, F. B. - A Good Start Meyer, F. B. - Abraham, or the Obedience of Faith Meyer, F. B. - Back to Bethel Meyer, F. B. - Bible Readings on the Psalms Meyer, F. B. - Blessed Are Ye - Talks on the Beatitudes Meyer, F. B. - Calvary to Pentecost Meyer, F. B. - Cheer for Life’s Pilgrimage Meyer, F. B. - Christ In Isaiah Meyer, F. B. - Christian Living Meyer, F. B. - David, Shephard, Psalmist, King Meyer, F. B. - Devotional Commentary of Ephesians Meyer, F. B. - Elijah and the Secret of His Power Meyer, F. B. - Expository Preaching - Plans and Methods Meyer, F. B. - F.B. Meyer, Preacher, Teacher, Man of God Meyer, F. B. - Israel A Prince with God Meyer, F. B. - John the Baptist Meyer, F. B. - Joshua and the Land of Promise Meyer, F. B. - Jottings and Hints for Lay Preachers Meyer, F. B. - Life and the Way Through Meyer, F. B. - Light on Life’s Duties Meyer, F. B. - Love to the Uttermost (John 13-21) Meyer, F. B. - Meet for the Master’s Use Meyer, F. B. - Paul A Servant of Jesus Christ Meyer, F. B. - Peter - Fisherman Apostle Disciple Meyer, F. B. - Prayers for Heart and Home Meyer, F. B. - Samuel the Prophet Meyer, F. B. - Saved and Kept Meyer, F. B. - Shepherd Psalm Meyer, F. B. - Steps to the Blessed Life Meyer, F. B. - Take Heart Again Meyer, F. B. - The Bell of IS Meyer, F. B. - The Exalted Christ Meyer, F. B. - The Glorious Lord Meyer, F. B. - The Gospel of John - The Life and Light of Men, Love to the Uttermost Meyer, F. B. - The Gospel of the King Meyer, F. B. - The Prophet of Hope (Studies in Zechariah) Meyer, F. B. - The Secret of Guidance Meyer, F. B. - The Soul’s Ascent Meyer, F. B. - The Soul’s Wrestle with Doubt Meyer, F. B. - The Way into Holiness Meyer, F. B. - Tried By Fire - Expositions of 1Peter S. A CASTAWAY S. CHRIST THE COMPLEMENT OF OUR NEED S. DELIVERANCE FROM THE POWER OF SIN S. GOD’S TWO MEN S. HEART REST S. Life Without Miracles S. MARRED: SO HE MADE IT AGAIN S. Seven Reasons for Believer’s Baptism S. Taking Things Patiently S. THE ANOINTING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. S. The Blessed Life S. THE INFILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT S. THE NATURAL MAN S. The Prayer of Intercession S. THE SUBSTITUTION OF THE CHRIST-LIFE FOR THE SELF-LIFE. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 2: 01.00. A GOOD START ======================================================================== A Good Start by F.B. Meyer Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: A Good Start Chapter 2: Tempers, and What to do with Them Chapter 3: Exaggeration Chapter 4: On Falling in Love Chapter 5: On Being Straight Chapter 6: On Doing a Good Day’s Work Chapter 7: Savorless Salt Chapter 8: Our Holidays Chapter 9: How to Spend Sunday Chapter 10: Amusements Chapter 11: The Use of Our Senses Chapter 12: Christmas ======================================================================== CHAPTER 3: 01.000. PREFACE ======================================================================== Preface THE chapters in this little book might be called "Work-a-day Sermons." They are intended to bring the highest principles of our holy religion to bear on the practical business of every-day life. Probably all our sermons should have more of this element in them. The Epistles of the New Testament are admirable specimens of the blending of the doctrinal and practical. We are shown how to apply the loftiest principles to the solution Of every-day problems. People are not apt to do this for themselves, arid like to be shown how to eat and drink, and do all they have to do, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and to the glory of God. This is what these chapters aim to do. They are a piece of undressed cloth--homespun. One of our greatest modern teachers tells us "to hitch our wagon to a star." And the great purpose of this book will have been amply realized if the readers shall learn the art of linking the simplest actions of life with those eternal truths that burn evermore, as constellations in the firmament. F. B. MEYER. August, 1897. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 4: 01.01. CHAPTER 01: A GOOD START. ======================================================================== Chapter 01: A GOOD START. A NEW YEAR is opening before us, and there is some satisfaction in feeling that an opportunity will be afforded of making a really new start. Each true heart in which there is a spark of the Divine life turns eagerly towards the unblemished page, the untrodden way, of the New Year, not with wonder simply, or with hope, but with fervent resolve that the dead past shall bury its dead, and that a nobler, fuller,’ sweeter spirit shall glisten in the chalice of existence, Years ago, in Leicester, I was accustomed to go into the great workshops and factories with my pledge-cards on the first day of the New Year, because it was comparatively easy to induce men to make a new start with the New Year. It was in the air. But it is of little purpose merely to wish and resolve; let us see whether there should not be a definite dealing with mistakes and sins which have lain at the root of the withered gourds that represent the years of the past. If once we could make a new departure in respect to these, there would be some reason for counting on a permanent betterment for all coming time. Debt is a fruitful source of misery and failure. You may owe more than you may care to tell your dearest friend; you dare not pass along certain thoroughfares for fear of encountering individuals whom you have put off with repeated promises that you have not kept; and you hardly dare to open your letters in the morning lest they should contain some stinging remonstrance or threat. Your weekly or monthly wages are pledged before you receive them, and are gone like a flake of snow on the river. All this is very miserable, and must be dealt with. Do not, however, lose heart. Worse troubles than this have been overcome by faith, resolution, and an earnest, sincere purpose. Take my advice. First, kneel down and confess the sin and mistake of the past to God, and ask his help. Next, put down a list of your entire indebtedness, and make a confidant of wife, or husband, or parent, or friend, not necessarily to gain their pecuniary assistance, but that you may have their sympathy and fellowship. Further, look around your life to see if there is any means of reducing present expenses, or of selling articles of superfluity and luxury in order to reduce your indebtedness. Lastly, make a solemn resolution not to incur a single sixpence of needless expense till every penny you owe is paid. Let this be your new start, and henceforth let it be your rule, to make no purchase and incur no liability which is not easily within your means; Evil and expensive habits drain away the strength of our lives and becloud the inner horizon. Is it not with the individual as with the state? Supposing it were possible to stay the extravagant expenditure of our people in Drink, Tobacco, and Horse-racing, would not squalor, want, and misery, and all their gaunt tribes, which have settled down on our vast populations as a horde of Kurds, fold up their tents, and begone? And, on a small scale, are not similar evils repeating similar ravages on isolated souls, perhaps on yours? Would it not be an immense gain in every way, if you were to give up your Drink and Tobacco, and employ the money and time which these consume in procuring books, pursuing some hobby, planning for a good summer vacation, or engaging in wholesome and health-giving recreations? In our school days, when running in matches, we used to begin fairly well clothed; but as we ran, and found ourselves slowly losing ground, we tore off one article after another in our anxiety to reach the goal; and the course was littered with ties, collars, and other articles. Similarly, in the great race of life, the flight of the years should be marked by the weights and sins that we have laid aside. Each new year would be enriched by the needless extravagances we had learned to forego. We should run lighter, breast the stormy waves with less encumbrance, and stand a better chance of getting beyond the rabble that clamor at the mountain-foot, to stand among the rarer spirits on the higher ranges. May I not prevail on you to make some such sacrifice with the opening of the New Year? It would be a new start indeed! Bad companions have made havoc with the past. Women who are perpetually dropping in to gossip; neighbors whose ways of spending Sunday have introduced a new laxity into your family; men who talk lightly of God, and women, and the Ten Commandments. Most insidiously they have been eating away and deteriorating your nobler life, like the percolation of water into the cliffs, which ultimately splinters their strong sides. The time must come, if you are to save yourself, when such parasites must be dropped off. There is no alternative to save yourself from going farther with them, than to rid yourself of their society. It may seem hard, but it is as imperative and urgent as cauterizing a bite from a mad dog. With bad companions dismiss bad books, that leave a rotten taste, that disincline you to quiet holy thought, that poison the springs of love and home. And to the renunciation of these add all conversation, pastimes, and places of amusement which shrivel the soul, as gas does the plants that wither beneath its blighting touch. This would be a new start indeed! Laxity in your religious life has, without doubt, had something to do with past failure. As long as the bright summer sun shines into the forest glades, the fungus has no chance to flourish; but when the sunshine wanes, in the months of autumn, the woods are filled with these strange products of decay. It is because we drift from God that our lives are the prey to numberless and nameless ills. Make the best of M1 new starts, and returning to the more earnest habits of earlier days, or beginning them from now, give yourself to God, believing that he will receive and welcome you, without a word of remonstrance or a moment of interval. Form habits of morning and evening prayer; especially in the morning get time for deep communion with God, waiting at his footstool, or in the perusal of the Bible, till he speaks to you. Take up again your habits of attendance at the house of God; in the morning and the evening go with the multitude that, with the voice of praise, keeps holy day; and in the afternoon find some niche Of Christian service, in your home or elsewhere. Then, inasmuch as you do not wish to be a slip-carriage, which, when the couplings are unfastened, runs for a little behind the express, but gets slower and slower till it comes to a stand, ask the grace of the Holy Spirit to confirm these holy desires, keeping you true to them, causing you to be steadfast, immovable, and set on maintaining life on a higher level. In all these ways let the new year witness a fresh start. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 5: 01.02. CHAPTER 02: TEMPERS, AND WHAT TO DO WITH THEM ======================================================================== Chapter 02: Tempers, and What to do With Them WHAT a shadow is cast over lives and homes by bad tempers! It is Sunday morning, God’s day of rest and peace, when the worry and rush of the world should be quiet, and the voices of newspaper boys and hawkers of small wares should be still. A family of little children is waiting to be sweetened and blessed by God, mother, and father. But the mother has become put out over something; she speaks peevishly and crossly, her husband hardly dares put in a word, and the children are scared and talk to one another in whispers. Though there is everything in the pretty home to entrap the sunbeams that play without, a shadow lies over all and mars the day. Or it is church-time, and the family is late; the husband and father is waiting, ready dressed, for the house of God, but mother or children are unready, and he calls for them, each time in more irritable tones; and when at last they appear, "Late again," "Always your way," "I am tired and out of patience with you," bring some sharp retort, and the rest of the walk to the sanctuary is either spent in silence, or the parents confine their observations to whichever child they happen to be walking with. What good will the service have after such an introduction? How often has a happy day’s excursion been spoiled in the same way! It has been the topic of conversation for weeks. The wife has been hurrying all her work to be ready. Such preparations in dress for herself and the children, such cooking of savory tartlets and cutting of sandwiches. The husband has got off for the day with no little planning. Sunshine augurs a happy excursion. But somehow things don’t go right. Perhaps the husband is unreasonable and thoughtless, or gives the wife reason to think that he doesn’t appreciate her careful provision; or, perhaps, she is over-tired and nervous, and misinterprets a remark meant quite innocently; but one crosses the other, and the ill-natured word, the sour look, the sulking manner, somehow make the whole party miserable--worse than a shower of rain would. It is impossible to name all the various sorts of ill-temper which vex and curse humanity. The hot temper, which flashes out with the least provocation. The sullen temper, which is a great deal worse to deal with, because it takes so long to come round. The jealous temper, which, in trying to keep all for itself, loses all. The suspicious temper, which is always imputing the worst motives. The malicious temper, which loves to instil the drop of poison, or make the almost imperceptible stab with its stiletto. Ingenuity has sought to discover analogies to these and other forms of bad temper among the lower orders of the animal creation. This is mulish, and that bearish (with the additional allusion, in this case, to the misfortune of a sore head), and the other is viperish. These comparisons are a little hard on our humble friends and companions in this great Noah’s ark. Could they speak, they might say that our sin has introduced the jar and discord into their lives that might otherwise have been peaceful and blessed. People who have a temper are much to be pitied. They know when it is coming on, or has come, and wish they hadn’t yielded, and hate themselves for being disagreeable; yet cannot shake themselves loose from the evil thing that has sprung on them as the jaguar on the antelope, or the ague on the traveller in the tropics. They are disposed, however, to fancy that they cannot help themselves. They have inherited it, as they did the color of their hair, or the shape of their nose. Their mother had it before them, and her father before her. If you want them, you must take them as they are or leave them; and then it is, after all, better to be as they are than like some whom they could name. "I grant you I have a hot temper, but then it soon burns itself out, and I am awfully sorry; and as every one must have something, I would rather have this than be unforgiving, or revengeful, or stupid." so I have heard people excuse themselves. Now there is some truth, no doubt, in this talk about heredity. For good or ill, past generations have left their mark upon us; and parents, especially mothers, cannot too deeply ponder it in their hearts. What they are their children will become; and if there is a strong taint in the blood, an evil tendency in any special direction, there is the more reason why the mother should set herself resolutely to resist it, and replace it by the opposite. There is no doubt that this can be done. It has been done in thousands of instances, and may be done again. It is impossible to estimate the value of good and sunny temper, which goes through life with a song; looking always on the bright side of things, and yielding to the blows of trial and disappointment with an unfailing grace. It is often associated with a sound constitution and abounding health, and there is undoubtedly a close connection between the two, but it is not dependent on these; for, as the great Dr. Arnold testified of his sister, who was for years a confirmed invalid, but whose chamber was the sunniest room in the house, so suffering and pain have often only set forth to greater advantage the well-spring of sweetness and good-nature which has poured forth like strains of sweet music amid the clatter of a dusty, noisy thoroughfare. But how may those afflicted with ill-temper be delivered? The Apostle says, "Laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil-speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:1-2). That laying aside is a remarkable expression, for it means that the thing may be done by one sudden, definite act. We are not to wait till these evil things die down in our hearts, but are to make up our minds, once and forever, to lay them aside; as a beggar his rags when new clothes are offered him. It is a definite act of the will. Will you make it now? Will you say, "From this moment I choose to be free of these things, and I deliberately put them off"? But you fear that this will not help you, you have so often made good resolutions before and broken them. Then take one further step. Trust Christ to keep you. Look up to him and say, "Lord, I have often tried to keep my. temper and failed, but from henceforth I entrust its keeping with thee." Expect him to undertake the charge. Every morning look up into his face .and say, " I am still trusting thee to be between me and my evil past, and to fill me with thy own sweetness, gentleness, and patience." In moments of provocation dare to trust him still, and to hold to the compact by which your helplessness and evil claim everything from his all-sufficiency. Live thus, and you will become known for the very opposite temper to that which has so often caused you poignant regret. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 6: 01.03. CHAPTER 03: EXAGGERATION ======================================================================== Chapter 03: Exaggeration BENEATH all exaggeration there is a basis of truth. When an American said that the whey which flowed from the making of a large cheese in his country was sufficient to run three sawmills; and when another affirmed that the soil of his farm was so prolific that the tendrils of the vine which he had just sown caught him up and entwined around his legs before he could get over the fence, there was no doubt some truth at the basis of their statements, though only as a drop of homeopathic medicine in a tumblerful of water. And it is this small residuum of truth that veils to the eyes of really good people the evil of this habit. There is no doubt that, in the last analysis, exaggeration must be classed under the head of lying and falsehood. Those that exaggerate are excommunicate from the Temple of Truth. I heard Mr. Moody say the other day that a lady had come to him, asking how she might be delivered from the habit of exaggeration, to which she was very prone. "Call it lying, madam," was the uncompromising answer, " and deal with it as you would with any other temptation of the devil." A Greater has said, "Let your speech be Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one." We exaggerate in our narrations. When a little lad, I had been listening with amazement to the description, given by a lady, of some recent experiences, when my grandfather whispered to me slyly, "All her geese are swans." The words have often come back to me. When mothers describe the excellences of their children, their wit, precocity, and beauty; when travellers narrate their hairbreadth escapes, their marvellous experiences by land or water, all of which end so neatly as to resemble the often polished deal; when ministers give themselves up to tell the story of the crowds they address, the magnitude of their church operations, or the deftness with which they have managed to get their own way,- one is inclined to think that, under the idealizing effect of a strong imagination, geese have become swans. It seems almost impossible for some people to tell an unvarnished tale. The actual is not wonderful enough. They must gild the common sunlight, and paint the familiar petals of the flowers. They think that effect can be produced only by daubing their canvas with great masses of gaudy color. They forget that the quiet shining of the stars is more healthy and beneficent than the grandest display of fireworks that ever poured in cascades, flashed in wheels, or filled the sky with ten thousand vanishing fairy lights. For my part, I prefer the earlier paintings of Turner to the later, and the stories of George Eliot to those of Disraeli or Bulwer-Lytton; and I think that most ordinary people would concur in the judgment. We exaggerate in our choice of words. It is too terrible to hear the young ladies of the period discussing a panorama of Alps, a sunset at sea, a vision like that of Fountains or Clairvaulx under the soft light of the moon. "Awful," "killing," "awfully jolly," "too, too, don’t-yer-know," are quite the most refined and moderate that I need cite here; one has no desire to put more of this base coin into circulation. This pernicious habit arises in part from ignorance of the derivation, meaning, and value of words, but particularly from the desire to be conspicuous among the little group around them. Many people mistake bigness for greatness, bulk for value. They resemble the Chinamen in New York, who buy the largest boots procurable for their money, under the impression that in this way they can best obtain their money’s worth. It is a cheap and easy manoeuvre to hide the paucity of your ideas beneath the vehemence and loudness of your speech. This accounts for a good deal of loudness in voice and extravagance in phrase. We also exaggerate in our religious phraseology. In certain prayers we are wont to hear, there is gross exaggeration in the confessions of sin. If all that some men say of themselves in prayer be true, they certainly deserve to be put out of the church, or be interviewed by their ministers. But if you were to take them at their word, and refuse to allow your families to associate with theirs, or withdraw your custom from their stores, on the ground of their confessions of depravity, they would be very much surprised. Many a man would threaten to knock you down if you applied to him the epithets he applies to himself. So with expressions of love and devotion to the Saviour. We often hear him addressed in prayer in the most familiar and luscious terms. The tenderest, loveliest names are addressed to him. Of course, where these are flowers gathered from the garden of a holy soul, they are fragrant and delightful, awakening the dull sense, and quickening the flagging zeal of all who hear; but where they are far in advance of the evident personal experience, and are contradicted by the behavior of the utterer, as he forces his way into the tram-car from the drenching shower in which the meeting closes,-you feel that there is an air of unreality and extravagance in the whole thing, which must have a terrible effect on him, while it reacts on others like the heavy air that has fanned acres of poppies. Exaggeration infects all our life. The bride exaggerates the number and value of her presents. The tradesman’s advertisements announce that he has 10,000 bedsteads on view, when he has only 1,000 at the most; that he can offer 1,000 cheeses to choose from, when, with great difficulty, he can get too into his cellar; that he is selling off at an alarming sacrifice, when all in the trade know that he is making large profits. The minister says there are hundreds in his congregation, when, if heads were reckoned, it would be found that there were only four or five score, of whom several were children. Most of us are adepts at drawing the longbow. We are not content with the reflection cast by events on the plain glass of truth, but distort them by the convex or the concave, like the two mirrors which are sometimes placed outside eating-houses to show the effect of a good meal on the face. This habit may be traced to childhood. The simplicity and naturalness of babe-life is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. We force the growth of heaven’s nurselings, encourage them in smartness and old-fashionedness, tell them extravagant fairy stories, rear them in artificial gaslight, and then complain that they have lost the sweet ingenuousness of youth, and grown into young men and women of the period before they have barely reached their teens. It is as if nature should rush into summer without a spring, or the day spring into the glare of noon without morning. We must begin building the Palace of Truth in the earliest impressions of the nursery. We should accustom ourselves to think and speak accurately. Nothing so tests the quality of our minds as our use and choice of adjectives. When people know all your adjectives they have come to the end of your treasures. It is partly due to our slovenliness in observing and describing that we exaggerate in our speech; and the evil would be remedied if young people would read the best poetry with careful discrimination, asking why Browning or Tennyson uses such a word in such a connection. It is specially valuable, with this object, to translate some foreign author--Homer, Virgil, Dante, Racine, or Schiller finding an English equivalent for each word, though it consume an hour of thought and research. Let us, also, in describing anything in which we have taken a part, remember that God is listening, and be on the watch against the natural tendency of our tongue to take its coloring matter from the gorgeous palette of the imagination rather than from the neutral tints of sober fact. Let us ask the Spirit of Truth to set a watch upon the door of our lips, allowing nothing to pass out on which he cannot set his seal. Whatever we do, in word as well as deed, let us do all in the name and for the glory of Jesus. Why should we seek to attract the attention of men to ourselves, when to do so may detract from the glory of his workmanship in our character? And if, in the heat of conversation, we are betrayed into exaggeration, and are reminded of it afterwards by the Holy Spirit, let us at once make application for cleansing in the precious blood, and confess to others the wrong we have done to the sacred majesty of Truth. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 7: 01.04. CHAPTER 04: ON FALLING IN LOVE ======================================================================== Chapter 04: On Falling in Love No flirting, young people, please! You cannot flit around the flame without the risk of burning your wings; and remember, if these are lost, you cannot get another pair; you may be able to crawl or limp, but you will never again bask in the sunbeams or dance with merry-hearted glee in the shadows. In other words, you may play at love-making till you lose the power of loving truly, or forfeit for evermore the right of entrance into love’s most holy place. Finally, you may find it impossible to convince another that for once you are in dead earnest, and that the time of love has come to you at length. There is nothing more terrible in a woman’s life than to discover that she has played make-believe so long that men treat her only as their plaything and toy, and think that she is incapable of the true passion. "I mean it this time," the flirt says, by look and manner. "I do not believe you," the answer is cast back, whether by man to woman or by woman to man. "I have watched you narrowly, and can count up the hearts you have broken, the lives you have wrecked. You are a Siren, whose bewitching music beguiles to death." "Nay, but I am genuine this once. I mean what I say." "I do not believe you; I do not believe you; I dare not trust you. So, whatever you do, young people, don’t flirt. Never appear to love when you don’t. Never lead another on to think that you really care when you are not sure. Never play with another’s affections, for fear you should lead to the giving of what can never be replaced, and for which you have given no equivalent. I am old-fashioned enough to think that a man or woman loves really only once. I know what may be said on the other side, but you must let me think so. The cream only rises to the surface in its full wealth once. The perfect beauty of the morning vanishes an hour after dawn. Therefore, you who have not yet given the one love of your life, do not let it go until you are sure that it is not wrongly bestowed. And you who are seeking the twin soul, be sure of your own love before you give a sign. Some of the happiest marriages I have known have been those in which the man and wife were boy and girl together. They played the same games, got into the same scrapes, roamed the autumn woods nutting, and skated over the winter ice. But not less happy may those unions be which bare the romantic interest of love at first sight. It is wonderful, this falling in love. A man is going soberly along the path of life, with no particular interest in any one, when suddenly a face, a figure, a voice, crosses his path, and straightway his heart is gone. His ideals are realized, his dreams have taken shape. And from that moment, with that wonderful idealizing faculty, he imputes to that young girl all that the poet in him can imagine, or the artist in him depict. "I don’t see anything in the girl," a companion says. But he might, poor purblind mortal, as well expect to see what Turner saw in a sunset. Take care, young girl, that you live up to that ideal. I pray you, do nothing, say nothing, to dash it to the ground; it is the most sacred power love can wield. Live worthy 0f it; do not descend to his level, but lift him, lift him to yours. True love is built on respect. we can never forget that Robert Browning, when in London, was wont to repair to the church in Marylebone, where he was wed, and kiss the very steps on which his bride had stood. What love was his, of which she sings in those matchless Portuguese Sonnets! But what an inspiration for her, or any woman, to show herself worthy of the ideal which love flings over her every movement, her handwriting, the very trinkets she wears, the books she reads. If you may not flirt, you should take every means of knowing one another. It seems to me that the practice among the working-classes, of walking out together before there is any thought of love-making, is an eminently wise one. We should hear of fewer ill-assorted marriages among the upper classes, if there were more opportunities of young men and women becoming acquainted with each other than can be presented at a ball or a crush. In the United States, young men can take young girls to places of public amusement without having their names unpleasantly associated by gossip. This were worthy of importation into England. However it is managed, be sure to know something more of man or woman than is given when either is dressed in Sunday best, and clothed in most attractive and persuasive manners. All is not gold that glitters. Some people are like the baskets of strawberries sold in London streets; all the big ones are at the top, and those below are very, very small. Young ladies! I am sorry to say it, but some of the nicest of nice men are the most arrant scamps that ever walked. Do not believe their word, do not entrust yourselves to them, unless you know something more of them than they say of themselves. And, young men, I would warn you not to think that a girl can be judged by her manners in the drawing-room, or at a picnic. Try to drop in the morning; make an excuse of calling. See how she looks in her morning dress; is it tidy, neat, and suitable; is she helping her mother with the younger children; is she pleasant in her behavior to the servants? I had once to choose a wife for a young working-man, and was assured that my anticipations as to the suitability of a certain maiden were justified, because she opened the door of her father’s cottage at ten in the morning with her hair tidy, a neat print dress (the sleeves of which were tucked up above her elbows), and soapsuds were steaming all up her bare arms. "She will do," I said to myself. Notice, when you are with the one to whom you are attracted, these points: How does the young man speak of his parents? does he call his mother, mother? Does he take an interest in his younger brothers or sisters? Does he attend church for himself, or only because you go with him? Does he ever suggest taking you into the public-house, or to some place of amusement where women are treated with unhallowed familiarity and scant respect? As a young man acts in any of these respects, you may judge him; and remember, that little unsuspected words and acts on his part are more likely to reveal his true character than any number of protestations and vows. Every man reveals his real self once or twice to the woman he woos; and if only women would act on the slight suspicions which sometimes cross them, how many broken hearts would be saved! Do not suppose that you can alter a man after you are wed. If you cannot fashion him before marriage, you cannot after. A woman dreams that when once she is wife, she will be able to mould her husband to her mind. It is a vain illusion, which in millions of cases has been rudely dissipated. Besides which, are we always able to command the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, especially when we have acted in direct violation of his expostulations? If you are not sure, don’t let your heart go, young girl. Break off an engagement rather than expose your wooer and yourself to lasting misery. It will be kinder to him in the end, because where there is not absolute oneness there cannot be lasting happiness. If he threatens to commit suicide, be well assured he will never do it. He has no right to talk to you like that, and is a coward to play upon your feelings. Besides, a man who talks so lightly of throwing away his own life is not one to whom a woman should entrust hers. Young men had better consult their mothers or sisters before they take the irrevocable step. Women are quick at reading character, and those that love you will be most likely to choose well for you. Let the women of your family into your secret. Dear souls, they will guess your secret even if you do not tell it, and you may as well tell it; it will please them, and they will advise you well. There is no harm in early engagements. When I am sure that it is a love-match, and in other respects suitable, I am glad to see two young people drawn together, though in their teens. Probably nothing will more certainly keep them pure and sweet amid the contaminating influences of the world. Let them begin early; it does not matter how long the courtship lasts. The courting times are very happy and blessed times, when young hearts are not too full of hopes and plans and anticipations to enjoy the pathway over which they are passing, and cull its flowers. But in these courting days remember that your relationship be kept on the highest level. It must be spirit to spirit, soul to soul. That which begins and ends with the physical will sooner or later land you both in a ditch. Take care! Beware! The physical must be the sacrament and expression of the spiritual, else it will widen into the rift that makes love’s music mute. Mind that love-making be only in the Lord. Let it be ensphered in the love of God. Then, like the wedding-ring, the beginning will be everywhere, the end nowhere. For a Christian to marry one who is out of Christ is the grossest folly. Not only is there a flagrant act of disobedience to the distinct command of Christ, but there is the additional certainty that sooner or later there will be manifested an incongruity, a disparity, a want of sympathy in the deepest and most sacred subjects. I have had a wide experience, and been admitted into numberless homes, but I have never seen perfect happiness where this distinct command of the gospel has been violated; and I have never met a case in which the believing partner has won the unbeliever, except when faith may have come to the heart of one after marriage. Lastly, to all who are unwed, I give my fervent advice: Make it a matter of earnest prayer. Let your heavenly Father choose for you. Do not think that life is necessarily a failure if no supreme love enters it. There are very happy and useful lives on every side that have never been blessed with a supreme affection. Live for God. Make him first. Wait on him and keep his way. In his own good time and way he will give you your heart’s desire. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 8: 01.05. CHAPTER 05: ON BEING STRAIGHT ======================================================================== Chapter 05: On Being Straight To be straight is to be true. There is no more important exhortation on the page of Scripture, than where the Apostle says, "Whatsoever things are true . . . think on these things." A friend of mine, educated in one of our great English schools, says that the most formative words of his life were addressed to him by his head master, as he said good-by: "Be true," he said, "always be true." My friend records that those words have often come back to him at critical moments of his life, indicating his path as with a finger of light. Every man, in his heart of hearts, has some knowledge of what is eternally right and good. You see it in the little child who blushes and conceals itself when it has told a lie, or taken forbidden fruit, and who shares its sugar-candy with its little brother. It may be but a dim flicker, but it is there. The radiance that streams through the open door of heaven may have become very faint by the time it reaches the spot on the dark common where you stand, but unless you wilfully turn your back on it, it falls around your feet and on your heart. Truth, so far as it concerns us, is that attitude of soul which thinks and acts in consistence with its highest ideals. And the marvel is, that as we act consistently with our ideals, they tend to become always nobler and purer, and to approximate more nearly to those highest standards which exist in the nature of God. If a man be true to his better self, he will become the pupil of the Spirit of Truth, and catch a glimpse of farther horizons, so that ultimately he will come out into the great light of eternity, as it shines from the face of Christ. Be true in "your speech. Do not say one thing to a man’s face, and another behind his back. Do not flatter where you inwardly despise and contemn. Do not exaggerate as you repeat your pet stories, for the sake of effect, and to win a smile. Let your speech mirror your convictions, so far as may be right and possible. Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay. Do not puff the article you want to sell beyond its real value, or say a single word more of it than you can verify. In the old fable the palace walls were panelled with mirrors, on which a mist arose when insincere and untruthful words were uttered within their precincts; realize that such mirrors are ever around you, and see that you never cause a stain or blur. Be true in your actions. If you are an artist, portray Nature as you find her, never using your colors for mere effect or display. If you are a mechanic, do not make articles merely for show or sale, but because they realize the purpose they profess, boots to keep the feet dry, clothes to wear, furniture to last. The world is full of shoddy and sham, of scamped workmanship in our houses, of mottled paper that looks like marble, of tinsel that resembles gold, of paste-jewels, and veneer. Do not choose a trade for your boy which is a success in proportion as it is a mimicry and sham. Do not deal in counterfeits, lest you contract the habit of unveracity and falsehood. See that your hands and eyes and heart are in rhythm with your highest conceptions of what is honest, lovely, and of good report. Bear witness, as Jesus did, to the Reality of Things. Did Paul ever make a tent which deceived the purchaser? Be true in your opinions. We are all liable to be warped in our opinions by considerations of what is popular, expedient, and likely to commend us to our fellows. The statesman is sorely tempted to listen to the wire-pullers of his party, the catch-cries of his constituency, the lead of some popular organ, and to allow these to divert him from the path of conviction and conscience. How often have men like Pilate been led to act against their clear judgment by the insistence and fear of the mob. Like waves of the sea, they are driven by the winds and tossed. Like the weather-vane, they move around with the least puff of breeze. This is specially the temptation of religious leaders, who are assailed by many voices, such as: Will it pay? Will it attract people, or aleniate them? Will it be popular, or the reverse? Life is pitiable, indeed, when such considerations have to be balanced. "Better be a dog, and bay the moon!" Of course we must speak the truth in lave. Some seem to think that truthfulness, of necessity, involves rudeness and ruggedness of speech, a rasp on the tongue, an abruptness in the act. But this need not be. The King of Truth was also the good shepherd, whose words were music, whose ways were mercy as well as truth, and whose glory comprised, in equal proportions, truth and grace. Whatever happens, be true. As you stand behind the counter, a question may be asked by a customer about some article you are desirous of selling. An evasive answer, or a slight deviation from the strict truth on your part, will complete the transaction. The manager or shop-walker is listening. Shall you say it? If you do, no one will be much the worse. If you don’t, you will lose your situation. What shall you do? Believe me, there is no alternative. You must follow your King, the King of Truth. .And if you are cast out, he will receive you, and count you his companion, and give you a deeper glimpse than ever into his heart. Or you are beginning to question certain conceptions of truth in which you have been reared. The more you think of them, the more unable you feel to accept them. To renounce them will give pain to those you love, will lead them to look at you shyly, will condemn you to ostracism and misunderstanding. On the other hand, it would be easy to shut your eyes, and sign your name to what all your neighbors hold. But, I pray you, do not do it, or you will put out your eyes as surely as Hubert’s hot irons put out Arthur’s. This is why there is so much infidelity in the world. There are evidences enough, not only in books, but in the heart and soul, in life, in the world around. The moonbeam’s silver path comes across the mere to the feet of every young warrior, and the hand clothed in samite offers to each the Excalibur sword. For each dreamer, of all the young pilgrims across the wold of time, there waits the angel-ladder. Beside each one of us the bush in the desert burns with fire. The difference between those who see and do not see these things lies in their devotion or disobedience to truth, so far as they know it. If a man refuses to obey the truth, so far as it is revealed to him, the glimmering light dies out from his soul, and his eyes become dimmed, so that he cannot see. If, on the other hand, a man obeys the truth, he is like one that had been lost in the catacombs; suddenly stooping down, he touches a cord, which he catches up and follows hour after hour, until it conducts him to the mouth of the long corridor, whence he steps forth into the perfect day. It may be that some shall scan this page who have no faith in Christ or Christianity. I ask them to follow this simple recipe: Put away all from your life, in speech, thought, or act, which is inconsistent with your highest conceptions of the supremely Right and Good. Then be true to those conceptions, and, as you are, you will find them heighten and widen; you will discover yourself one in a great company, who are all travelling in the same direction towards the rising sun, after a while you will encounter One who speaks of things of which you have become profoundly and experimentally convinced; being of the truth, you will listen intently to him as he tells of things that lie beyond your view; but as he spake truly of things in which you could follow him, so you will believe that he speaks truly of these others; as when he says that God is a Father, that hereafter there is a home for those who trust and love, that he is the only begotten Son, to know whom is to know God, and to follow whom is to have everlasting life. Be straight: be strong: be true. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 9: 01.06. CHAPTER 06: ON DOING A GOOD DAY'S WORK ======================================================================== Chapter 06: On Doing a Good Day’s Work LONGFELLOW’S village blacksmith felt that "something accomplished, something done," had earned a night’s repose; and f suppose that he did little else than shoe the farmers’ horses, or put new shares to their ploughs; yet he had the perpetual consciousness that he was doing something in the world, contributing to its well-being, performing a necessary part in the machinery of the village-life. It is not to be supposed that the honest man did his work for the money it brought him, but for the love of doing it, the pleasure of ministering, however humbly, to the common weal. However well he were paid, it would be a source of infinite regret and shame if his work were superficially and perfunctorily executed; if a horse were lamed, because the nail was driven too far home, or a day’s work in the sowing-time were lost because the share broke in mid-furrow. This is the ideal of all good work. Too many work for the wage to be paid them at the end of the week, and become so degraded in their aim that they will only put in the best work when they are promised the highest pay. Let the remuneration be second-rate, their work will be second-rate; let the workshop be a peasant’s cottage, their style of workmanship will lack the finish which would certainly be put in for a palace or church. This appraising of our work by the amount of wage it will bring is vicious in the extreme, and sooner or later begets a perfunctory, superficial, and mean disposition. The man who reserves his best work for the best pay will ultimately be content to put in the semblance of the best work, though it be a bit of arrant scamping, in order to secure, as soon as he may, the promised wage; in this case, however, it should scorch his hand as the wage of unrighteousness. Do you think that the old monks, who built religiously, and for the eye of God, stopped to ask whether some curiously carved stone was intended for the vaulted ceiling, or the ornamentation of a doorway through which successive generations of admiring pilgrims would pass? It was enough to be permitted to put one piece of carving in the house raised for the honor and glory of God; there must be nothing inferior there, nothing that would cause the carver shame if he met the memory of it in any world, nothing that would seem contemptible to future generations if it should drop from its place to lie within the easy inspection of every passer-by. Can you imagine a true artist painting an inferior picture because it would be skied in an exhibition, or sold cheap at an auction? He would tell you that he dared not do it. He would be untrue to his loftiest ideals; if he permitted himself to fall So low, he would soon lose his power of realizing his dreams, and deteriorate into a sorry hack. The artist’s eye would fail to perceive, the artist’s hand to achieve. Nature would veil her charms from his eye, who sought them only for mercenary ends. Would a physician, who was inspired with the true spirit of his profession, reserve his deepest insight, his longest patience, his most skilful treatment, for the rich, whose golden sovereigns would freely pour into his banking-account, whilst the child of the peasant might take its chance? And if each of these is expected to do his work in the world for the honor of his profession, and the lasting benefit of men, why should not all men and women do whatever God has given them to do for the same high end? Not for fee or reward, not for the wages which are, of course, necessary and deserved, not for the applause and praise of one or many; but because work is honorable and noble, because a true man finds his highest reward in putting his noblest self into all he does, because it is a scandal and shame to be content with anything less than the best, because God and his high angels are looking on, and because scamped work will return on us in other worlds to confront and shame us. There is no surer sign of deterioration of character than contentment with inferior work. We are accustomed to speak of our work as a vocation or calling. Let every man, says the Apostle, abide in the calling in which he was called. Some are called to be servants, some to be masters; some to administer five talents, others one; but every man is as much called of God to his life-work as the minister is called to preach, or the physician to combat disease. Do you expect these to be above the questions of dollars and cents, there is the same obligation on yourself. Would you think it mean of the servant of God to preach at half or quarter power if he were to receive but a trifling solatium, or to cease preaching if he shall have realized a competence? But are you not guilty of similar meanness if, in altered conditions, you permit your conduct to be affected by sordid considerations? Some men are called to sweep chimneys, and others to be archbishops, but in the sight of the Almighty there may be less inequality than we suppose; and the sweep will stand highest at last, if he has driven the soot out of the intricacies of old chimneys with more eager care and with nobler purpose than the archbishop has administered his diocese. What counts in God’s sight is not the work we do, but the way in which we do it. Two men may work side by side in the same factory or store: the one, at the end of the day, shall have put in a solid block of gold, silver, and precious stones; whilst the other has contributed to the fabric of his life-work an ephemeral, insubstantial addition of wood, hay, and stubble, destined to be burnt. What is the difference between these two? To the eye of man, there is none; to the eye of God, much: because the one has been animated, in the lowliest, commonest actions, by the lofty motive of pleasing God, and doing the day’s work thoroughly and well; whilst the other wrought to escape blame, to secure the commendation of man, or to win a large wage. Never be ashamed of honest toil, of labors, however trivial or menial, which you can execute beneath the inspiration of noble aims; but be ashamed of the work which, though it makes men hold their breath in wonder, yet, in your heart, you know to have emanated from earthly, selfish, and ignoble aims. What we make, makes us. The slight gauze on which the mantle of the incandescent light is formed flares away in a moment, but the solid fabric wrought on it by chemical agents will be luminous for a thousand hours. So the things we make in the world pass away as a wreath of flame, but the motives with which we do them go to make ourselves for better or worse. If you do your work in slovenliness, you become a sloven. If you do your work perfunctorily, you become a hypocrite. If you work only for the eye of man, the sense of God will die out of your life. Men fret, for instance, at being tied to a clerk’s desk. Surely, they say, any one could direct these envelopes, copy these letters, cast up these interminable columns; and in their contempt for their life-work they fail to see that its very unimportance is giving them a better opportunity of cultivating punctuality, patience, fidelity, and similar passive virtues, than they would have if they played a more conspicuous part in the world’s life, or in spheres where certain other considerations nerve to supreme efforts, which, in their case, can only be called forth by lofty principle. At the end of life’s brief day we shall be rewarded, not according to the work we have done, but to the faithfulness with which we have endeavored to do our duty, in whatever sphere. Let us live and work with that day in view; and let us never forget that the ultimate reward for conspicuous service will be given not to the one who seemed, to the eye of man, to render it, but to those also who enabled him to render it. The servant who prepares my food, or saves me the necessity of doing the many duties of my home, thus setting me free to write, or preach, or minister to men, will, in God’s reckoning, be credited with no inconsiderable share of the results of anything which may have been achieved through my endeavors. The great deed that blesses the race seems to be wrought by one, but it is really the result of the contributed quotas of scores and hundreds of unnamed and unnoticed workers; and these, in so far as they entered into the spirit of his labors, shall share the reward. Those that sow and those that reap shall rejoice together. This is the way to do a good day’s work. Begin it with God; do all in the name of the Lord Jesus and for the glory of God; count nothing common or unclean in itself-- it can only be so when the motive of your life is low. Be not content with eye-service, but as servants of God do everything from the heart, and for his "Well done." Ask him to kindle and maintain in your heart the loftiest motives; and be as men that watch for the coming of the Master of the house. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 10: 01.07. CHAPTER 07: SAVORLESS SALT ======================================================================== Chapter 07: Savorless Salt No wonder that the common people hung on Christ’s words. He was a Master of the Art of Illustration, because he sought his emblems, not from remote corners of creation, or its recondite processes, but from the common incidents of ordinary human experience. Salt and light, birds and lilies, gates and roads, trees and their fruit, houses and their foundations. But there was more than art. He knew the hidden secrets of creation, and could tell the heavenly pattern upon which everything was fashioned. And how full of encouragement he was! He was so willing to give men credit for their best; and in doing so, summoned to view qualities, the existence of which their possessors had never dreamed, or encouraged them to continue in paths on which they had ventured with hesitating steps. It was not a small encouragement to these humble peasants and fishermen to be told that they were capable of checking the evil that was eating out the vitals of society around them, as salt stays the progress of corruption. Have we ever realized sufficiently, or used, this antiseptic power with which all good men are invested? It is a sad comment on society that it needs salt. You do not think of salting life, but death, to keep it from rotting. This, then, was Christ’s verdict on the society of his time. It had enjoyed the benefit of all that Greek intellectualism and Roman government could effect, and yet was like a carcass on the point of putrefaction. But is not this the state of all society from which religion is banished, or where it has become a system of rites and dogmas? Go into any large workshop or counting-house or public-house, where men feel able to talk freely, and there is too often the smell of the charnel-house in the stories that pass round, and the jokes that pass from lip to lip. The absence of ladies is supposed to give a certain amount of license, as if gentlemen had no special squeamishness. Here is something that each of us can do. Perhaps we cannot speak; we cannot shed a far-reaching ray of light to warn from the black rocks, and guide to harbor; we seem shut away from scenes of Christian activity, but we can be good salt, checking the evil which would otherwise infect the air of the world, and breed disease in young and healthy lives. The salt has just lo be sell. It need not attempt to be a voice, a spark of light, or a thrill of electricity. Let it just be good, wholesome salt, and quietly, unobtrusively, it will fulfil its great mission. A little child has often arrested the commission of a horrid crime, with its innocent look and its trembling, tearful face. A gentleman who travels much among lonely farmhouses told me the other day, that whenever a fierce dog ran barking at him, he stooped down, and looked it in the face; and he said that he had never met a dog yet which could stand a steady gaze; so there is something in the look of a really good man that abashes sin. The presence of a Henry Martyn has turned an East India man from a floating hell into a very paradise. The look of a Fin-hey has stayed the blasphemy of a large factory, and brought all the mechanics to their knees. Billy Bray’s life purified a whole district of Cornish miners. In fact, it would be impossible to tell of all the prisons, the backwoods settlements, the soldiers’ camps, the slave plantations, where the progress of sin has been arrested, and the devil himself has slunk abashed to his lair, before the presence of a resolute genuine man of God. You might do the same, only you must be a genuine character. Salt must be good before it can effect its great preventive ministry. But if it is good it will do it. And if you really are full of the Holy Spirit, and of faith, your very presence will be all that is needful to stay the evil that cries to Heaven. When I was in Liverpool, the women of a large reformatory ward broke into open rebellion, expelled their warders, barred the windows and doors, and gave themselves up to every species Of indecency. The authorities were nonplussed, and could not tell what to do; but Mrs. Josephine Butler volunteered to go alone, still the disturbance, and bring these poor lost creatures back to decency. The extreme difficulty and danger of the task were set before her; but she persisted in her request, and finally carried her point. As soon as she appeared, she was met with a yell of madness; but the uproar at last subsided, that outburst of un-womanliness died down before the spell of her sweet and holy presence, and presently she opened the doors, and admitted the warders. But good salt will be pungent. It has a savor about it which bites and stings whenever it comes in contact with an open wound. If you are holy, just, and faithful with a true man, he will evince no feeling of annoyance; but if with a vicious man, he will splutter, make a wry face, and show violence of hand or foot. Christ was salt to the Pharisees, and they crucified him. Joseph was salt to his brethren, and they put him in the pit. Paul was salt to his fellow-country-men, and they arraigned him before the bar of Caesar. But always distinguish between salt and acid. Acid corrodes, burns, kills. Salt smarts, heals, saves. Some rejoice in what they call plain speaking; but they forget to speak the truth in love, and are like a physician who goes around with wholesome but nauseous medicine, and whenever he sees a mouth open pours some down. It is necessary to wash the saints’ feet, but be sure you do not do it in scalding water. If you have to tell men that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, do it weeping. Let it be evident that you had no axe to grind, no selfish end to serve, no grudge to pay, when you rebuke others by life or word for things which ought not to pass unnoticed. Salt may lose its savor. Housewives tell us that if it be allowed to get damp, it will lose all taste of salt, and become quite useless. So we may lose all power of arresting sin. Yonder is a man who once stood high in the opinion of the church and the world; but he committed one act of inconsistency, and that has sealed his lips. For him to check others is like Satan rebuking sin. They turn "and say, Take the beam out of thine own eye before attempting to take the mote from ours. Here is another, who has no power to rebuke, because he is conscious of some secret sin, which produces indecision in his manner. In another case it is as when Lot remonstrated with the men of Sodom, and urged his children to escape. He is tarred too deeply with the same brush for them to heed. They ridicule him as a childish dotard. You cannot salt, salt. You may salt beef and mutton and pork, and a hundred other substances, but you cannot salt, salt. If it has lost its savor it is thenceforward good for nothing; but is cast out on the street, and trodden under foot of men. As long as a man has never passed under the influence of Christianity you may hope for him; but when he has gone into it, and through it, and come out on the other side unsaved, there is little to hope for. He is fit neither for the land, nor yet for the dunghill. He is cast out as almost hopeless, so far as human judgment goes, though with God there are limitless possibilities. Let us beware of such a fate, and live daily such straight, strong, pure, noble lives that evil may be abashed in our presence and slink away, and that an arrest may be put on the plague that walketh in darkness, and the pestilence that wasteth at noonday. And whatever you do, keep your savor. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 11: 01.08. CHAPTER 08: OUR HOLIDAYS ======================================================================== Chapter 08: Our Holidays WE need to have a pause in the rush of our life, whether by the seaside, on the moor, or in the green nook of the country. As nature needs the repose of winter after the exhaustion of her autumn produce to recuperate herself for the coming spring, so do we need seasons in which our intellectual and physical vigor, to say nothing of the spiritual, may be reinvigorated and renewed. Hence the need for summer holidays. There are certain directions, however, which we should bear in mind, if we would make the most of our annual vacation, which has come to be part of the yearly programme of most people. Be careful with whom you travel. It is certainly remarkable how amiable people, for the most part, are when they are away from home; that is, if they have got their corner seat, are quite sure that their luggage is safe, and have got the first place for being served at the dining-table. These conditions being granted, it would seem as if the moment people leave their houses they put off all trace of peevishness and irritation, and array themselves in the brightest and pleasantest moods. The little child who asked his father, when going through a cemetery, where all the bad people were buried, might well ask where all the" ill-tempered people take their holiday. It has been observed that if you meet a party for the ascent of Snowdon, for a drive on a coach through the Highlands, or for a picnic arranged from a " Hydro," you will congratulate yourself on having discovered the most amiable of mortals. But if you are planning to spend all the time with another or others in the same party, to share with them the jolts and mishaps, the ups and downs, which are incident to journeyings at home and abroad, you should be very careful whom you select. One who looks on the bright side of things, who is hopeful when the morning opens with mist or a downpour of rain, who can laugh gleefully over a misadventure, and enjoy contentedly the substitution of ship biscuits for ham sandwiches- in the luncheon-baskets, with such like mishaps; one who is capable of reverence amid the sublimities of nature, and who will not speak of the roseate hues of morning, or snow with evening pink, as "awfully jolly;" one who is capable of being quiet and hushed; one who, after the most gleeful frolic, can turn naturally to thoughts of God,--give me such a companion for my summer holidays. Be careful lo lake a good book with you. There are many books which we cannot read in the rush of daily life. It is well to put one of these in the trunk; not, of course, a deep theological treatise, or Balfour’s suggested basis for religious faith, or a manual of social and political economy, however closely it bears on the problems of the day. Apart from these there are books, interesting and suggestive, stimulating thought and quickening imagination, which we can read without fatigue, and to have read which will have made the holiday memorable. There are, for instance, books on natural investigation, works of history, biographies, the highest class of stories. These do not tax the mind unduly, while they give it that delicious sense of exercise which turns the current of the thought into new channels, and leaves a permanent possession of information and interest. Be careful to think about other people. I am beginning to see that the people who are always making for the best seats do not on the whole fare better than those who wait their time. In any case, the scheming and pushing, the rushing and dashing, the fever and excitement, the uncomfortable sense of having acted selfishly, must deprive selfish folks of the power of tranquil enjoyment. To think about other people is to do the best for yourself. Perhaps if you look after the luggage of that nervous traveller, you may find your own in the van; if you give up your comfortable corner for that little child to go to sleep in, it is as likely as not that the angels who watch it will contrive to put you into a sound slumber; if you will see to others getting refreshment, you will probably think less of your own hunger and fatigue, and there will be your share of the twelve baskets full of fragments. It is remarkable how often a kindness done to a stranger will open his heart, secure you a friend who will show you interesting views of" the country through which you are passing, and which you must otherwise have missed. Be polite and courteous to the servants and natives. I have seen disgraceful things. I remember a Saturday night in Norway, where the people of a quiet inn were preparing decorously for the succeeding day, that a rowdy party of young Englishmen came in and demanded drink, behaved ruddy to the modest servant-girls, shouted boisterously to each other, and turned the place into a bear-garden. With what little humanity do many tourists treat the tired servants of the hotels or inn! How vulgarly they speak to the people they meet on the roads, discussing their manners, and commenting on their ways! What a conception must be given of the average life of English people! More fond of a good dinner than of a fine view, inclined to wrangle over their bills, imperious in their demands, certain that money will secure them a right of entrance anywhere. On the other hand, kind words and little courtesies cost nothing, but, like oil, ease the axles. Be specially careful that the summer holiday should be a lime of spiritual refreshment. A Christian man confided to me the other day his regret that he generally came home from his summer vacation worse spiritually than he started; and that’ it took him several weeks to regain the old position. This arises partly from the occupation of our mind with the outward, with the fresh scenes and people; and thus our energy is diverted from the interior and eternal. Then our habits of private and domestic prayer are liable to be broken in upon by the early morning start and the late, tired return. We are compelled to spend our time in the presence of others; and the larger the party, the more impossible to get alone. Then there is the temptation to let Ourselves go into lightness of speech and act, partly induced by the exhilarating air, and partly by the flow of high spirits around. From all these causes we are liable to lose the fine tone of our spiritual life, and to get jaded. To counteract these influences we must get our half-hour, or hour, alone with God and our Bible, though we rise a great while before day. We should have our pocket Bible at hand, that we may turn to the Psalms or the Prophets, as the divine comment on nature. And it is well to be provided with some helpful devotional book, the reading of which will direct our aspirations towards God and heaven. To me the vacation is generally associated with reading a book or books of the Bible thoughtfully, trying to see deeper into them than before; and for many years I have read the Book of Revelation though at that time. There is a special congruity between the splendor of its conceptions and the vision of ocean, sky, and mountain. It is well, when we have witnessed the dawn of some new revelation, as well as of the morning; the great deep of God’s judgments, as well as the ocean; the mountains of his righteousness, as well as Snowdon, Cader Idris, or Mont Blanc. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 12: 01.09. CHAPTER 09: HOW TO SPEND SUNDAY ======================================================================== Chapter 09: How to Spend Sunday "A Sabbath well spent brings a week of content." So the old couplet runs, but the difficulty lies in how to spend Sunday well. Too many seem only proficient in the art of how not to do it. Now I feel able to give some advice on this matter, as the Sundays of my early life were the red-letter days of the whole week; and as I look back on them, the recollection sends blessed thrills of joy through my heart. It is as though the light of those days, their fragrance and dew, lie still in the garden of my soul, where I now walk with the many concerns and added interests of manhood. The art of making Sunday a happy day, if art there was, on the part of my parents, lay in their sharing its hours with the whole family. There was no exclusiveness, no withdrawing from the general life for selfish purposes, no sign that the children were a bother, to be got out of the way as expeditiously and for as long a period as possible. This is where so many families go wrong. The children are sent off to the nursery to spend the time with servants, who may have little interest in them or religion, or dismissed to the Sunday-school, that the parents may have unbroken leisure for sleep or pleasure. It is the only day in the week I can get for myself, says the father. It is the only day in the week that I can have my husband to myself, says the mother. It is the only opportunity we have of seeing our friends, say both. And so the children are left to their own devices; and on those Sunday afternoons, however unconsciously, the seeds of bitter harvests are sown. Directly self comes into the first place in the home-life, we begin to prepare for ourselves almost interminable pains in after years. The path of safety and true happiness is in seeking the well-being of those around, from the smallest babe to the most unkempt servant who has come under the shelter of our roof. A well-spent Sunday must not begin with self-indulgent lying in bed. Of course breakfast may be a little later, and the very essence of a happy Sunday lies in everything being different from every other day of the week; but when the hour has been fixed, it should be kept. It makes such a difference when the father, mother, and children are all to time, and can begin breakfast together. May I not here put in a strong plea for family prayers on this, if on no other, day of the week? Where the father is absent on business, as a commercial, or before breakfast, as a mechanic, it is not possible for the whole family to gather at the family altar; and there is the more reason why, on Sunday morning, the father should take his true position as head and priest of his house gathered before God. Why should not each child say a text, mother and father and servant doing the same? In one family in Edinburgh, where I love to be, the father, a professor in the University, reads his verse in the selected chapter, then each of the children, and the baby-boy on his knee repeats his after his father, and finally each of the servants, down to the last boy who has come in to black boots, or to the Scotch sewing-lassie with her broad accent. But how ennobling it is for them all to take this audible part! After breakfast our mother used to read to us, and give us references to find in our Bibles. We began, away back as far as I can remember, with Peep of Day, then Line upon Line, Cobbin’s Commentary, and so upward. In many cases I suppose the children of your families will go to Sunday-school, instead of this home Bible-class; but where it is so, let me put in an earnest word in favor of the young people meeting their parents, when the school is over, and sitting beside them during the service in the house of God. If they sit with the Sunday-school children, the fidgetting around will be almost certain to divert their minds; besides which, most churches relegate the poor children to the farthest and most uncomfortable parts of the building, -- a distant gallery, with hard seats and high backs, -- as if little bodies never wearied, and little minds didn’t find it hard to strain for the preacher’s far-travelled voice. What a reversal of matters would take place if the Lord were to take direction! I believe he would send all the people who occupy the best positions packing from their comfortable seats, which make them so drowsy, into the uncushioned gallery, and call all the happy children down to the best softly cushioned pews, where he could keep them well in sight, and hold their quick eyes fixed on his all the time. If the father would let the boy sit next him, and find the places, and write the text out during the sermon, if he were too young to attend, and make a comfortable place for his head if he got sleepy; and if the mother could take the little girl’s hand in hers, to say nothing of passing surreptitiously a little piece of sugar-candy to keep her from coughing (!), I cannot but think that those Sunday services would not be so great a weariness, but in after years would be recalled with pleasure by the lonely traveller in the backwoods, or the shepherd amid the Australian wolds. In many cases the wife must stop at home and prepare the dinner, and, with a little management, a hot dinner need not take more time than a cold one. We always had a sirloin of beef and roast potatoes. Through a long course of years, without a single variation, that was so. Even now, when I eat sirloin of beef, especially the undercut, I have a kind of Sunday feeling. I remember that my father always had to turn the joint upside down, and that it was an exciting moment for us all, lest he should splash a drop of gravy over the clean cloth. If a drop did go over, my mother hastened, with a palliating excuse, and applied salt, for what reason I have not the remotest idea; but it served as a temporary expedient, and covered the mishap. These things may appear trivial, but they always were associated with Sunday, and that made them memorable. Have plenty of singing on Sunday. During the afternoon we read our books or stories, but, as half-past four arrived, we felt that the climax of the day had come. My mother was not a pianist, but she could just get through the tunes of the old Psalmist; so she played, and my father sat beside her, and sang with his deep bass voice, and I stood beside him and took the air, and my sister sang too. We always had, " How sweet the Name," "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah" (to "Mariners "), and, very often, " Around the throne of God in heaven," in memory of a little angel sister. Why should not all the homes into which this little volume comes start half-an-hour’s song-service each Sunday? But the father and mother must themselves take part. Then tea; and after tea we said a hymn all round; and, as I got older, I was encouraged to read what I had written of the morning sermon. And so the blessed day passed to its close. If old enough, there was the evening service and supper (oh, the rapture of sitting up to eat a potato in its jacket, with a pat of butter inside, with pepper and salt!). Again you say, very trivial, and quite unworthy of occupying the space here, or the time of the writer, who, at fifty years of age, should care for something better. Well, reader, you may say what you like, but these simple things made Sunday the day of days, and became the seeds which have yielded harvests of content and blessed-Bess. It is a mistake to gad about from one minister to another. It begets a critical and captious spirit, and leads one to subordinate the worship of the sanctuary to the sermon. Find out the minister who, on the whole, helps you most, and the church which needs you most, and concentrate your time and thought on these. Never criticise the preacher before your children, and encourage them to remember and repeat what they can. Would that preachers would contrive to drop a few handfuls on purpose for the weary little listeners, whose eyes would glisten if their story were to be dropped into the discourse; and the parents would be proud to explain that "our minister always thinks of the children." It is very important that habits of reverence be inculcated in children. "Why do I make you boys shut your eyes in prayer?" asked a young lady of my congregation, of her class of ragged boys. Instantly two or three ragged arms went up, and one sharp youngster answered, "To teach us manners, ma’am." Was it not exactly true? The manners of the heavenly court are as exacting as those of the Queen’s drawing-room, and it is well to begin early enough to inculcate them. Be in time at service; be reverent in your demeanor; take part in all you can; if you cannot sing’, make a joyful noise; and never allow the Bible, or anything that belongs to God, to be made a subject for witticism in your presence. Sunday company is, on the whole, to be eschewed. But, if friends drop in, ask them to fall in with your usual routine; and with them, or in their absence, let the conversation be tinctured, as far as possible, with the spirit of the day. My parents never talked familiarly of God, but, somehow, there was a Sunday air about the conversation; and certain subjects, such as business, or pleasure-seeking, or story-books, would seem incongruous. But there was no restraint, no gloom, no Pharisaism, nothing irksome and tedious. To look happy, to dress in our best, to sing, to talk cheerfully about all that interested us, this was the high and happy key-note of our family life on this best and brightest of days. Once more I crave indulgence if I have been too personal in reciting these remembrances of the past, but my motive has been at least innocent and transparent; for what has been may be done again, and it seemed better to photograph the dear old past than to produce a fancy picture which might seem rather a dream than a possibility. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 13: 01.10. CHAPTER 10: AMUSEMENTS ======================================================================== Chapter 10: Amusements THIS difficulty about amusements, where to go and where not to go, is not a new one. It agitated the Christians at Corinth centuries ago as it agitates us; and led up to one of those questions which the Apostle answered in his first epistle. Dean Farrar, in his graphic style, explains the difficulty and perplexity of their position. They were daily living in the great wicked streets, in sight and hearing of everything that could quench spiritual aspirations and kindle carnal desires. The gay, common life pressed on them so closely, the splendid vision of Christ’s advent seemed so far away, might they not mingle with the heathen festivals, join in the gay processions, watch the dancing-girls, or take part in the fun and frolic of the voluptuous city? Were they to live always on the heavenly manna, and never taste the onion, leek, and garlic of Egypt? Were they never again to drink of the foaming cup of earthly pleasure, and mingle in the dance, the feast, the pantomimic show? In answer to these difficulties, the Apostle laid down two principles, which contain between them the very light we need to enable us to pick our pathway through the world, to teach us how to act with regard to the thorny question of amusements. "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any " (1 Corinthians 6:12). "All things are lawful, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful, but all things edify not Let no man seek his own, but each his neighbor’s good" (1 Corinthians 10:23-24). We must have recreation, times when jaded nerves recuperate themselves, and tired brains turn from their absorbing thoughts to lighter themes. We shall perform the serious work of life more successfully if we have seasons of respite. We shall breast the Hill Difficulty more energetically after seasons of rest in the Arbor of Ease. Our many-stringed nature craves for seasons when laughter, song, and enjoyment may take the harp of life and sweep its lighter chords. And surely Nature’s gayer moods, when Spring scatters her flowers, or Summer is ripening the year’s produce, suggests, as Milton tells us in his immortal L’ Allegro, the relaxation of the severer strain of business toil. Little children, with their ringing laughter, their keen appreciation of mirth and frolic, their demand for good times, arouse us from our pensive melancholy and laborious toils, quickening our pulses, awakening our laughter, and giving us an excuse, which we are not loth to snatch, for casting aside the serious business of life, and taking a brief spell of pleasure. Then the perpetual question arises, How far is all this lawful and expedient? what should be our attitude as Christians to amusement? There are several principles to guide us, but the ultimate decision must ever remain with the individual; and it is by our action on the debatable ground of twilight, between the clearly defined territories of absolute light or darkness, that the most of us are made or marred. First: We must not be enslaved by any farm of pleasure. The Apostle vowed that he would not be brought under the power of anything, however lawful or innocent it might be in itself. It is marvellous how easy it is to become enslaved to forms of pleasure-taking which in themselves are perfectly harmless and natural. A man may be so intoxicated with golf or cricket, a woman so fascinated with lawn-tennis or bicycling, that they are spoiled for all the practical business of life; and at the call of their favorite pastime, will at any moment renounce the most urgent and pressing engagements. It seems as if they can think, dream, and plan for nothing else. When this is the case, whether the form of amusement be one of those healthy out-of-door pursuits already named, or the more hurtful absorption in the theatre, the ball, or the music-hall; when what should be only the means to an end becomes an end in itself; when we feel our best energies withdrawn from the serious demands of life, and dissipated in its flotsam and jetsam; when our soul is engrossed by the handling of a bat, the striking of a ball, the swiftness of a machine,- it is time to pull up and consider which way we are drifting. Surely life was given for higher purposes than these, and if it be said that all such pastimes react on the health and agility of the body, still we must reply, that at the best the body is only the organ and instrument of the soul, and that it must be kept under and made subservient to those lofty purposes which the soul conceives in its secret place and executes in life’s arena. Next: We must have an eye to others. There are forms of amusement which we cannot indulge in without helping to destroy the souls of others. They not only do not build up, but they destroy the work of God. We have no right to jeopardize the eternal interests of those who copy our example or who minister to our enjoyment. Paul says that, so far as he was concerned, he felt at liberty to accept an invitation to a meal in the precincts of an idol-temple; but that he would not go lest the weak conscience of some fellow Christian should be defiled. Our attitude towards certain places of amusement and pastimes should be determined by our considering whether we would wish those who take their cue from our example to follow us thither. What effect will my conduct have on my children, my young brothers and sisters, the scholars in my Sunday-school class, and others who are not as strong as I am to resist the pernicious influences that are associated with this special form of amusement? Let me remember that young life is behind me, and though, as an experienced mountaineer, I might take the more precipitous route, for their sake I must follow the safe path. Besides, we must consider whether the effect of some system that gives us pleasure may not be in the highest degree deleterious in its effect on those who minister to our laughter or love of spectacular display. Have we any right, for our pleasure, to hold out baits of money to young girls or children or others, to jeopardize body and soul, and spend their days on the edge of the precipice? "All things edify not," said the Apostle, and we must seek not only our own but another’s weal. On the whole, simple and natural pleasures are the best. The skate over the frozen pond, rather than the dance in the over-heated ball-room; the family party, with its olden games, rather than the scenic representation of music-hall or theatre; the real rather than the artificial, the day rather than midnight, the dear ones of the home rather than the society of strangers. Let every one have a hobby; let every one become proficient in some branch of natural science or history; let every one do something well, be it to handle the oar or alpenstock, to use the camera, glide over the , ringing ice, or climb the beetling crag. Let this man collect geological specimens, and that flowers or ferns, and that curiosities from various countries and people. But let there be some controlling interest, which shall give occupation in the summer ramble, or the snatch of foreign travel, and shall afford amusement in recollection, arrangement, and comparison, when the long winter evenings would hang heavily on hand. Whatever does not leave a wry taste in our mouth, nor causes a feeling of compunction and regret as we review it, nor exerts a baleful effect on those who minister to our enjoyment, nor unfits us for prayer and communion with God, nor so dazzles and blinds us that we can find no pleasure in the simple delights of home and natural beauty; whatever is wholesome and health-giving; whatever is capable of being presented to God in prayer as the object of his blessing; whatever is in harmony with the tender, holy, unselfish, and blessed nature of Jesus,--is an amusement which we may gladly avail ourselves of; and it shall be to us as the whetting of the scythe amid the mower’s toils, and as the mending of the nets torn by the midnight fishing-cruise. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 14: 01.11. CHAPTER 11: USE OF THE SENSES ======================================================================== Chapter 11: Use of the Senses Our senses give warning signals when danger is near. This is perhaps their secondary use, but it is the most vital. The eye, ear, nose, the senses of taste and touch, are the channels through which the most exquisite pleasures are wafted to us--rapturous glimpses of natural beauty, sweet sounds, fragrant scents, delicious viands, and soft contacts; but they are also the avenues along which ride post-haste the couriers, warning of the approach of assassins that menace and imperil life. For the most part what is inimical to health is odious and distasteful to our senses, and the quicker these become the more likely we are to preserve the springs of life from being poisoned and vitiated. We are told in more than one Scripture, and notably in Hebrews 5:14, that there are spiritual counterparts to our senses, and that we should exercise these to discern good and evil. It is highly important to do so; for as attention to the warning of the physical senses will preserve the health of our body, so attention to the warnings of our inner senses will forewarn and forearm against the influences that are hostile to spiritual life. Take the Ear of the Soul. In the case of the savage the ear is trained to such precision as to detect the footfall of a stranger at an immense distance; and in the case of the trained musician to discriminate between the most delicate shades of sound. Indeed, it would be impossible to train a singer for a place in the front rank of the profession whose ear was not extremely delicate and sensitive; and natural gifts in this direction may be still further trained to almost any degree of nicety. If the ear is not sensitive to the slightest discord, the voice can never be modulated to the finest harmonies. And is there anything more necessary than to have the inner ear trained and exercised by contact with the Divine notes of an infinite charity! You may hear people talking most discordantly with this, criticising their neighbors, discussing their friends, uttering sharp and unkind judgments, all of which would be impossible if their ears had only been educated to detect the discords of their speech. But they talk on for years in utter oblivion of their false and dissonant notes. Amid so much discordance let us constantly seek for a pure ear, which will tell us in a moment when we have spoken a single word that is inconsistent with the perfect harmonies of the nature of God, which is love. The Eye of the Soul The eye detects the approach of danger, and, in the case of a savage, can do so in symptoms which are altogether meaningless to the ordinary vision. That bent blade of grass, that snapt twig, that almost imperceptible trail! Away on the mountain side the trained observer can see masses of troops where another finds only the shadows of passing clouds. But the training of the eye of the soul is even more necessary, because it can anticipate the advent of temptation. It is bad when we have no warning of the stealthy approach of our worst adversary, till like a midnight assassin he has broken into the house of our life. Well is it when we can descry the gathering storm when it is still on the horizon, so as to reef our sails in time and be prepared for the squall; when we can detect the pitfall before we come to it; and see the brigand gang lying in wait before we reach the dark thicket; and anticipate complications and perplexities before we are amid them. By that clear prescience which is not the least of God’s gifts we are the more likely to pass unscathed through life’s ordeal because more able to appeal beforehand to Christ for succor. The Scent of the Soul It is good to have a keen sense of smell; it will save us from many a noisome pestilence arising from the drain, or brooding in the plague-laden air. If it were not for this invaluable gift, we might linger and sleep amid deadly gases, unconscious of the peril we were incurring. It is well to have this sense exercised. I remember once, after a voyage across the Atlantic, visiting friends, who were spending their summer holidays within a mile of a sewage farm, the near neighborhood of which was not noticeable to them, but to which the pure ozone of the ocean had made me extremely sensitive. If our soul’s sense of smell were more keen, we should be quicker to perceive when there was impurity in the speech or behavior of our companions, and should turn from them with disgust. The pure lad would blush and hasten from the way of the ungodly and the seat of the scornful. The highly spiritual and nobly tempered woman would take no pleasure in the double allusions of the music-hall, or the highly spiced conversation of children of fashion. The pure in heart would rush from the obscenity and oaths with which too much of-the talk of so-called gentlemen is interlarded, as if they had suddenly become aware of the presence of an open sewer. The Taste of the Soul The sense of taste sits as a sentinel at the entrance of the alimentary canal to prevent hurtful and deleterious substances from entering. How often has our first bite of some fruit or food led us to eject it from our mouth with disgust, thereby saving our life! The rule is not invariable. There are substances which are most distasteful, but are nevertheless good as medicines, and palatable things are sometimes harmful to a degree; still, as a general rule, the palate may be trusted. Now, how much evil might we be saved from, if only the taste of the soul were more highly educated in respect to the books which come into our hands. How often do young and inexperienced minds devour from beginning to end books, novels, treatises, which are highly inimical to their soul-life. If only they knew how to distinguish between good and evil, if only they could detect the subtle poison that had been instilled into those pages from the fangs of the great serpent, if only they were on the alert to reject that which blasts and blights the delicate growth of the better life,--how much suffering and consumption would be averted! The Soul’s Sense of Touch. The touch may be brought to an amazing degree of perfection, and become so sensitive that it can distinguish between the slightest variations in fabric or temperature. In members of the feline tribe the cat or tiger-- this sense is developed to its fullest perfection. But in man also it may become extremely acute. Would that we might have that same sensitiveness to right and wrong, that We might with a touch be able to discern the one from the other, and have grace enough to accept the good and reject the evil. As the experienced hand can tell in a moment when a coin is light or not, so we might know whether a doctrine or statement tallied with the standard of God’s truth or fell beneath it. These distinctions are not to be learned in a moment. We may train our faculties from less to more; by reason of use they may be exercised; when the Spirit comes on us we shall, like our Master, be "quick of scent." But it is certain that we cannot long preserve the fine temper of the soul in such a world as this unless we carefully attend to the least monitions of the Divine Spirit operating through the senses of the soul. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 15: 01.12. CHAPTER 12: CHRISTMAS ======================================================================== Chapter 12: Christmas HERE again I Welcome, thrice welcome! The darkest, shortest days of the year are an appropriate season to select for the Yule-log, the good cheer, the home-gatherings, the presents and gifts of young and old, which Christmas brings! The Yule-log! How we love it! For ordinary days the coal-fire is good enough; but, oh, the spluttering, the crackling, the blue elfish flame of the Christmas log! We need no candle or gas-light, when the flame has caught it in its lambent arms, and creeps along its edges, and eats into its heart. How hard that knot is fighting! What a flare that resinous oil makes! How sweet the scent, and fitful the light which rises and falls and flickers! Now is the time to gather round for one brief hour of blessed, happy home-talk, between the lights, the light of the short winter day and the artificial light that must soon be brought in for the evening’s work. There should be no secrets in the family circle. The interests of each are those of all, and in the happy intercourse of the circle gathered round the flickering log, the common life gets illustrated and illuminated by quip and crank, by joke and tease, by the original saying of the little child, and the wise counsel of the father. It reminds me of those old missals, whose stern black letter-press is accompanied by the gorgeous margin, with faces and figures, flowers and fruits, dogs, monkeys, birds, and animals, friars and monks, kings and queens, babes and angels. Happy are the children who are born into large families. It is rare that an only child reaches its fullest development. There is a play, a reciprocal influence, a chipping-off of corners, a balancing, a taking-off of peculiarities, a taking-down of pride, in a large family, which are priceless. The children are sure to pair off in twos, who will fight for one another against the rest, and exchange endless confidences; but, nevertheless, the interchange of repartee and badinage between each with all will go freely forward, and each member of the family will appropriate spoils from the rest. Such free trade in one another’s characteristics prospers best in the light o5 the Yule-log. The Good Cheer! You tell me that there is waste and over-eating, and ask me to rebuke the busy housewives with their market-baskets and bargains, their turkeys, geese, plum-puddings, and mince pies. Well, of course, there should be no extravagance; and we have no right to surfeit ourselves when the poor are starving at our doors. Before we sit down to our Christmas meals, we must provide portions for those that are without. Materials for good dinners must be sent to poor families who live in our immediate neighborhood, or our less prosperous relatives; the charwoman that comes once a week, the widowed mother of the boy who brings the daily paper, the family of the poor crossing-sweep, the respectable old couple that are trying to keep themselves respectable and to avoid as long as possible the workhouse, or the struggling needle woman whose customers will not pay what they owe. Do not be content with giving your guinea to the church or parish fund, but find out the needy and distressed, and with your own hand minister to their need. And then, with an easy conscience, you may sit down to your well-spread board. For my part, I like to see the butchers’ shops with the prize-meat, the poulterers’ with turkeys, geese, and chickens, hanging in rich profusion, the pastry-cook windows with their frosted cakes, and the grocers’ with their dried fruits and candies, their teas and sugars, and all the cunning enticements to mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters, to provide Christmas cheer. And then that great event in the housewife’s year, the Christmas dinner! I like it, not of course for the rich and tempting dainties that resemble the fruit of the forbidden tree, in being pleasant to the eye and good for food; but because of the pleasure it gives the women of our homes in preparing it! Such a vision of arms white with flour, and faces toasted by the fire, and whisperings over new recipes, and mysterious disappearances for hours together in the kitchen, of peeling, mincing, chopping, roasting, mixing, boiling, tasting, here comes over me, that I can but give myself up to congratulation for the opportunity that Christmas brings. Imagine the chance given to so many housewives for planning, scheming, arranging, purchasing, cooking, and serving, which are purely altruistic, of course. Free scope is given to so many unselfish qualities in the preparation of that great event of the year, the Christmas dinner! The Home-Coming! The boys and girls have come back from boarding-school; and those who were fortunate enough not to go away to school have holidays. But this is not all. The eldest daughter, who has been absent the whole year in the distant town, is leaving by the night train, and will be here in the morning; and the grown-up sons will bring their wives, and perhaps their babies; and the little midshipman will be back from the long and weary voyage; Oh, blessed festival of home, when the broken circles are formed again, and olden memories of the golden past are renewed. How many a life is kept sweet and pure amid the evil of the world, by the thought of the Christmas gathering, coming or passed! How shall we gather up all the threads which the hours like swiftly gliding shutters weave? Mother thinks that Mary looks rather over-wrought, and says so to the father, and they have a talk with her. She laughs merrily at their anxiety, and declares she is perfectly well, only tired with the Christmas rush. Then the father says he never saw the boys look so well, he is sure they have grown an inch, and he wants to know if their salaries have been raised. In the middle of the morning the sailor-boy arrives, and his mother kisses again and again the bronzed chubby face. In the afternoon the girls go round to see their girl-friends, not without a hope that their brothers will be at home; and the lads manage to come across the playmates of their boyhood, whose faces have been their guiding stars through many a mile of tossing foam. Then dinner, and the old stories, the well-worn jokes, the reminiscences of what this one did or that in the old days, the babble of voices, the compliments to mother’s cooking, the teasing of the sisters, their scathing answers, the happy, happy play of life and fun, till the whole party from the grandparents to the grandchildren have caught the infection. oh, blessed English homes, the heart of old England can never grow old or sad so long as Christmas comes to stir your smouldering embers into flame! The Gifts! For weeks before, there have been schemings, whisperings, and mysterious parcels brought in under cloaks and secreted in safe places. Hints dropped and caught at! Leading questions suggested! Shops ransacked! Purses emptied! Probably each gets back an equivalent for what he gives; and probably also a good many things are given which are of no kind of use. Still, the thought for each other is lovely. The endeavor to understand one another’s needs is wholesome. And it is always more blessed to give than to receive. What a wealth of giving has been elicited by that Unspeakable Gift which we commemorate at Christmas. Let us put no stint on our gifts, lest the fountains of our life become frozen at the heart. None would become a Dead Sea, always taking in, and never giving out. But let us give, not only to those who can recompense us again, but to such as cannot repay. Thus our Christmas days come and go. The happy party breaks up. We take our several ways, and settle to our pursuits. But the light of the Yule-log flickers still in our hearts, and the love of the home acts as a preservative against the evils of the world. Do you know of lonely ones that have no Christmas circles awaiting them? Find them out, and invite them to join your own. Let there be with you, as with Israel, a tender thoughtfulness for the stranger that is within your gates. And be sure that all the Christmas joy is tinctured with the thought and love of God. Let the old family Bible be opened, and thanks be rendered to him of whom every family in heaven and earth is named. Let nothing be said or done to grieve his gentle and Holy Spirit. Let the home harmonies be keyed to those of heaven. And if there are the empty chairs, the vacant seats, the sad memories of vanished hands and silenced voices, look away to that great home festival in the many mansions’ of the Father’s house, where the severed shall reunite, and the circles be complete, and from horizon to horizon shall be only love and peace and joy. THE END ======================================================================== CHAPTER 16: 02.00. ABRAHAM, OR THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH ======================================================================== Abraham, or the Obedience of Faith By Dr. F.B. Meyer ======================================================================== CHAPTER 17: 02.00C. CONTENT ======================================================================== Table of Contents Chapter 1, The Hole of the Pit Chapter 2, The Divine Summons Chapter 3, He Obeyed Chapter 4, The First of the Pilgrim Fathers Chapter 5, Gone Down Into Egypt Chapter 6, Separated from Lot Chapter 7, The Two Paths Chapter 8, Refreshment Between the Two Battles Chapter 9, Melchizedec Chapter 10, The Firmness of Abraham’s Faith Chapter 11, Watching With God Chapter 12, Hagar, the Slave Girl Chapter 13, Be Thou Perfect Chapter 14, The Sign of the Covenant Chapter 15, The Divine Guest Chapter 16, Pleading for Sodom Chapter 17, Angel Work in a Bad Town Chapter 18, A Bit of the Old Nature Chapter 19, Hagar and Ishmael Cast Out Chapter 20, A Quiet Resting Place Chapter 21, The Greatest Trial of All Chapter 22, Machpelah, and It’s First Tenant Chapter 23, The Soul’s Answer to the Divine Summons Chapter 24, Gathered to His People ======================================================================== CHAPTER 18: 02.00P. PREFACE ======================================================================== PREFACE In sending out from the Press these Studies in the Life of Abraham, I am very sensible of the inadequacy of my attempt to conceive, or portray, one of the greatest characters of History. And yet there is one thought pervading the entire narrative, which brings it near to the poorest limner of its noble outlines. Abraham was great through his faith. And that faith was at first but a silver thread, a tiny streak, an insignificant sinew -- not stronger than that which trembles in the humblest and weakest reader of these lines. But wherever faith is, it is the link with Omnipotence; the channel for the Divine communications; the wire along which the Fire of Heaven may travel. And as it is used according to the promptings of the Divine Spirit, and in obedience to his commands, it will grow. It grew in Abraham. It will grow in us. To trace the laws of that growth, and its gradual increase, for the encouragement of those who by faith are the children of Abraham, and who long with intense desire to emulate their great progenitor, until they can remove mountains of difficulty and achieve apparent impossibilities, has been the great principle on which these pages have been prepared. F. B. Meyer ======================================================================== CHAPTER 19: 02.01. CHAPTER 1, THE HOLE OF THE PIT ======================================================================== CHAPTER ONE THE HOLE OF THE PIT "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran; and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee." -- Acts 7:2-3. "Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father." -- Isaiah 51:1-2. In the gray dawn of history the first great character that arrests our attention at any length is that of Abraham; who would command our notice for this, if for nothing else, that he is spoken of as the "Friend of God." Surely it must be well worthy of our devout consideration to study the inner life, and outward carriage, of such a man: that we too, in our smaller measure, may become -- not servants only, but -- "friends"; the favored confidantes of God -- from whom He will not hide His secrets, to whom He will make known His will. Many rays of interest focus in the story of Abraham. His portrait is drawn with such detail, that it lives before us, with the same hopes and fears, golden hours and hours of depression, that are familiar factors in our own lives. Then, also, his life is so constantly referred to in the Old Testament, and in the New, that it would seem as if the right understanding of it is necessary to give us the clue to many a difficult passage, and many a sacred doctrine in the succeeding pages of the Bible. Nor can it fail to interest us to discover the reason why the wild Bedouin of the desert and the modern Englishman -- the conservative East, and the progressive and swift moving West; the Muslim and the Christian -- can find in the tent of the first Hebrew a common meeting ground, and in himself a common origin. Our story takes us back two thousand years before the birth of Christ, and to the ancient city of Ur. And it may be well, by the aid of modern discovery, to consider the earliest conditions amid which this life was cradled. We like to stand in that lone spot among the hills, where, amid the bracken and the gorse, or from some moss grown basin of rock, there springs forth the river which drains a continent, and flows, laden with navies to the sea. We ask the biographer to tell us something of the scenes amid which a great life was nurtured; because we think that we can better understand its color, current, and drift. So would we thank modern discovery for having cast its lantern on the ruins of that old world city, which was the busy home of life when flocks browsed on the seven hills of Rome; and red deer, light of foot, roamed over the site of St. Paul’s, or came down to drink the undefiled and pellucid waters of the Thames. We must look for Ur, not in Upper Mesopotamia, where a mistaken tradition has fixed it, but in the ruins of Mugheir, in the near vicinity of the Persian Gulf. Forty centuries, slowly silting up the shore, have driven the sea back about a hundred miles. But at the time of which we speak it is probable -1- that Abraham’s natal city stood upon the coast near the spot where the Euphrates poured the volume of its waters into the ocean waves. [-1- The site of Ur is still a matter of discussion, into which I have no desire to enter. I have adopted the more recent suggestion because the distance from Charran seems to comport better with the narrative. The old site assigned to Ur was only a day or two’s march from Charran, and surely Terah would not have broken up his home for so short a journey.] "The present remains of the town consist of a series of low mounds disposed in an oval shape, measuring about two miles in extent, and commanded by a larger mound of seventy feet in height, on which are the remains of what must have been once a vast temple, dedicated to the Moon." [Professor Rawlinson.] In olden days it was a large and flourishing city, standing on the sea, and possessed of fleets of vessels, which coasted along the shores of the Indian Ocean, freighted with the products of the rich and fertile soil. It would be foreign to our purpose to attempt a description of the luxuriance of that Chaldean land, watered by its two mighty streams [The Euphrates and the Tigris], and in which the grain crop was of marvelous abundance, and the date-palm attained to an extraordinary growth, repaying richly the scanty labors of the people; and where pomegranates and apples, grapes and tamarisks grow wild. Suffice it to say, that it was a long green strip of garden land, sufficient to attract and maintain vast populations of men, and specially suitable for the settlement of those shepherd tribes which required extensive pasture lands for their herds and flocks. These sons of Ham were grossly IDOLATROUS. In that clear transparent atmosphere, the heavenly bodies blazed with extraordinary effulgence, beguiling the early Chaldeans into a system of Nature worship, which speedily became identified with rites of gross indulgence and impurity, such as those into which humanity always falls, when it refuses to retain God in its knowledge, and gives itself up to the dictates of its own carnal lusts. The race seemed verging again on the brink of those horrible and unnatural crimes which had already necessitated its almost total destruction; and it was evident that some expedient must be speedily adopted to arrest the progress of moral defilement, and to save mankind. This enterprise was undertaken by Him, whose delights have ever been with the sons of men, and who, in after days, could say, with majestic emphasis, "Before Abraham was, I AM." And He accomplished His purpose then, as so often since, by SEPARATING to Himself one man, that through him and his descendants, when they had been thoroughly purified and prepared, He might operate upon the fallen race of man, recalling it to Himself and elevating it by a moral lever, working on a pivot outside itself. Four centuries had passed away since the Flood; and they must have been centuries abounding in emigrations. Population multiplied more rapidly than now, and all the world was open where to choose. Leaving the first seats of life, swarm after swarm must have hived off in every direction. Surging waves of men, pressed on by hunger, love of conquest, or stronger hordes behind, spread outwards over the world. The sons of Japeth pushed northwards, to colonize Europe and Asia, and to lay the foundations of the great Indo-European family. The sons of Ham pushed southwards, over the fertile plains of Chaldea, where, under the lead of the mighty Nimrod, they built towns of baked clay; reared temples, of which the ruins remain to this day; and cultivated the arts of civilized life to an extent unknown elsewhere. They are said to have been proficient in mathematics and astronomy; in weaving, metalworking, and gem engraving; and to have preserved their thoughts by writing on clay tablets. Now, it so happened, that into the midst of this Hamite colonization there had come a family of the sons of Shem. This clan, under the lead of Terah, had settled down on the rich pasture lands outside Ur. The walled cities, and civilized arts, and merchant traffic, had little attraction for them; as they were rather a race of shepherds, living in tents, or in villages of slightly constructed huts. And if Noah’s prediction were verified (Genesis 9:26), we may believe that their religious life was sweeter and purer than that of the people amongst whom we find them. But, alas! the moral virus soon began its work. The close association of this Shemite family with the idolatrous and abominable practices of the children of Ham, tainted the purity and simplicity of its early faith; and it is certain that a levelling-down process was subtly at work, lowering its standard to that of its neighbors. Joshua (Joshua 24:15) says distinctly that the fathers of the children of Israel, who dwelt beyond the flood of the Euphrates, served other gods. And there are traces of the evil in the home of Laban, from which Rachel stole the images (TERAPHIM), the loss of which so kindled her father’s wrath (Genesis 31:19-35). It is a heavy responsibility for godly people to live amid scenes of notorious godlessness and sin. If they escape the snare, their children may be caught in it. What right have we heedlessly to expose young lives to foul miasma, which may taint and defile them for ever more! And if through the claims of duty we are compelled to live in any such baleful and noxious atmosphere, let us ask that the fire of Divine purity may extent like a cordon of defense around our home; and that our dear ones may dwell in the secret place of the Most High. Amid such scenes ABRAHAM was born, and grew from youth to manhood. But, from the first, if we may credit the traditions which have lingered in the common talk of the unchanging East, he must have possessed no ordinary character. According to those stories, which, if not literally true, are no doubt based on a substratum of fact, as a young man Abraham offered an uncompromising opposition to the evil practices which were rife, not only in the land, but in his father’s house. He employed the weapon of sarcasm, used so effectively afterwards by the prophets to his own descendants. He broke the helpless images to pieces. He refused to bow before the subtle element of fire at the bidding of the monarch, and under the penalty of martyrdom. Thus early was he being detached from the quarry of heathendom, dug from "the hole of the pit," preparatory to being shaped as a pillar in the house of the Lord. There is nothing of all this in Scripture, but there is nothing inconsistent with it. On the contrary, as the peculiar movements of a planet suggest the presence of some celestial body of a definite size, which is yet hidden from view in the depths of space: so the mature character, the faith, and the ready obedience of this man, when he first comes under our notice, convince us that there must have been a long previous period of severe trial and testing. The mushroom is the child of a single night; but the oak, which is a match for the tempest, is the result of long years of sun and air, of breeze and storm. At last, THE GOD OF GLORY APPEARED UNTO HIM. The light had been growing on his vision; and finally the sun broke out from the obscuring clouds. In what form of glory Jehovah revealed Himself we cannot guess; but we must believe that there was some outward manifestation which dated an epoch in Abraham’s life, and gave him unmistakable basis of belief for all his future. Probably the Son, who from all eternity has been the Word of God, arrayed Himself, as afterwards on the plains of Mamre, in an angel form; or spoke to him, as afterwards to Isaiah, from the midst of the burning seraphim (Isaiah 6:1-13). In any case, the celestial vision was accompanied by a call, like that which in all ages of the world has come to loyal hearts, summoning them to awake to their true destiny, and take their place in the regeneration of the world: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee" (Genesis 12:1). If we live up to our light, we shall have more light. If we are faithful in a very little, we may have the opportunity of being faithful in much. If we are steadfast in Chaldea, we may be called out to play a great part in the history of the world. God’s choice is never arbitrary; but is based on some previous traits in those whom He summons from amongst their fellows to His aid. "Whom He foreknew, He also did predestinate." It is impossible to tell into whose hands these words may fall. Young men amid the godless tea-planters of India, or in the wild bush life of Australia. Sailors on shipboard, and soldiers in camp. Lonely confessors of Christ in worldly and vicious societies; where there is everything to weaken, and nothing to reinforce the resistance of the brave but faltering spirit. Let all such take heart! They are treading a well worn path, on which the noblest of mankind have preceded them; and which was much more difficult in days when few were found in it, and specially in that day, when a solitary man, the "father of many nations," trod it. One symptom of being on that path is LONELINESS. "I called him alone" (Isaiah 51:2). It was a loneliness that pressed hard on the heart of Jesus. But it is a loneliness which is assured of the Divine companionship (see John 8:16; John 8:29; John 16:32). And though no eye seems to notice the struggles, and protests, and endeavors of the solitary spirit, they are watched with the sympathy of all heaven; and presently there will be heard a call, like that which started Abraham as a pilgrim, and opened before him the way into marvelous blessedness. Despair not for the future of the world. Out of its heart will yet come those who shall lift it up to a new level. Sauls are being trained in the bosom of the Sanhedrin; Luthers in the cloisters of the Papal Church; Abrahams under the shadows of great heather temples. God knows where to find them. And, when the times are darkest, they shall lead forth a host of pilgrim spirits, numberless as the sand on the seashore; or as the stardust, lying thick through the illimitable expanse of space. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 20: 02.02. CHAPTER 2, THE DIVINE SUMMONS ======================================================================== CHAPTER TWO THE DIVINE SUMMONS "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing." Genesis 12:1-2. Whilst Abraham was living quietly in Ur, protesting against the idolatry of his times, with all its attendant evils, and according to tradition, suffering bitter persecution for conscience sake, "The God of glory appeared unto him, and said, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee" (Acts 7:2-3). This was the first of those marvelous appearances which anticipated the Incarnation; and marked the successive stages of God’s manifestation of Himself to men. When this Divine appearance came we do not know; it may have been in the still and solemn night, or in the evening hour of meditation; or amid the duties of his position: but suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about him, and a visible form appeared in the heart of the glory, and a voice spoke the message of heaven in his ear. Not thus does God now appear to us; and yet it is certain that He still speaks in the silence of the waiting spirit, impressing His will, and saying, "Get thee out." Listen for that voice in the inner shrine of thine heart. This same voice has often spoken since. It called Elijah from Thisbe, and Amos from Tekoa; Peter from his fishing nets, and Matthew from his tollbooth; Cromwell from his farm in Huntington, and Luther from his cloister at Erfurt. It ever sounds the perpetual summons of God, "Come out from her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues"; "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing." Has it not come to you? Strange, if it has not. Yet, if it has, let nothing hinder your obedience; strike your tents, and follow where the God of glory beckons; and in that word COME, understand that He is moving on in front, and that if you would have His companionship, you must follow. (1) THIS CALL INVOLVED HARDSHIP. -- He was a childless man. He had sufficient for the supply of his needs. He was deeply attached to those who were united to him by the close ties of a common nature. It was no small matter for him to break up his camp, to tear himself from his nearest and dearest, and to start for a land which, as yet, he did not know. And so must it always be. The summons of God will ever involve a wrench from much that nature holds dear. We must be prepared to take up our cross daily if we would follow where He points the way. Each step of real advance in the Divine life will involve an altar on which some dear fragment of the self life has been offered; or a cairn beneath which some cherished idol has been buried. It is true that the blessedness which awaits us will more than compensate us for the sacrifices which we may have to make. And the prospect of the future may well allure us forward; but still, when it comes to the point, there is certain anguish as the last link is broken, the last farewell said, and the last look taken of the receding home of past happy years. And this is God’s winnowing fan, which clearly separates chaff and wheat. Many cannot endure a test so severe and searching in its demands. Like Pliable, they get out of the slough by the side nearest to their home. Like the young man, they go away sorrowful from the One to whom they had come with haste. Shall this be the case with you? Will you hear the call of God and shrink back from its cost? Count the cost clearly indeed; but, having done so, go forward in the name and by the strength of Him in whom all things are possible and easy and safe. And in doing so you will approve yourself worthy to stand with Christ in the regeneration. Nothing is more clear than that, in these critical days, God is summoning the whole Church to a great advance, not only in knowledge, and in spiritual experience, but also in the evangelization of the world. Blessed are they who are privileged to have a share in this sublime campaign! (2) BUT THIS CALL WAS EMINENTLY WISE. -- It was wise for ABRAHAM HIMSELF. Nothing strengthens us so much as isolation and transplantation. Let a young man emigrate, or be put into a responsible position; let him be thrown on his own resources -- and he will develop powers of which there would have been no trace, if he had always lived at home, dependent on others, and surrounded by luxury. Under the wholesome demand his soul will put forth all her native vigor. But what is true of the natural qualities of the soul is preeminently true of faith. So long as we are quietly at rest amid favorable and undisturbed surroundings, faith sleeps as an undeveloped sinew within us; a thread, a germ, an idea. But when we are pushed out from all these surroundings, with nothing but God to look to, then faith grows suddenly into a cable, a monarch oak, a master principle of the life. As long as the bird lingers by the nest, it will not know the luxury of flight. As long as the trembling boy holds to the bank, or toes the bottom, he will not learn the ecstasy of battling with the ocean wave. As long as men cling to the material, they cannot appreciate the reality of the promises of God. Abram could never have become Abraham, the father of the faithful, the mighty exemplar of faith, if he had always lived in Ur. No; he must quit his happy home, and journey forth into the untried and unknown, that faith may rise up to all its glorious proportions in his soul. It may not be necessary for us to withdraw from home and friends; but we shall have to withdraw our heart’s deepest dependence from all earthly props and supports, if ever we are to learn what it is to trust simply and absolutely on the eternal God. It may be that He is breaking away just now the shores on which we have been leaning, that the ship may glide down upon the ocean wave. It was wise FOR THE WORLD’S SAKE. On this one man rested the hope for the future of the world. Had he remained in Ur, it is impossible to say whether he would have continued true; or whether he might not have been seriously infected by the idolatry around. Or, even if he had been enabled to resist the adverse influences, his family, and, above all, his children, might have failed beneath the terrible ordeal. Was it not, therefore, wise for the world’s sake, and for the sake of the Divine purposes, that he should be taken right away from his home and early associations, to find a fresh religious starting point for the human race, on new soil, and under new conditions? Was it not thus that, in days of abounding vice and superstition, God led the Pilgrim Fathers to cross the seas, and found a new world, on the inhospitable shores of New England? And has it not been the plan of the Divine government in all ages? It is impossible to move our times, so long as we live beneath their spell; but when once we have risen up, and gone, at the call of God, outside their pale, we are able to react on them with an irresistible power. Archimedes vaunted that he could lift the world, if only he could obtain, outside of it, a pivot on which to rest his lever. Do not be surprised then, if God calls you out to be a people to Himself, that by you He may react with blessed power on the great world of men. Sometimes, indeed, He bids us stay where we are, to glorify Him there. But oftenest He bids us leave unhallowed companionships, irreligious associations, evil fellowships and partnerships, and at great cost to get ourselves away into the isolation of a land which He promises to reveal. (3) THIS CALL WAS ACCOMPANIED BY PROMISE. -- God’s commands are not always accompanied by reasons, but always by promises, expressed or understood. To give reasons would excite discussion; but to give a promise shows that the reason, though hidden, is all sufficient. We can understand the promise, though the reason might baffle and confuse us. The reason is intellectual, metaphysical, spiritual; but a promise is practical, positive, literal. As a shell encloses a kernel, so do the Divine commands hide promises in their heart. If this is the command: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ"; this is the promise: "And thou shalt be saved." If this is the command: "Sell that though hast and give to the poor"; this is the promise: "Thou shalt have treasure in heaven." If this is the command: "Leave father and mother, houses and lands"; this is the promise: "Thou shalt have a hundred fold here, and everlasting life beyond." If this is the command: "Be ye separate"; this is the promise: "I will receive you and be a Father to you." So in this case: Though thou art childless, I will make of thee a great nation: though thou art the youngest son, I will bless thee, and make thy name great: though thou art to be torn from thine own family, in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And each of those promises has been literally fulfilled. It may seem that the hardships involved in the summons to exile are too great to be borne; yet study well the promise which is attached. And as the "City which hath foundations" looms on the view, it will dwarf the proportions of the Ur in which you have been content to spend your days; and you will rise to be gone. Sometimes, therefore, it seems easier not to dwell on the sacrifice involved, but on the contents of the Divine and gracious promise. Bid people take; and they will give up of themselves. Let men find in Jesus the living water, and, like the woman of Samaria, they will leave their water pots. Fire the hearts of the young with all the beauty and blessedness of the service of Jesus; and they will not find it so hard to leave nets, and fishing boats, and friends, to forsake all and follow Him. "When it pleased God to reveal His Son in me... immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." St. Francis de Sales used to say, "When the house is on fire, men are ready to throw everything out of the window; and when the heart is full of God’s true love, men are sure to count all else but worthless." (4) THIS CALL TEACHES US THE MEANING OF ELECTION. --Everywhere we find beings and things more loftily endowed than others of the same kind. This is markedly evident in the religious sphere. And there is at first a jarring wonder at the apparent inequality of the Divine arrangements; until we understand that the superior endowment of the few is intended to enable them the better to help and bless the rest. "I will bless thee, and thou shalt be a blessing." A great thinker feels that his end is approaching; he has made grand discoveries, but he has not as yet given them to the world. He selects one of his most promising pupils, and carefully indoctrinates him with his system; he is very severe on any inaccuracies and mistakes; he is very careful to give line on line. Why does he take all this care? For the sake of the young man? Not exclusively for the pupil’s benefit; but that he may be able to give to the world those thoughts which his dying master has confided to his care. The young disciple is blessed that he may pass the blessings on to others. Is not this a glimpse into the intention of God, in selecting Abraham, and in him the whole family of Israel? It was not so much with a view to their personal salvation, though that was included; but that they might pass on the holy teachings and oracles with which they were entrusted. It would have been worse than useless to have given such jewels directly to mankind. As well put a gorgeous banquet before a hungry babe. To say the least, there was no language ready in which to enshrine the sacred thoughts of God. The genius of truth required that the minds of men should be prepared to apprehend its sacred lessons. It was needful that definitions and methods of expression should be first well learnt by the people, who, when they had learnt them, might become the teachers of mankind. The deep question is, whether election has not much more to do with our ministry than with our personal salvation. It brings less of rest, and peace, and joy, than it does of anguish, bitterness, and sorrow of heart. There is no need to envy God’s elect ones. They are the exiles, the cross bearers, the martyrs amongst men; but careless of themselves, they are all the while learning God’s deepest lessons, away from the ordinary haunts of men; and they return to them presently with discoveries that pass all human thought, and are invaluable for human life. (5) THIS CALL GIVES THE KEY TO ABRAHAM’S LIFE. -- It rang a clarion note at the very outset, which continued to vibrate through all his after history. The key to Abraham’s life is the word "Separation." He was from the first to last a SEPARATED MAN. Separated from his fatherland and kinsfolk; separated from Lot; separated, as a pilgrim and stranger, from the people of the land; separated from his own methods of securing a fulfillment of the promises of God; separated from the rest of mankind by special sorrows, which brought him into closer fellowship with God than has ever been reached by man; separated to high and lofty fellowship in thoughts and plans, which God could not hide from him. BUT IT WAS THE SEPARATION OF FAITH. There is a form of separation known amongst men, in which the lonely soul goes apart, to secure uninterrupted leisure for devotion; spending the slow passing hours in vigil, fasting, and prayer; hoping to win salvation as the guerdon of its austerities. This is not the separation to which God called Abraham, or to which we are summoned. Abraham’s separation is not like that of those who wish to be saved; but rather that of those who are saved. Not towards the Cross, but from it. Not to merit anything, but, because the heart has seen the Vision of God, and cannot now content itself with the things that once fascinated and entranced it; so that leaving them behind, it reaches out its hands in eager longing for eternal realities, and thus is led gradually and insensibly out and away from the seen to the unseen, and from temporal to the eternal. May such separation be ours! May we catch the Divine Call, irradiated by the Divine Promise! And as we hear of that fair land, of that glorious city, of those Divine delights which await us, may we leave and relinquish those lesser and injurious things which have held us too long, spoiling our peace, and sapping our power; and, striking our tents, obey our God’s behest, though it may lead us whither we know not! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 21: 02.03. CHAPTER 3, HE OBEYED ======================================================================== CHAPTER THREE "HE OBEYED" "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed." -- Hebrews 11:8. Ah, how much there is in those two words! Blessedness in heart, and home, and life; fulfilled promises; mighty opportunities of good -- lie along the narrow, thorn-set path of obedience to the word and will of God. If Abraham had permanently refused obedience to the voice that summoned him to sally forth on his long and lonely pilgrimage, he would have sunk back into the obscurity of an unknown grave in the land of Ur, like many an Eastern sheikh before and since. So does the phosphorescent wave flash for a moment in the wake of the vessel ploughing her way by night through the southern seas; and then it is lost to sight for ever. But, thank God, Abraham obeyed, and in that act laid the foundation-stone of the noble structure of his life. It may be that some will read these words whose lives have been a disappointment, and a sad surprise; like some young fruit tree, laden in spring with blossom, but which, in the golden autumn stands barren and alone amid the abundant fruitage of the orchard. You have not done what you expected to do. You have not fulfilled the prognostications of your friends. You have failed to realize the early promise of your life. And may not the reason lie in this, that away back in your life, there rang out a command which summoned you to an act of self-sacrifice from which you shrank? And THAT has been your one fatal mistake. The worm at the root of the gourd. The little rot within the timber. The false step, which deflected the life-course from the King’s highway into a blind alley. Would it not be well to ascertain if this be not so, and to hasten back to fulfil even now the long-delayed obedience, supposing it to be possible? Oh, do not think that it is now too late to repair the error of the past; or that the Almighty God will now refuse, on account of your delay, that to which He once summoned you in the young, glad years, which have taken their flight for ever. "He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in goodness and truth." Do not use your long delay as an argument for longer delay, but as a reason for immediate action. "Why tarriest thou?" Abraham, as the story shows, at first met the call of God with a mingled and partial obedience; and then for long years neglected it entirely. But the door stood still open for him to enter, and that gracious Hand still beckoned him; until he struck his tents, and started to cross the mighty desert with all that owned his sway. It was a partial failure, which is pregnant with invaluable lessons for ourselves. (1) AT FIRST, THEN, ABRAHAM’S OBEDIENCE WAS ONLY PARTIAL. --HE TOOK TERAH WITH HIM; indeed, it is said that "Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees" (Genesis 11:31). How Terah was induced to leave the land of his choice, and the graves of his dead, where his son Haran slept, we cannot tell. Was Abraham his favorite son, from whom he could not part? Was he dissatisfied with his camping grounds? Or, had he been brought to desire an opportunity of renouncing his idols, and beginning a better life amid healthier surroundings? We do not know. This, at least, is clear, that he was not whole-hearted; nor were his motives unmixed; and his presence in the march had the disastrous effect of slackening Abraham’s pace, and of interposing a parenthesis of years in an obedience which, at first, promised so well. Days which break in sunlight are not always bright throughout; mists, born of earth, ascend and veil the sky: but eventually the sun breaks out again, and, for the remaining hours of daylight, shines in a sky unflecked with cloud. It was so with Abraham. The clan marched leisurely along the valley of the Euphrates, finding abundance of pasture in its broad alluvial plains, until at last Haran was reached; the point from which caravans for Canaan leave the Euphrates to strike off across the desert. There they halted, and there they stayed till Terah died. Was it that the old man was too weary for further journeyings? Did he like Haran too well to leave it? Did heart and flesh fail, as he looked out on that far expanse of level sand, behind which the sun set in lurid glory every night? In any case, he would go no farther on the pilgrimage, and probably for as many as fifteen years, Abraham’s obedience was stayed; and for that period there were no further commands, no additional promises, no hallowed communings between God and His child. It becomes us to be very careful as to whom we take with us in our pilgrimage. We may make a fair start from our Ur; but if we take Terah with us, we shall not go far. Take care, young pilgrim to eternity, to whom you mate yourself in the marriage-bond. Beware, man of business, lest you find your Terah in the man with whom you are entering into partnership. Let us all beware of that fatal spirit of compromise, which tempts us to tarry where beloved ones bid us to stay. "Do not go to extremes," they cry; "we are willing to accompany you on your pilgrimage, if you will only go as far as Haran! Why think of going farther on a fool’s errand -- and whither you do not know?" Ah! this is hard to bear, harder far than outward opposition. Weakness and infirmity appeal to our feelings against our better judgment. The plains of Capua do for warriors what the arms of Rome failed to accomplish. And, tempted by the bewitching allurements, which hold out to us their syren attractions, we imitate the sailors of Ulysses, and vow we will go no farther in quest of our distant goal. "When his father was dead, He removed him into this land" (Acts 7:4). Death had to interpose, to set him free from the deadly incubus which held him fast. Terah must die ere Abraham will resume the forsaken path. Here we may get a solution for mysteries in God’s dealings with us, which have long puzzled us; and understand why our hopes have withered, our schemes have miscarried, our income has dwindled, our children have turned against us. All these things were hindering our true development; and, out of mercy to our best interests, God has been compelled to take the knife in hand, and set us at liberty. He loves us so much that He dares to bear the pain of inflicting pain. And thus Death opens the door to Life, and through the grave we pass into the glad world of Hope and Promise which lies upon its farther side. "Glory to God, ’to God,’ he saith. Knowledge by suffering entereth, And life is perfected through death." (2) ABRAHAM’S OBEDIENCE WAS RENDERED POSSIBLE BY HIS FAITH. "So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him. And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot, his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth" (Genesis 12:5). No easy matter that! It was bitter to leave the kinsfolk that had gathered around him; for Nahor seems to have followed his old father and brother up the valley to their new settlement at Haran, and we find his family living there afterwards. [Compare Genesis 11:29; Genesis 22:20-24; Genesis 24:10; Genesis 27:43.] There was no overcrowding in those ample pastures. And to crown the whole, the pilgrim actually did not know his destination, as he proposed to turn his back on the Euphrates, and his face towards the great desert. Do you not suppose that Nahor would make this the one subject of his attack? "What do you want more, by brother, which you cannot have here?" "I want nothing but to do the will of God, wherever it may lead me." "Look at the dangers: you cannot cross the desert, or go into a new country without arousing the jealousy of some, and the cupidity of others. You would be no match for a troop of robbers, or an army of freebooters." "But He who bids me go must take all the responsibility of that upon Himself. He will care for us." "Tell me, only, whither you are going, and where you propose to settle." "That is a question I cannot answer; for, indeed, you know as much about it as I do myself. But I am sure that if I take one day’s march at a time, that will be made clear -- and the next -- and the next -- until at last I am able to settle in the country which God has selected for me somewhere." This surely was the spirit of many a conversation that must have taken place on the eve of that memorable departure. And the equivalents to our words, "Enthusiast," "Fanatic," "Fool." would be freely passed from mouth to mouth. But Abraham would quietly answer: "God has spoken; God has promised; God will do better for me than ever He has said." At night, as he walked to and fro beneath the stars, he may have sometimes been inclined to give up in despair; but then that sure promise came back again on his memory, and he braced himself to obey. "BY FAITH Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place, which he should after receive for an inheritance, OBEYED" (Hebrews 11:8). Whither he went, he knew not; it was enough for him to know that he went with God. He leant not so much upon the promise as upon the Promiser: he looked not on the difficulties of his lot --but on the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God; who had deigned to appoint his course, and would certainly vindicate Himself. And so the caravan started forth. The camels, heavily laden, attended by their drivers. The vast flocks mingling their bleatings with their drovers’ cries. The demonstrative sorrow of Eastern women mingling with the grave farewells of the men. The forebodings in many hearts of imminent danger and prospective disaster. Sarah may even have been broken down with bitter regrets. But Abraham faltered not. He staggered not through unbelief. He "knew whom he had believed, and was persuaded that He was able to keep that which he had committed to Him against that day." "He was fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was able also to perform." Moreover, the sacred writer tells us that already some glimpses of the "city which hath foundations," and of the "better country, the heavenly," had loomed upon his vision; and that fair vision had loosened his hold upon much which otherwise would have fascinated and fastened him. Ah, glorious faith! this is thy work, these are thy possibilities! -- contentment to sail with sealed orders, because of unwavering confidence in the love and wisdom of the Lord High Admiral: willinghood to arise up, leave all, and follow Christ, because of the glad assurance that earth’s best cannot bear comparison with heaven’s least. (3) ABRAHAM’S OBEDIENCE WAS FINALLY VERY COMPLETE. "They went forth to go into the land of Canaan, AND INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN THEY CAME" (Genesis 12:5). For many days after leaving Haran, the eye would sweep a vast monotonous waste, broken by the scantiest vegetation; the camels treading the soft sand beneath their spreading, spongy feet; and the flecks finding but scanty nutriment on the coarse, sparse grass. At one point only would the travellers arrest their course. In the oasis, where Damascus stands today, it stood then, furnishing a welcome resting-place to weary travellers over the waste. A village near Damascus is still called by the patriarch’s name. And Josephus tells us that in his time a suburb of Damascus was called "the habitation of Abraham". And there is surely a trace of his slight sojourn there in the name of his favorite and most trusted servant, Eliezer of Damascus, of whom we shall read anon. But Abraham would not stay here. The luxuriance and beauty of the place were very attractive; but he could not feel that it was God’s choice for him. And, therefore, ere long he was again on the southern track, to reach Canaan as soon as he could. Our one aim in life must ever be to follow the will of God, and to walk in those ways in the which He has pre-ordained for us to walk. Many a Damascus oasis, where ice-cold waters descending from mountain ranges spread through the fevered air a delicious coolness, and temper the scorching heat by abundant verdure, tempts us to tarry. Many a Peter, well-meaning but mistaken, lays his hand on us, saying "This shall not be unto thee: spare thyself." Many a conspirator within the heart counsels a general mutiny against the lonely, desolate will. And it is well when the pilgrim of eternity refuses to stay short, in any particular, of perfect consecration and obedience to the extreme demands of God. When you go forth to go into the land of Canaan, do not rest until into the land of Canaan you come. Anything short of complete obedience nullifies all that has been done. The Lord Jesus must have all or none; and His demands must be fulfilled up to the hilt. But they are not grievous. What a glorious testimony was that which our Master uttered when He said, "The Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." Would that it might be true of each of us! Let us henceforth give to Christ our prompt and unlimited obedience; sure that, even if He bids us ride into the valley of death, it is through no blunder or mistake, but out of some sheer necessity, which forbids Him to treat us otherwise, and which He will ere long satisfactorily explain. "Ours not to make reply, Ours not to reason why, Ours but to do and die." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 22: 02.04. CHAPTER 4, THE FIRST OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS ======================================================================== CHAPTER FOUR THE FIRST OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS Genesis 12:4-9 "Abram departed" (Genesis 12:4). "Abram passed through" (Genesis 12:6). "Abram went forth" (Genesis 12:5). "Abram removed" (Genesis 12:8). "Abram journeyed" (Genesis 12:9). "He went out, not knowing whither he went." -- Hebrews 11:8. All through the history of mankind there has been a little band of men, in a sacred and unbroken succession, who have confessed that they were pilgrims and strangers upon earth. Not more certainly does the scallop-shell on the monument of the cathedral aisle indicate that he whose dust lies beneath once went on pilgrimage beyond the seas, than do certain indications, not difficult to note, betray the pilgrims of the Unseen and Eternal. Sometimes they are found afar from the haunts of men, wandering in deserts and in mountains, dwelling in the dens and caves of the earth -- to which they have been driven by those who had no sympathy with their other-worldliness, and hated to have so strong a light thrown on their own absorption in the concerns of the earth, and time, and sense. But very often they are to be found in the market-places and homes of men, distinguished only by their simpler dress; their girded loins; their restrained and abstemious appetite; their loose hold on gold; their independence of the maxims and opinions and applause of the world around; and the far-away look which now and again gleams in their eyes, the certain evidence of affections centered, not on the transitory things of time and earth, but on those eternal realities which, lying beneath the veil of the visible, are only revealed to faith. These are the pilgrims. For them the annoyances and trials of life are not so crushing or so difficult to bear; because such things as these cannot touch their true treasure, or affect their real interest. For them the royalties and glories; the honors and rewards; the delights and indulgences of men -- have no attraction. They are children of a sublimer realm, members of a greater commonwealth, burgesses of a nobler city than any upon which the sun has ever looked. Foreigners may mulct an Englishman of all his spending money; but he can well afford to lose it, if all his capital is safely invested at home, in the Bank of England. How can a dukedom in some petty principality present attractions to the scion of an empire, who is passing hastily through the tiny territory, as fast as steam and wealth can carry him, to assume the supreme authority of a mighty monarchy? The pilgrim has no other desire than to pass quickly over the appointed route to his home -- a track well trodden through all ages -- fulfilling the duties, meeting the claims, and discharging faithfully the responsibilities devolving upon him, but ever remembering that here he has no continuing city, and seeks one which is to come. The immortal dreamer, who has told the story of the pilgrims in words which the world will never let die, gives three marks of their appearance: First: "They were clothed with such kind of raiment as was diverse from the raiment of any that traded in that fair. The people, therefore, of the fair made a great gazing upon them; some said they were fools, some they were Bedlams; and some they were outlandish men." Secondly: "Few could understand what they said, they naturally spoke the language of Canaan: but they that kept the fair were the men of this world; so that from one end of the fair to the other they seemed barbarians to each other." Thirdly: "But that which did not a little amuse the merchandisers was, that these pilgrims set very light by all their wares; they cared not so much as to look upon them, and if they called on them to buy, they would put their fingers in their ears, and cry, TURN AWAY MINE EYES FROM BEHOLDING VANITY, and look upwards, signifying that their trade and traffic was in heaven." Evidently this type of man was well known when the great dreamer dreamt -- and long before. For the Apostle Peter wrote to scattered strangers (1 Peter 1:1), and reminded them AS STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS, to abstain from fleshly lusts. And long before that day, in the sunniest period of Jewish prosperity, David, in the name of his people, confessed that they were STRANGERS AND SOJOURNERS AS WERE ALL THEIR FATHERS; and that their days on earth were as a shadow on the hills, now covering long leagues of landscape, and then hasting away, chased by glints of brilliant sun. We left the patriarch moving leisurely southward; and thus he continued to journey forward through the land of promise, making no permanent halt, till he reached the place of Sichem, or Shechem, in the very heart of the land, where our Lord in after-years sat weary by the well. There was no city or settlement there then. The country was sparsely populated. The only thing that marked the site was a venerable oak, whose spreading arms in later ages were to shadow the excesses of a shameful idolatry [see Judges 9:27-46; 1 Kings 12:25]. Beneath this oak on the plain of Sichem, the camp was pitched; and there, at last, the long silence was broken, which had lasted since the first summons was spoken in Chaldea, "And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him" (Genesis 12:7). He did not, however, stay there permanently, but moved a little to the south, to a place between Bethel and Ai; where, according to Dr. Robinson, there is now a high and beautiful plain, presenting one of the finest tracts of pasturage in the whole country. Three things then engage our thought: the Tent, the Altar, and the Promise. (1) THE TENT. -- When Abraham left Haran his age was seventy-five. When he died he was one hundred and seventy-five years old. And he spent that intervening century moving to and fro, dwelling in a frail and flimsy tent, probably of dark camel’s hair, like that of the Bedouin of the present day. And that tent was only a befitting symbol of the spirit of his life. He held himself aloof from the people of the land. He was among them, but not of them. He did not attend their tribal gatherings. He carefully guarded against inter-marriage with their children, sending to his own country to obtain a bride for his son. He would not take from the Canaanites a thread or a sandal-thong. He insisted on paying full market value for all he received. He did not stay in any permanent location, but was ever on the move. The tent which had no foundations; which could be erected and struck in half-an-hour -- this was the apt symbol of his life. Frequently may the temptation have been presented to his mind of returning to Haran, where he could settle in the town, identified with his family. Nor were opportunities to return wanting (Hebrews 11:15). But he deliberately preferred the wandering life of Canaan to the settled home of Charran; and to the end he still dwelt in a tent. It was from a tent that he was carried to lie beside Sarah in Machpelah’s rocky cave. And why? The question is fully answered in that majestic chapter which recounts the triumphs of faith. "Abraham dwelt in tents, because he looked for the City which hath the foundations" (Hebrews 11:9 RV). Precisely so: and the tent-life is the natural one for those who feel that their fatherland lies beyond the stars. It is of the utmost importance that the children of God should live this detached life as a testimony to the world. How will people believe us, when we talk about our hope, if it does not wean us from excessive devotion to the things around us? If we are quite as eager, or careworn; quite as covetous or grasping; quite as dependent on the pleasures and fascinations of this passing world --as themselves: may they not begin to question whether our profession be true on the one hand; or whether after all there be a real city yonder on the other. We must not go on as we are. Professing Christians are too much taken up in business cares, in pleasure-seeking, in luxury, and self-indulgence. There is a slight difference between the children of the kingdom and the children of this generation. The shrewdest observer could hardly detect any in their homes, in the education of their children, in their dress, or in their methods of doing business. They eat, they drink; they buy, they sell; they plant, they build; they marry, they give in marriage -- though the flood in already breaking through the crumbling barriers to sweep them all away. Yet how is it to be altered? Shall we denounce the present practice? Shall we inveigh against the reckless worldliness of the times? This will not effect a permanent cure. Let us rather paint with glowing colors that City which John saw. Let us unfold the glories of that world to which we are bound. Let us teach that even here, the self-denying, resolute, and believing spirit may daily tread the golden pavement, and hear even the symphonies of angel harps; and surely there will come into many a life a separateness of heart and walk which shall impress men with the reality of the unseen, as no sermon could do, however learned or eloquent. (2) THE ALTAR. -- Wherever Abraham pitched his tent, he built an altar. Thus the Pilgrim Fathers, on the shores of the New World, set up their altars of worship even before they reared their homes. And long after the tent was shifted, the altar stood to show where the man of God had been. Ah, it would be a blessed token of our religious fervor if we could set up altars in every house where we pass the night, and in every locality where it might be our hap to live, setting the example of private and family prayer, which would live long after we had passed away. If we would only dare to do it, the very Canaanites would come to revere the spot where we had knelt, and would hand on the sacred tradition, stirring coming generations to kneel there also, and call upon the name of the Lord. Let us also remember that the altar means sacrifice, whole burnt-offering, self-denial, and self-surrender. In this sense the altar and the tent must ever go together. We cannot live the detached tent-life without some amount of pain and suffering, such as the altar bespeaks. But it is out of such a life that there spring the most intense devotion, the deepest fellowship, the happiest communion. If your private prayer has been lately hindered, it may be that you have not been living enough in the tent. The tent-life of separation is sure to produce the altar of self-denial and of heavenly fellowship. Confess that you are a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth; and you will find it pleasant and natural to call on the name of the Lord. We do not read of Abraham building an altar, so long as he dwelt in Charran; he could not have fellowship with God whilst living in open disobedience to Him; or as long as he was ensconced comfortably in a settled life. But out of the heart of the real pilgrim life there sprang longings, desires, and aspirations, which could only be satisfied by the altars which marked his progress from place to place. But Abraham’s altar was not for himself alone. At certain periods the whole clan gathered there for common worship. A motley group that, in which slaves bought in Egypt or Ur mingled with those born in the camp; in which children and parents, young and old, stood in silent awe around the altar, where the patriarch stood to offer their common sacrifice and worship. "I know Abraham," said God, "that he will command his children and his household after him" (Genesis 18:19). He, in whom all families of the earth were to be blessed, practised family religion; and in this he sets a striking example to many Christians whose homes are altar-less. Would that Christians might be stirred by the example of the patriarch to erect the family altar, and to gather around it the daily circle of their children and dependents, for the sweetening and ennobling of their family life! Many an evil thing, like the gargoyles on the cathedral towers, would be driven forth before the hallowing influence of praise and prayer. (3) THE PROMISE. -- "Unto thy seed will I give this land" (Genesis 12:7). As soon as Abraham had fully obeyed, this new promise broke upon his ear. And it is ever thus. Disobey -- and you tread a path unlit by a single star. Obey, live up to the claims of God -- and successive promises beam out from heaven to light your steps, each one richer and fuller than the one before. Hitherto God had pledged Himself only to show the land: now He bound Himself to give it. The separated pilgrim-life always obtains promises. There was no natural probability of that promise being fulfilled. "The Canaanite was then in the land." Powerful chieftains like Mamre and Eschcol; flourishing towns like Sodom, Salem, and Hebron; the elements of civilization -- all were there. The Canaanites were not wandering tribes. They had settled and taken root. They built towns, and tilled the land. They knew the use of money and writing; and administered justice in the gate. Every day built up their power, and made it more unlikely that they could ever be dispossessed by the descendants of a childless shepherd. But God had said it; and so it came to pass. "The counsel of the Lord standeth fast for ever; the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Psalms 33:11). I know not what promise may be over-arching your life, my reader, with its bow of hope; but this is certain, that if you fulfil its conditions, and live up to its demands, it will be literally and gloriously fulfilled. Look not at the difficulties and improbabilities that block the path, but at the might and faithfulness of the Promiser. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words shall not pass away." Not one jot or tittle shall fail (Mark 13:31; Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:17). And promise after promise shall light your life, like safety lighthouses at night along a rocky coast, which pass the vessel onward, till at the last the rays of the rising sun shine full on the haven where the mariner would be. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 23: 02.05. CHAPTER 5, GONE DOWN INTO EGYPT ======================================================================== CHAPTER FIVE GONE DOWN INTO EGYPT "Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land [of Canaan]." -- Genesis 12:10. The path of the separated man can never be an easy one. He must be willing to stand alone; to go outside the camp; and to forego the aid of many of those supplies on which other men freely draw. It is a life, therefore, which is only possible to Faith. When Faith is strong, we dare cut ourselves adrift from the moorings which coupled us to the shore; and launch out into the deep, depending only on the character and word of Him at whose command we go. But when Faith is weak, we dare not do it; and, leaving the upland path, we herd with the men of the world, who have their portion in this life, and who are content with that alone. Ah, how can we say enough of His tender mercy, who, at such times, bends over us, with infinite compassion, waiting to lift us back into the old heroic life! "And there was a famine in the land." -- A famine? A famine in the Land of Promise? Yes, as afterwards, so then; the rains that usually fall in the latter part of the year had failed; the crops had become burnt up with the sun’s heat before the harvest; and the herbage, which should have carpeted the uplands with pasture for the flocks, was scanty, or altogether absent. If a similar calamity were to befall us now, we could still draw sufficient supplies for our support from abroad. But Abraham had no such resource. A stranger in a strange land; surrounded by suspicion and hostile peoples; weighted with the responsibility of vast flocks and herds -- it was no trivial matter to stand face to face with the sudden devastation of famine. Did it prove that he had made a mistake in coming to Canaan? Happily the promise which had lately come to him forbade his entertaining the thought. And this may have been one principal reason why it was given. It came, not only as a reward for the past, but as a preparation for the future; so that the man of God might not be tempted beyond what he was able to bear. Our Savior has His eye on our future, and sees from afar the enemy which is gathering its forces to attack us, or is laying its plans to beguile and entrap our feet. His heart is not more careless of us than, under similar circumstances, it was of Peter, in the darkening hour of his trial, when He prayed for him that his faith might not fail, and washed his feet with an inexpressible solemnity. And thus it often happens that a time of special trial is ushered in by the shining forth of the Divine presence, and the declaration of some unprecedented promise. Happy are they who gird themselves with these Divine preparations, and so pass unhurt through circumstances which otherwise would crush them with their inevitable pressure. How often do professing Christians adopt a hurt and injured tone in speaking of God’s dealings with them! They look back upon a sunny past, and complain that it was better with them before they entered the wicket gate and commenced to tread the narrow way. Since that moment they have met with nothing but disaster. They had no famines in Ur or Charran; but now, in the Land of Promise, they are put to sore straits and are driven to their wits’ end. The trader has met with bad debts, which sorely embarrass him; the capitalist has been disappointed in several of his most promising investments; the farmer has been disheartened by a succession of bad seasons. And they complain that the service of God has brought them misfortune rather than a blessing. But is not this the point to be borne in mind on the other side? These misfortunes would probably have come in any case; and how much less tolerable would they have been had there not been the new sweet consciousness that God had now become the refuge of the soul! Besides this, God our Father does not undertake to repay His children in the base coin of this lower world. Spiritual grace will ever be its own reward. Purity, truth, gentleness, devotion, have no equivalent in the ore drawn from the mines of Peru, nor in the pearls of the sea; but in the happy consciousness of the heart at peace with God, and rejoicing in His smile. Had God pledged Himself to give His servants an unbroken run of prosperity, how many more counterfeit Christians would there be! Well is it that He has made no such promise; though it is certainly true that "godliness has the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Do not be surprised if a famine meets you. It is no proof of your Father’s anger, but is permitted to come to test you -- or to root you deeper, as the whirlwind makes the tree grapple its roots deeper into the soil. "And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there." -- What a marvelous history is that of Egypt, linking successive centuries. Full of mystery, wonder, and deep thinking on the destiny of man. The land of Pyramid and Sphinx, and mighty dynasties, and of the glorious Nile. We need not wonder that Egypt has ever been one of the granaries of the world, when we recall the periodic inundation of that marvelous river, which preserves the long narrow strip of green between far-reaching wastes of sand. Thither in all ages all countries have come, as Joseph’s brethren did, to buy grain. The ship in which the Apostle Paul was conveyed to Rome was a grain ship of Alexandria, bearing a freight of wheat for the consumption of Rome. In the figurative language of Scripture, Egypt stands for alliance with the world, and dependence on an arm of flesh. "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses; and trust in chariots because they are many; and in horsemen because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!" (Isaiah 31:1) There were occasions in Jewish story when God Himself bade His servants seek a temporary asylum in Egypt. Whilst Jacob was halting in indecision on the confines of Canaan, longing to go to Joseph, and yet reluctant to repeat the mistakes of the past, Jehovah said, "I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt" (Genesis 46:3-4). And, in later days, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt" (Matthew 2:13). There may be times in all our lives when God may clearly indicate that it is His will for us to go out into the world, with a view of accomplishing some Divine purpose with respect to it. "Go, shine as lights," He seems to say. "Arrest corruption, even as salt does. Witness for Me where My name is daily blasphemed." And when God sends us, by the undoubted call of His providence, He will be as sure to keep and deliver us as He did Jacob and his seed, or the Holy Child. But it does not appear that Abraham received any such Divine direction. He acted simply on his own judgment. He looked at his difficulties. He became paralyzed with fear. He grasped at the first means of deliverance which suggested itself, much as a drowning man will catch at a straw. And thus, without taking counsel of his heavenly Protector, he went down into Egypt. Ah, fatal mistake! But how many make it still. They may be true children of God; and yet, in a moment of panic, they will adopt methods of delivering themselves which, to say the least, are questionable; and sow the seeds of sorrow and disaster in life after, to save themselves from some minor embarrassment. Christian women plunge into the marriage bond with those who are the enemies of God, in order that they may be carried through some financial difficulty. Christian merchants take ungodly partners into business for the sake of the capital they introduce. To enable them to stave off the pressure of difficulties, and to maintain their respectability, Christian people of all grades will court the help of the world. What is all this -- but going down to Egypt for help? How much better would it have been for Abraham to have thrown the responsibility back on God, and to have said, "Thou hast brought me here; and Thou must now bear the whole weight of providing for me and mine: here will I stay till I clearly know what Thou wilt have me to do." If any should read these lines who have come into positions of extreme difficulty, through following the simple path of obedience, let them not look at God through difficulties, as we see the sun shorn of splendor through a fog; but let them look at difficulties through God. Let them put God between themselves and the disasters which threaten them. Let them cast the whole responsibility upon Him. Has He not thus brought you into difficulties, that He may have an opportunity of strengthening your faith, by giving some unexampled proof of His power? Wait only on the Lord, trust also in Him: His name is Jehovah-jireh; He will provide. SEE HOW ONE SIN LEADS TO ANOTHER. -- When Abraham lost his faith, and went down into Egypt, he also lost his courage, and persuaded his wife to call herself his sister. He had heard of the licentiousness of the Egyptians, and feared that they might take his life, to get possession of Sarah; who, even at the age which she had reached, must have been possessed of very considerable charms. There was an element of truth in the statement that Sarah was his half-sister; but it was meant as a lie; and it certainly misled the Egyptians, "for she was taken into Pharaoh’s house." It was a mean and cowardly act on Abraham’s part, which was utterly indefensible. It was a cruel wrong to one who had faithfully followed his fortunes for so long. And it endangered the promised seed. Yet so it happens; when we lose our faith, and are filled with panic for ourselves, we become regardless of all and every tie, and are prepared to sacrifice our nearest and dearest, if only we may escape. The world may entreat us well (Genesis 12:16), but that will be a poor compensation for our losses. There is no altar in Egypt, no fellowship with God, no new promises; but a desolated home, and a wretched sense of wrong. When the prodigal leaves his Father’s house, though he may win a brief spell of forbidden pleasure; yet he loses all that makes life worth living, and brings himself down to the level of the swine. In such a case there is no resource, save to retrace the way that we have come, to "do the first works," and like Abraham to go up out of Egypt to the place of the altar where we were "at the first" (Genesis 13:4). Abraham’s failure in Egypt gives us an insight into the original nature of the patriarch, which was by no means heroic; and betrays a vein of duplicity and deceit, similar to that which has so often re-appeared in his posterity. How thankful should we be that the Bible does not shrink from recording the story of the sins of its noblest saints! What a proof of its veracity is here, and what encouragement there is for us! --for if God was able to make His friend out of such material as this, may we not aspire to a like privilege, though we, too, have grievously violated the high calling of faith? The one thing that God requires of His saints is implicit obedience -- entire surrender. Where these are present, He can still make Abrahams out of us, though, by nature, the soil of our being is prone to barrenness and weeds. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 24: 02.06. CHAPTER 6, SEPARATED FROM LOT ======================================================================== CHAPTER SIX SEPARATED FROM LOT "Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or, if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." --Genesis 13:9. In our last, we saw something of the original stuff of which God makes His saints. By nature Abraham was not superior to the general run of Orientals, who do not hesitate to lie, in order to gain a point or to avert a disaster. Compared with an average Englishman, Abraham would have come off a bad second. The faith which one day was to do business in the ocean waves could not swim across a tiny creek. It is hard to imagine such a man would ever arrive at a stature of moral greatness so commanding as to overtop all his contemporaries, and look across the ages to see the day of Christ. Yet so it was. And from that thought we may take courage. Our God does not need noble characters, as the ground-work of His masterpieces. He can raise up stones as children. He can turn thorns into fir trees, briars into myrtle trees. He can take fishermen from their nets, and publicans from their toll-booths, making them into evangelists, apostles, and martyrs. We are not much by nature -- wild, bad blood may be flowing in our veins; but God will be the more magnified, if from such stones He can raise up children unto Abraham. The miracle of His grace and power will bring more conspicuous glory to His holy Name, in proportion to the unpromising character of the materials on which He works. "Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south." Very marvelous this! Judging as men, we might have thought that he would never recover from that sad mistake, that disastrous failure and sin. Surely he will reap as he has sown! He will never see his faithful wife again, but must bear for ever on his conscience the brand of coward treachery! Or if, indeed, she be given again to him, he will never extricate himself from the meshes into which he has thrown himself! Irritated and deceived, Pharaoh will surely find some method of avenging the wrong with which the foreigner has repaid his generous hospitality! But no. Contrary to all human anticipation, Jehovah appears on the behalf of his most unworthy servant. In after-years the Psalmist gives us the very words, which He uttered in the heart of the king: "Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm" (Psalms 55:15). What a marvel of tenderness! God does not cast us away for one sin. "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him" (Psalms 103:10-11). And thus, notwithstanding repeated falls and shortcomings, He lovingly pursues His Divine purpose with the soul in which the "root of the matter" is found, until He sets it free from its clinging evils, and lifts it into the life of faith, and power, and familiar friendship with Himself. "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, then the Lord shall be a light unto me" (Micah 7:8). Warned by this Divine voice, and restrained by a power which suffered him not to do God’s servant harm, Pharaoh had commanded his men concerning him: and they had "sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had." This is how it comes to pass that we find them again traversing the uplands of Southern Palestine on their way back to Bethel, unto the place where they had halted on their first entrance into Palestine. So complete was the delivering power of God, that the Egyptian monarch did not even take back the gifts which he had bestowed as a dowry for Sarah. The "sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maidservants, and she-asses, and camels," still remained in Abraham’s possession. And we are, therefore, prepared to learn, that "Abram was very rich, in cattle, in silver, and in gold." That visit to Egypt beyond doubt laid the foundation of the immense wealth of the family in after-time; and it was out of this that the next trouble sprang. A trouble it seemed at first; but God marvelously overruled it for drawing His child yet closer to Himself, and severing the metal to a further extent from the alloy which had clung to it too long. Hitherto, we have been told repeatedly, "and Lot went with him." This record will not be made again. (1) WHO WAS LOT? The son of Abraham’s dead brother, Haran. He had probably succeeded to his father’s inheritance. He may have come with his uncle across the desert in the secret hope of bettering his condition; but we will hope that he was prompted by worthier motives. He seems to have been one of those men who take right steps, not because they are prompted by obedience to God, but because their friends are taking them. Around him was the inspiration of an heroic faith, the fascination of the untried and unknown; the stir of a great religious movement: and Lot was swept into the current, and resolved to go too. He was the Pliable of the earliest Pilgrim’s Progress. He may have thought that he was as much in earnest as Abraham; may have thought that he was as much in earnest as Abraham; but it was a great mistake. He was simply an echo; a dim afterglow; a chip on the bosom of a mighty current. In every great religious movement there always have been, and always will be a number of individuals who cast in their lot with it, without knowing the power which inspires it. Beware of them. They cannot stand the stress of the life of separation to God. The mere excitement will soon die away from them; and, having no principle to take its place, they will become hindrances and disturbers of the peace. As certainly as they are harbored in the camp, or their principles are allowed within the heart, they will lower the spiritual tone; allure to worldly policy; suggest methods which would not otherwise occur to us; and draw us towards the Egypt-world. Nothing but supreme principle can carry any one through the real, separated, and surrendered life of the child of God. If you are prompted by anything less, such as excitement, enthusiasm, fashion, contagious example -- you will first be a hindrance, and end by being a failure. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. And, if you are consciously acting from a low and selfish motive, ask God to breathe into you His own pure love. Better act from an inferior motive, if only it be in the right direction; but covet earnestly the best. (2) THE NECESSITY OF SEPARATION That recent failure in connection with Egypt may have been due, to a larger extent than we know, to the baneful influence of Lot. Had Abraham been left to himself, he might never have thought of going down to Egypt: and, in that case, there would have been another paragraph or passage in the Bible describing the exploits of a faith which dared to stand to God’s promise, though threatened by disaster, and hemmed in by famine; waiting until God should bid it move, or make it possible to stay. There is something about that visit to Egypt which savors of the spirit of Lot’s after-life. In any case, the time had come, in the providence of God, when this lower and more worldly spirit must go its way; leaving Abraham to stand alone, without prop, or adviser, or ally; thrown back on the counsel and help of God alone. The outward separation of the body from the world of the ungodly is incomplete, unless accompanied and supplemented by the inner separation of the spirit. It is not enough to leave Ur, Haran, and Egypt. We must be rid of Lot also. Though we lived in a monastery, shut away from the homes and haunts of men, with no sound to break upon the ear but the summoning bell of worship, and the solemn chant; yet so long as there was an alien principle in our breast, a Lot in our heart-life, there could not be that separation to God which is the condition of the growth of faith, and of all those higher forms of the true life which make earth most like heaven. Lot must go. "Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself" (Psalms 4:3). No other foot then must intrude within the enclosure of the Divine proprietorship. O souls that sigh for saintliness as harts pant for water-brooks, have ye counted the cost? Can ye bear the fiery ordeal? The manufacture of saints is no child’s play. The block has to be entirely separated from the mountain bed, ere the Divine chisel can begin to fashion it. The gold must be plunged into the cleansing fire, ere it can be molded or hammered into an ornament of beauty for the King. As Abraham was separated from one after another of nature’s resources, so must it be with all aspirants for the inner chambers of the palace of God. We must be prepared to die to the world with its censure or praise; to the flesh, with its ambitions and schemes; to the delights of a friendship which is insidiously lowering the temperature of the spirit; to the self-life, in all its myriad subtle and overt manifestations; and even, if it be God’s will, to the joys and consolations of religion. All this is impossible to us of ourselves. But if we will surrender ourselves to God, willing that He should work in and for us that which we cannot do for ourselves, we shall find that He will gradually and effectually, and as tenderly as possible, begin to disentwine the clinging tendrils of the poisoning weed, and bring us into heart-union with Himself. It may be that Abraham had already felt for himself the ill effect of association with Lot, and may have longed to be free from him, without knowing how the emancipation could be effected. In any case, somewhat akin to this may be the condition of some who shall read these words. Entangled in an alliance which you seem powerless to break off, your only hope is to bear it quietly till God sets you at liberty. Meanwhile guard your will, by God’s grace, from swinging round, as a boat with the tide. Declare to God continually your eager desire to be emancipated. By prayer and faith get honey out of the lion’s carcass. Wait patiently till God’s hour strikes, and His hand opens the fast-locked door, and bids you be free. That time will come at length; for God has a destiny in store for you, so great that neither He nor you can allow it to be forfeited for any light or trivial obstacle. (3) HOW THE SEPARATION WAS BROUGHT ABOUT The valleys around Bethel, which had been quite adequate for their needs when first they came to Canaan, were now altogether insufficient. The herdsmen were always wrangling for the first use of the wells, and the first crop of the pastures. The cattle were continually getting mixed. "The land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together." Quarrels between servants have a habit of travelling upwards, and embroiling their masters. And so Abraham and Lot would be told by their headmen of what was happening; and each would be tempted to feel irritated with the other. Abraham saw at once that such a state of things must not be allowed to go on: especially as "the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land." For if those warlike neighbors heard of the dissensions in the camp, they would take an early opportunity of falling upon it. United they stood; divided, they must fall. Besides, there was the scandal of the thing, which might work prejudicially on the name and worship of that God to whom Abraham was known to bow the knee. Would that the near presence of the world might have the same wholesome effect of checking dissension and dispute among the children of the same Father! And so Abraham called Lot to him, and said, "Let there be no strife between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left" (Genesis 13:8-9). The proposal was very WISE. He saw that there was a cause for the disturbance, which would lead to similar troubles continually. If he spoke sharply to Lot, Lot would answer in the same spirit, and a breach would be made at once. So he went to the root of the matter, and proposed their separation. His line of action was very MAGNANIMOUS. As the elder and the leader of the expedition, he had the undoubted right to the first choice. But he waived his right in the interests of reconciliation. But, above all, it was BASED ON FAITH. His faith was beginning to realize its true position; and, like a fledgling, to spread its wings for further and still further flights. Had not God pledged Himself to take care of him, and to give him an inheritance? There was no fear, therefore, that Lot could ever rob dim of that which was guaranteed to him by the faithfulness of God. And he preferred, a thousand times over, that God should choose for him, than that he should choose for himself. The man who is sure of God can afford to hold very lightly the things of this world. God Himself is his inalienable heritage; and, in having God, he has all. And, as we shall see, the man who "hedges" for himself does not do so well in the long run as the man who, having the right of choice, hands it back to God, saying: "Let others choose for themselves, if they please; but as for myself, Thou shalt choose mine inheritance for me." "Not mine -- not mine the choice In things or great or small; Be Thou my Guide, my Guard, my Strength, My Wisdom and my ’All’." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 25: 02.07. CHAPTER 7, THE TWO PATHS ======================================================================== CHAPTER SEVEN THE TWO PATHS "Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me." -- Genesis 13:9. Abraham and Lot stood together on the heights of Bethel. The Land of Promise spread out before them as a map. On three sides at least there was not much to attract a shepherd’s gaze. The eye wandered over the outlines of the hills which hid from view the fertile valleys nestling within their embrace. There was, however, an exception in this monotony of hill, towards the south-east, where the waters of the Jordan spread out in a broad valley, before they entered the Sea of the Plain. Even from the distance the two men could discern the rich luxuriance, which may have recalled to them traditions of the garden once planted by the Lord God in Eden, and have reminded them of scenes which they had lately visited together in the valley of the Nile. This specially struck the eye of Lot; eager to do the best for himself, and determined to make the fullest use of the opportunity which the unexpected magnanimity of his uncle had thrown in his way. Did he count his relative a fool for surrendering the right of choice? Did he vow that he must allow no false feelings of delicacy to interfere with his doing what he could for himself? Did he feel strong in the keenness of his sight, and the quickness of his judgment? Perhaps so. For he had little sympathy with the pilgrim spirit. But the time would come when he would bitterly rue his choice, and owe everything to the man of whom he was now prepared to take advantage. "Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere... as the garden of the Lord. ... Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan" (Genesis 13:10-11). He did not ask what God had chosen for him. He did not consider the prejudicial effect which the morals of the place might exert upon his children and himself. His choice was entirely determined by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. For the men of Sodom were "sinners before the Lord exceedingly." How many have stood upon those Bethel heights, intent on the same errand as took Lot thither! Age after age has poured forth its crowds of young hearts, to stand upon an exceeding high mountain, whilst before them have been spread all the kingdoms of this world, and the glory of them; the tempter whispering, that for one act of obeisance all shall be theirs. In assurance and self-confidence; eager to do the very best for themselves; prepared to consider the moralities only in so far as these did not interfere with what they held to be the main chance of life -- thus have succeeding generations looked towards the plains of Sodom from afar. And, alas! like Lot, they have tried to make stones into bread; they have cast themselves down from the mountain side, for angels to catch; they have knelt before the tempter, to find his promise broken, the vision of power an illusion, and the soul beggared for ever -- whilst the tempter, with hollow laugh, has disappeared, leaving his dupe standing alone in the midst of a desolate wilderness. Let us not condemn Lot too much because he chose without reference to the moral and religious conditions of the case; lest, in judging him, we pronounce sentence on ourselves. Lot did nothing more than is done by scores of professing Christians every day. A Christian man asks you to go over and see the place which he is about to take in the country. It is certainly a charming place: the house is spacious and well-situated; the air balmy; the garden and paddock large; the views enchanting. When you have gone over it, you ask how he will fare on Sunday. You put the question not from feelings of curiosity, but because you know that he needs strong religious influences to counteract the effect of absorbing business cares, from Monday morning till Saturday night; and because you know that his children are beginning to evince a deepening interest in the things of God. "Well," says he, "I really have never thought of it." Or perhaps he answers, "I believe there is nothing here like we have been accustomed to; but one cannot have everything: and they say that the society here is extremely good." Is not this the spirit of Lot, who bartered the altar of Abraham’s camp for the plains of Sodom, because the grass looks green and plentiful? Have mothers, professing Christians, never gone into society where evangelical religion is held in contempt, for no other reason than to make a good match for their daughters, so far, at least, as the world is concerned? Ah, the world is full of breaking hearts and wrecked happiness, because so many persist in lifting up their eyes to choose for themselves, and with sole reference to the most sordid considerations. If Abraham had remonstrated with Lot, suggesting the mistake he was making, do you not suppose that he would have answered petulantly: "Do you not think that we are as eager as you are to serve the Lord? Sodom needs just that witness which we shall be able to give. Is it not befitting that the light should shine in the darkness; and that the salt should be scattered where there is putrefaction?" Abraham might not be able to contest these assertions, and yet he would have an inner conviction that these were not the considerations which were determining his nephew’s choice. Of course, if God sends a man to Sodom, He will keep him there; as Daniel was kept in Babylon: and nothing shall by any means hurt him. He shall be kept as the eye is kept: guarded in its bony socket from violence, and by its delicate veil of eyelid sheltered from the dust. But if God does not clearly send you to Sodom, it is a blunder, a crime, a peril to go. Mark how Lot was swiftly swept into the vortex; first he saw; then he chose; then he separated himself from Abraham; then he journeyed east; then he pitched his tent toward Sodom; then he dwelt there; then he became an alderman of the place, and sat in the gate. His daughters married two of the men of Sodom; and they probably ranked among the most genteel and influential families of the neighborhood. But his power of witness-bearing was gone. Or if he lifted up his voice in protest against deeds of shameless vice, he was laughed at for his pains, or threatened with violence. His righteous soul might vex itself; but it met with no sympathy. He was carried captive by Chedorlaomer. His property was destroyed in the overthrow of the cities. His wife was turned into a pillar of salt. And the blight of Sodom left but too evident a brand upon his daughters. Wretched, indeed, must have been the last days of that hapless man, cowering in a cave, stripped of everything, face to face with the results of his own shameful sin. It is, indeed, a terrible picture; and yet some such retribution is in store for every one whose choice of home, and friends, and surroundings, is dictated by the lust of worldly gain, or fashion, or pleasure, rather than by the will of God. If such are saved at all, they will be saved as Lot was -- so as by fire. Now, let us turn to a more inviting theme, and further consider the dealings of the Almighty God with Abraham, the one man who was being educated to hold fellowship with Jehovah as a friend. (1) GOD ALWAYS COMES NEAR TO HIS SEPARATED ONES. "And the Lord said unto Abram, AFTER THAT LOT WAS SEPARATED FROM HIM." It may be that Abraham was feeling very lonely. Lot and he had been constant and close companions: and when the last of the camp-followers had moved off, and Lot had disappeared into the long distance, a cold chill may have enveloped him, as a November fog does the man who has arisen before the dawn to see his friend away by the early mail. Then it was that God spake to him. We all dread to be separated from companions and friends. It is hard to see them stand aloof, and drop away one by one; and to be compelled to take a course by oneself. The young girl finds it hard to refuse the evening at the theatre, and to stay alone at home when her gay companions have gone off in high spirits. The young city clerk finds it hard to refuse to join in the "sweepstake," which is being got up on the occasion of some annual race. The merchant finds it hard to withdraw from the club or society with which he has long been identified, because there are practices creeping in which his conscience refuses to sanction. The Christian teacher finds it hard to adopt a course which isolates him from brethren with whom he has had sweet fellowship, but against whose views he is obliged to protest. And yet, if we really wish to be only for God, it is inevitable that there should be many a link snapped; many a companionship forsaken; many a habit and conventionalism dropped: just as a savage must gradually and necessarily abjure most of his past, ere he can be admitted into the society and friendship of his European teacher. But let us not stand looking on this aspect of it -- the dark side of the cloud. Let us rather catch a glimpse of the other side, illuminated by the rainbow promise of God. And let this be understood, that, when once the spirit has dared to take up that life of consecration to the will of God to which we are called, there break upon it visions, voices, comfortable words, of which the heart could have formed no previous idea. For brass He brings gold, and for iron silver, and for wood brass, and for stone iron. Violence is no more heard, nor wasting, nor destruction. The sun is no more needed for the day, nor the moon for the night. Because the Lord has become the everlasting light of the surrendered and separate heart, and the days of its mourning have passed away for ever. "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing: and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you; and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" (2 Corinthians 6:1-18; 2 Corinthians 7:1-16). (2) GOD WILL DO BETTER FOR THOSE WHO TRUST HIM THAN THEY COULD DO FOR THEMSELVES Twice here in the context we meet the phrase -- "lifting up the eyes." But how great the contrast! Lot lifted up his eyes, at the dictate of worldly prudence, to spy out his own advantage. Abraham lifted up his eyes, not to discern what would best make for his material interests, but to behold what God had prepared for him. How much better it is to keep the eye steadfastly fastened on God till He says to us! -- "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art -- northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" (Genesis 13:14-15). God honors them that honor Him. He withholds "no good thing from them that walk uprightly." He "meets him that rejoices and works righteousness." If only we will go on doing what is right, giving up the best to our neighbor to avoid dispute, considering God’s interests first, and our own last, expending ourselves for the coming and glory of the kingdom of heaven, we shall find that God will charge Himself with our interests. And He will do infinitely better for us than we could. Lot had to ask the men of Sodom if he might sojourn among them, and he had no hold on the land; but it was all given unasked to Abraham, including that verdant circle on which Lot had set his heart. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." It is difficult to read these glowing words, NORTHWARD, AND SOUTHWARD, AND EASTWARD, AND WESTWARD, without being reminded of "the length, and breadth, and depth, and height, of the love of Christ, that passeth knowledge." Much of the land of Canaan was hidden behind the ramparts of the hills; but enough was seen to ravish that faithful spirit. Similarly, we may not be able to comprehend the love of God in Christ, but the higher we climb the more we behold. The upper cliffs of the separated life command the fullest view of that measureless expanse. In some parts of the Western Highlands, the traveller’s eye is delighted by the clear and sunlit waters of a loch -- an arm of the sea, running far up into the hills. But as he climbs over the heathery slopes, and catches sight of the waters of the Atlantic, bathed in the light of the setting sun, he almost forgets the fair vision which had just arrested him. Thus do growing elevation and separation of character unfold ever richer conceptions of Christ’s infinite love and character. God’s promises are ever on the ascending scale. One leads up to another, fuller and more blessed than itself. In Mesopotamia, God said, "I will show thee the land." At Bethel, "This is the land," Here, "I will give thee all the land, and children innumerable as the grains of sand." And we shall find even these eclipsed. It is thus that God allures us to saintliness. Not giving anything till we have dared to act -- that He may test us. Not giving everything at first - -- that He may not overwhelm us. And always keeping in hand an infinite reserve of blessing. Oh, the unexplored remainders of God! Who ever saw His last star? (3) GOD BIDS US APPROPRIATE HIS GIFTS "Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it." This surely means that God wished Abraham to feel as free in the land as if the title-deeds were actually in his hands. He was to enjoy it; to travel through it; to look upon it as his. By faith he was to act towards it as if he were already in absolute possession. There is a deep lesson here, as to the appropriation of faith. "Be strong and very courageous" was addressed six several times to Joshua. "Be strong" refers to the strength of the wrists to grasp. "Be very courageous" refers to the tenacity of the ankle-joints to hold their ground. May our faith be strong in each of these particulars. Strong to lay hold, and strong to keep. The difference between Christians consists in this. For us all there are equal stores of spiritual blessing laid up in our Lord; but some of us have learnt more constantly and fully to appropriate them. We walk through the land in its lengths and breadths. We avail ourselves of the fullness of Jesus. Not content with what He is for us in the counsel of God, our constant appeal is to Him in every moment of need. We need not be surprised to learn that Abraham removed to Hebron (which signifies fellowship), and built there an altar to the Lord. New Mercies call us to deeper fellowship with our Almighty Friend, who never leaves or forsakes His own. And, as the result of his dealings with us, let us build fresh altars, and make a new dedication of ourselves and all we have to His blessed service. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 26: 02.08. CHAPTER 8, REFRESHMENT BETWEEN THE TWO BATTLES ======================================================================== CHAPTER EIGHT REFRESHMENT BETWEEN THE BATTLES "Four kings with five." -- Genesis 14:9. The strife recorded in Genesis 14:1-24 was no mere border foray. It was an expedition for chastisement and conquest. Chedorlaomer was the Attila, the Napoleon of his age. His capital city, Susa, lay across the desert, beyond the Tigris, in Elam. Years before Abraham had entered Canaan as a peaceful emigrant, this dreaded conqueror had swept southwards, subduing the towns which lay in the Jordan Valley, and thus possessing himself of the master-key to the road between Damascus and Memphis. When Lot took up his residence towards Sodom, the cities of the plain were paying tribute to this mighty monarch. At last the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, became weary of the Elamite yoke and rebelled, and Chedorlaomer was compelled to undertake a second expedition to chastise their revolt and regain his power. Combining his own forces with those of three vassal and friendly rulers in the Euphrates Valley, which lay in his way, he swept across the desert, and fell upon the wild tribes that harbored in the mountains of Bashan and Moab. His plan was evidently to ravage the whole country contiguous to those Jordan towns before actually investing them. At last the allied forces concentrated in the neighborhood of Sodom, where they encountered fierce resistance. Encouraged by the pitchy nature of the soil, in which horsemen and chariots would move with difficulty, the townsfolk risked an engagement in the open. In spite, however, of the bitumen pits, the day went against the effeminate and dissolute men of the plain, in whose case, as in many others, social corruption proved itself the harbinger of political overthrow. The defeat of the troops was followed by the capture and sack of those wealthy towns; and all who could not escape were manacled as slaves, and carried off in the train of the victorious army. Sated at length with their success, their attention engrossed by their rich booty and their vast host of captives, the foreign host began slowly to return along the Jordan Valley on its homeward march. "And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed." Then one of the survivors of that fatal day climbed the hills, and made for Abraham’s encampment, which he may have known in earlier days, when, as one of Lot’s many servants, he lived there. "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants... and divided himself against them" (Genesis 14:14-15). (1) HERE IS THE UNSELFISH AND SUCCESSFUL INTERPOSITION OF A SEPARATED MAN, ON THE BEHALF OF OTHERS Hidden in the configuration of the country, and confederate with his friends, Abraham had watched the movements of the devastators from afar. "But they had not come nigh him; only with his eyes had he beheld and seen the reward of the wicked" (Psalms 41:8). Common prudence would have urged him not to embroil himself. "Be thankful that you have escaped, and do not meddle further in the business; lest you make these mighty kings your foes." But true separation never argues thus. Granted that the separated one is set apart for God, yet he is set apart that he may react more efficiently on the great world over which God yearns, and towards which He has entertained great purposes of mercy, in the election of the few. Genuine separation -- an unattachedness to the things of time and sense, because of an ardent devotion to the unseen and eternal -- is the result of faith, which always works by love; and this love tenderly yearns for those who are entangled in the meshes of worldliness and sin. Faith makes us independent, but not indifferent. It is enough for it to hear that its brother is taken captive; and it will arm instantly to go in pursuit. Ah, brothers and sisters, have there never come to you the tidings that your brothers are taken captive? How, then, is it that you have not started off long ago for their deliverance? Is this separation genuine, which stands unconcernedly by while there is such need for immediate and unselfish action? But Abraham’s interposition was as SUCCESSFUL as it was unselfish and prompt. The force with which he set out was a very slender one; but his raw recruits moved quickly, and thus in four or five days they overtook the self-reliant and encumbered host amid the hills where the Jordan takes its rise. Adopting the tactics of a night attack, he fell suddenly on the unsuspecting host, and chased them in headlong panic, as far as the ancient city of Damascus. "And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people" (Genesis 14:16). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 27: 02.09. CHAPTER 9, MELCHIZEDEC ======================================================================== CHAPTER NINE MELCHIZEDEC "This Melchizedec, King of Salem, priest of the Most High God." -- Hebrews 7:1. Christ is here! The passage is fragrant with the ointment of His name. Our hands drop with myrrh, and our fingers with sweet-smelling myrrh, as we lay them upon the handles of this lock (Song of Solomon 6:5). Let us get aside from the busy rush of life, and think long, deep thoughts of Him who is the Alpha and Omega of Scripture, and of saintly hearts. And let us draw from the unsearchable depths of His nature, by the bucket of this mysterious record touching Melchizedec, the King of Salem. There is a sense in which Christ was made AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEC; but there is a deeper sense in which Melchizedec was made AFTER THE ORDER OF THE SON OF GOD. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that Melchizedec was "made like unto the Son of God" (Hebrews 7:3). Christ is the Archetype of all; and from all eternity has had those qualities which have made Him so much to us. It would seem as if they could not stay to be manifested in the fullness of the ages; they chafed for expression. From of old His delights were with the sons of men. And so this mysterious royal priest was constituted -- reigning in his peaceful city, amid the storm and wreckage of his times -- that there might be given amongst men some premonition, some anticipation, of that glorious life which was already being lived in Heaven on man’s behalf, and which, in due course, would be manifested on our world, and at that very spot where Melchizedec lived his Christ-like life. Oh that we, too, might be priests after the order of Melchizedec in this respect, if in no other, that we are made as like as possible to the Son of God! MELCHIZEDEC WAS A PRIEST The spiral column of smoke climbing up into the clear air, in the fragrant morn, and at the dewy eve, told that there was one heart at least which was true in its allegiance to the Most High God: and which bore up before Him the sins and sorrows of the clans that clustered near. He seems to have had that quick sympathy with the needs of his times which is the true mark of the priestly heart (Hebrews 4:15). And he had acquired thereby so great an influence over his neighbors that they spontaneously acknowledged the claims of his special and unique position. Man must have a priest. His nature shrinks from contact with the All Holy. What is there in common between vileness and purity, darkness and light, ignorance and the knowledge which needs no telling? And in all ages, men have selected from among their fellows one who should represent them to God, and God to them. It is a natural instinct. And it has been met in our glorious Lord, who, while He stands for us in the presence of God, face to face with uncreated Light, ever making intercessions, at the same time is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, succors us in our temptations, and has compassion on our ignorance. Why need we travel farther afield? Why imitate Micah in setting up for ourselves a priest whom human hands have made? (See Judges 17:10). Why permit any other to bear this sacred name, or to intrude on this holy office? None but Christ will satisfy or meet the requirements of God, or "become us" with unutterable needs (Hebrews 7:26). THIS PRIESTHOOD CAME OF GOD, AND WAS RATIFIED BY AN OATH The priests of the house of Levi exercised their office after "the law of a carnal commandment" (Hebrews 7:16). They assumed it, not because of any inherent fitness, or because specially summoned to the work by the voice of heaven, but because they had sprung from the special sacerdotal tribe. The Priesthood of Christ, on the other hand, is God’s best gift to men -- to thee, my reader, and to me; more necessary than spring flowers, or light, or air. Without it our souls would wander ever in a Sahara desert. "Christ glorified not Himself to be made a High Priest" (Hebrews 5:5), but He was called of God to be a High Priest after the order of Melchizedec (Hebrews 5:10). And such was the solemnity of His appointment, that it was ratified by "the word of the oath." "The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec" (Hebrews 7:21-28). Here is "strong consolation" indeed. No unfaithfulness or ingratitude can change this priesthood. The eternal God will never run back from that word and oath. "Eternity" is written upon the High Priest’s brow: "for evermore" rings out, as He moves, from the chime of His golden bells: "an unchangeable Priesthood" is the law of His glorious being. Hallelujah! The heart may well sing, when, amid the fluctuation of earth’s change, it touches at length the primeval rock of God’s eternal purpose. He is "consecrated" Priest "for evermore." THIS PRIESTHOOD WAS ALSO CATHOLIC Abraham was not yet circumcised. He was not a Jew, but a Gentile still. It was as the father of many nations that he stood and worshipped and received the benediction from Melchizedec’s saintly hands. Not thus was it with the priesthood of Aaron’s line. To share its benefit a man must needs become a Jew, submitting to the initial rite of Judaism. None but Jewish names shone in that breastplate. Only Jewish wants or sins were borne upon those consecrated lips. BUT CHRIST IS THE PRIEST OF MAN. He draws ALL MEN unto Himself. The one sufficient claim upon Him is that thou bear the nature which He has taken into irreversible union with His own -- that thou art a sinner and a penitent pressed by conscious need. Then hast thou a right to Him, which cannot be disallowed. He is thy Priest -- thine own; as if none other had claim on Him than thou. Tell Him all thy story, hiding nothing, extenuating, excusing nothing. All kindreds, and peoples, and nations, and tongues, converge in Him, and are welcome; and all their myriad needs are satisfactorily met. THIS PRIESTHOOD WAS SUPERIOR TO ALL HUMAN ORDERS OF PRIESTS If ever there were a priesthood which held undisputed supremacy among the priesthoods of the world, it was that of Aaron’s line. It might not be as ancient as that which ministered at the shrines of Nineveh, or so learned as that which was exercised in the silent cloisters of Memphis and Thebes; but it had about it this unapproachable dignity -- in that it had emanated, as a whole, from the Word of God. Yet even the Aaronic must yield obeisance to the Melchizedec Priesthood. And it did. For Levi was yet in the loins of Abraham when Melchizedec met him; and he paid tithes in Abraham, and knelt in token of submission, in the person of the patriarch, beneath the blessing of this greater than himself (Hebrews 7:4-10). Why then need we concern ourselves with the stars, when the sun has arisen upon us? What have we to do with any other than with this mighty Mediator, this Daysman, who towers aloft above all rivals; Himself sacrifice and Priest, who has offered a solitary sacrifice, and fulfils a unique ministry! THIS PRIESTHOOD PARTOOK OF THE MYSTERY OF ETERNITY We need not suppose that this mystic being had literally no father, or mother, beginning of days, or end of life. The fact on which the inspired writer fixes is -- that no information is afforded us on any of these points. There is an intention in the golden silence, as well as in the golden speech of Scripture. And these details were doubtless shrouded in obscurity, that there might be a still clearer approximation of the type to the glory of the Antitype, who abides continually. He is the Ancient of Days; the King of the Ages; the I AM. The Sun of His Being, like His Priesthood, knows nought of dawn, or decline from meridian zenith, or descent in the western sky. "He is made after the power of an endless life." "He ever liveth to make intercession." If, in the vision of Patmos, the hair of His head was white as snow, it was not the white of decay, but of incandescent fire. "He continueth ever, and hath an unchangeable priesthood." "He is the same yesterday, today, and for ever." He does for us now what He did for the world’s grey fathers, and what He will do for the last sinner who shall claim His aid. THIS PRIESTHOOD WAS ROYAL "Melchizedec, King of Salem, priest." Here again there is no analogy in the Levitical priesthood. The royal and priestly offices were carefully kept apart. Uzziah was struck with the which brand of leprosy when he tried to unite them. But how marvelously they blended in the earthly life of Jesus! As Priest, He pitied, and helped, and fed men: as King, He ruled the waves. As Priest, He uttered His sublime intercessory prayer: as King, He spoke the "I will" of royal prerogative. As Priest, He touched the ear of Malchus: as the disowned King, to whom even Caesar was preferred, He was hounded to the death. As Priest, He pleaded for His murderers, and spake of Paradise to the dying thief: whilst His Kingship was attested by the proclamation affixed to His cross. As Priest, He breathed peace on His disciples: as King, He ascended to sit down upon His throne. He was FIRST "King of Righteousness," and after that also King of Salem, which is King of Peace (Hebrews 7:2). Mark the order. Not first Peace at any price, or at the cost of Righteousness, but Righteousness first -- the righteousness of His personal character; the righteous meeting, on our behalf, of the just demands of a Divine and holy law. And then founded on, and arising from, this solid and indestructible basis, there sprang the Temple of Peace, in which the souls of men may shelter from the shocks of time. "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet restingplaces" (Isaiah 32:17-18). Ah, souls, what is your attitude towards Him? There be plenty who are willing enough to have Him as Priest, who refuse to accept Him as King. But it will not do. He must be King, or He will not be Priest. And He must be King in this order, first making thee right, then giving thee His peace that passeth all understanding. Waste not precious time in paltering, or arguing with Him; accept the situation as it is, and let thy heart be the Salem, the city of Peace, where He, the Priest-King, shall reign for ever. And none is so fit to rule as He who stooped to die. "In the midst of the throne stood a Lamb as it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6). Exactly! The throne is the befitting place for the Man who loved us to the death. THIS PRIESTHOOD RECEIVES TITHES OF ALL "The patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils" (Hebrews 7:4 RV). This ancient custom shames us Christians. The patriarch gave more to the representative of Christ than many of us give to Christ Himself. Come, if you have never done so before, resolve to give your Lord a tithe of your time, your income, your all. "Bring all the tithes into His storehouse." Nay, thou glorious One, we will not rest content with this; take all, for all is Thine. "Thine is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as King above all. Now, therefore, we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious name." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 28: 02.10. CHAPTER 10, THE FIRMNESS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH ======================================================================== CHAPTER TEN THE FIRMNESS OF ABRAHAM’S FAITH "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." -- Romans 4:20. In this chapter (Genesis 15:1-21), for the first time in Scripture, four striking phrases occur; but each of them is destined to be frequently repeated with many charming variations. We may speak then of this precious paragraph as of some upland vale where streamlets take their rise which are to flow seawards, making glad the lowland pasture lands on their way. Now, first, we meet the phrase, "the word of the Lord came." Here, first, we are told that "the Lord God is a shield." For the first time rings out the silver chime of that Divine assurance, "Fear not!" And now we first meet in human history that great, that mighty word, "believed." What higher glory is there for man than that he should reckon on the faithfulness of God? For this is the meaning of all true belief. The "word of the Lord" came to Abraham about two distinct matters. (1) GOD SPOKE TO ABRAHAM ABOUT HIS FEAR Abraham had just returned from the rout of Chedorlaomer and the confederate kings in the far north of Canaan; and there was a natural reaction from the long and unwonted strain as he settled down again into the placid and uneventful course of a shepherd’s life. In this state of mind he was most susceptible to fear; as the enfeebled constitution is most susceptible to disease. And there was good reason for fear. He had defeated Chedorlaomer, it is true; but in doing so he had made him his bitter foe. The arm of the warrior-king had been long enough to reach to Sodom; why should it not be long enough and strong enough to avenge his defeat upon that one lonely man? It could not be believed that the mighty monarch would settle down content until the memory of his disastrous defeat was wiped out with blood. There was every reason, therefore, to expect him back again to inflict condign punishment. And, besides all this, as a night wind in a desert land, there swept now and again over the heart of Abraham a feeling of lonely desolation, of disappointment, of hope deferred. More than ten years had passed since he had entered Canaan. Three successive promises had kindled his hopes, but they seemed as far from realization as ever. Not one inch of territory! Not a sign of a child! Nothing of all that God had foretold! It was under such circumstances that the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great Reward." Ah, our God does not always wait for us to come to Him; He often comes to us; He draws near to us in the low dungeon; He sends His angel to prepare for us the cruse of water and the baked cakes, and on our souls break His tender assurances of comfort, more penetrating than the roar of the surge, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." But God does not content Himself with vague assurances. He gives us solid ground for comfort in some fresh revelation of Himself. And oftentimes the very circumstances of our need are chosen as a foil to set forth some special side of the Divine character which is peculiarly appropriate. What could have been more re-assuring at this moment to the defenseless pilgrim, with no stockade or walled city in which to shelter, but whose flocks were scattered far and wide, than to hear that God Himself was around him and his, as a vast, impenetrable, though invisible shield. "I am thy Shield." Mankind, when once that thought was given, eagerly caught at it; and it has never been allowed to die. Again and again it rings out in prophecy and psalms, in temple anthem and from retired musings. "The Lord God is a sun and shield." "Thou art my hiding-place and my shield." "Behold, O God, our shield; and look upon the face of thine Anointed." "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." It is a very helpful thought for some of us! We go every day into the midst of danger; men and devils strike at us; now it is the overt attack, and now the stab of the assassin; unkind insinuations, evil suggestions, taunts, gibes, threats; all these things are against us. But if we are doing God’s will and trusting in God’s care, ours is a charmed life, like that of the man who wears chain armor beneath his clothes. The Divine environment pours around us, rendering us impervious to attack, as the stream of electricity may surround a jewel-case with an atmosphere before which the stoutest attack of the most resolute felon is foiled. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17). "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee." Happy are they who have learnt the art of abiding within the inviolable protection of the eternal God, on which all arrows are blunted, all swords turned aside, all sparks of malice extinguished with the hissing sound of a torch in the briny waters of the sea. Nor does God only defend us from without, He is the REWARD and the satisfaction of the lonely heart. It was as if He asked Abraham to consider how much he had in having Himself. "Come now, my child, and think; even if thou wert never to have one foot of soil, and thy tent were to stand silent, amid the merry laughter of childish voices all around -- yet thou wouldest not have left thy land in vain, for thou hast Me. Am not I enough? I fill heaven and earth; cannot I fill one lonely soul? Am not I ’thy exceeding great reward’; able to compensate thee by My friendship, to which thou art called, for any sacrifice that thou mayest have made?" Our God, who is love, and love in its purest, divinest essence, has given us much, and promised us more; but still His best and greatest gift is His own dear self; our reward, our great reward, our exceeding great reward. Hast thou naught? Is thy life bare? Have lover and friend forsaken thee? Art thou lonely and forsaken of all the companions of earlier, younger days? Well, answer this one question more, Hast thou God? For if thou hast, thou hast all love and life, all sweetness and tenderness, all that can satisfy the heart, and delight the mind. All lovely things sleep in Him, as all colors hide in the sunbeam’s ray, waiting to be unravelled. To have God is to have all, though bereft of everything. To be destitute of God is to be bereft of everything, though having all. (2) GOD SPOKE TO ABRAHAM ABOUT HIS CHILDLESSNESS It was night, or perhaps the night was turning towards the morning, but as yet myriads of stars -- the watchfires of the angels; the choristers of the spheres; the flocks on the wide pasture lands of space -- were sparking in the heavens. The patriarch was sleeping in his tent, when God came near him in a vision; and it was under the shadow of that vision that Abraham was able to tell God all that was in his heart. We can often say things in the dark which we dare not utter beneath the eye of day. And in that quiet watch of the night, Abraham poured out into the ear of God the bitter, bitter agony of his heart’s life. He had probably long wanted to say something like this; but the opportunity had not come. But now there was no longer need for restraint; and so it all came right out into the ear of his Almighty Friend, "Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir." It was as if he said, "I promised for myself something more than this; I have conned Thy promises, and felt that they surely prognosticated a child of my own flesh and blood; but the slowly moving years have brought me no fulfillment of my hopes; and I suppose that I mistook Thee. Thou never intendest more than that my steward should inherit my name and goods. Ah, me! it is a bitter disappointment; but Thou hast done it, and it is well." So we often mistake God, and interpret His delays as denials. What a chapter might be written of God’s delays! Was not the life of Jesus full of them, from the moment when He tarried behind in the Temple, to the moment when He abode two days still in the same place where He was, instead of hurrying across the Jordan in response to the sad and agonized entreaty of the sisters whom He loved. So He delays still. It is the mystery of the art of educating human spirits to the finest temper of which they are capable. What searchings of heart; what analyzing of motives; what testings of the Word of God; what upliftings of soul -- searching what, or what manner of time. the Spirit of God signifies! All these are associated with those weary days of waiting, which are, nevertheless, big with spiritual destiny. But such delays are not God’s final answer to the soul that trusts Him. They are but the winter before the burst of spring. "And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but thine own son shall be thine heir. Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. So shall thy seed be" (Genesis 15:4-5). And from that moment the stars shone with new meaning for him, as the sacraments of Divine promise. "AND HE BELIEVED IN THE LORD." What wonder that those words are so often quoted by inspired men in after ages; or that they lie as the foundation stone of some of the greatest arguments that have ever engaged the mind of man! (See Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23.) HE BELIEVED BEFORE HE UNDERWENT THE JEWISH RITE OF CIRCUMCISION The Apostle Paul lays special emphasis on this, as showing that they who were not Jews might equally have faith, and be numbered amongst the spiritual children of the great father of the faithful (Romans 4:9-21; Galatians 3:7-29.) The promise that he should be the heir of the world was made to him, when as yet he was only the far-travelled pilgrim; and so it is sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. HE BELIEVED IN FACE OF STRONG NATURAL IMPROBABILITIES Appearances were dead against such a thing as the birth of a child to that aged pair. The experience of many years said, "It cannot be." The nature and reason of the case said, "It cannot be." Any council of human friends and advisers would have instantly said, "It cannot be!" And Abraham quietly considered and weighed them all "without being weakened in faith" (Romans 4:19 RV). Then he as carefully looked unto the promise of God. And, rising from his consideration of the comparative weight of the one and the other, he elected to venture everything on the word of the Eternal. Nay, that was not all; as shock followed shock, and wave succeeded wave, booming with crash of thunder on his soul, he staggered not; he dod not budge an inch; he did not even tremble, as sometimes the wave-beat rock shivers to its base. He reckoned on the faithfulness of God. He gave glory to God. He relied implicitly on the utter trustworthiness of the Divine veracity. He was "fully assured that what He had promised He was able also to perform." Ah, child of God, for every look at the unlikelihood of the promise, take ten looks at the promise: this is the way in which faith waxes strong. "Looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong" (Romans 4:20 RV). HIS FAITH WAS DESTINED TO BE SEVERELY TRIED If you take to the lapidary the stones which you have collected in your summer ramble, he will probably send the bulk of them home to you in a few days, with scanty marks of having passed through his hands. But some one or two of the number may be kept back, and when you inquire for them, he will reply: "Those stones which I returned are not worth much: there was nothing in them to warrant the expenditure of my time and skill; but with the others, the case is far otherwise: they are capable of taking a polish and of bearing a discipline which it may take months and even years to give; but their beauty, when the process is complete, will be all the compensation that can be wished." Some men pass through life without much trial, because their natures are light and trivial, and incapable of bearing much, or of profiting by the severe discipline which, in the case of others, is all needed, and will yield a rich recompense, after it has had its perfect work. God will not let any one of us be tried beyond what we are able to bear. But when He has in hand a nature like Abraham’s, which is capable of the loftiest results, we must not be surprised if the trial is long continued, almost to the last limit of endurance. The patriarch had to wait fifteen years more, making five-and-twenty years in all, between the first promise and its fulfillment in the birth of Isaac. HIS FAITH WAS COUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS Faith is the seed-germ of righteousness; and, when God sees us possessed of the seed, He counts us as also being in possession of the harvest which lies hidden in its heart. Faith is the tiny seed which contains all the rare perfumes and gorgeous hues of the Christian life, awaiting only the nurture and benediction of God. When a man believes, it is only a matter of education and time to develop that which is already in embryo within him; and God, to whom the future is already present, accounts the man of faith as dowered with the fruits of righteousness, which are to the glory and praise of God. But there is a deeper meaning still than this -- in the possession through faith of a judicial righteousness in the sight of God. The righteousness of Abraham resulted not from his works, but from his faith. "He believed God; and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness." "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was reckoned unto him; but for our sake also, unto whom it shall be reckoned, who believe on Him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Galatians 3:6; Romans 4:23-24 RV). Oh, miracle of grace! if we trust ever so simply in Jesus Christ our Lord, we shall be reckoned as righteous in the eye of the eternal God. We cannot realize all that is included in those marvelous words. This only is evident, that faith unites us so absolutely to the Son of God that we are ONE with Him for evermore; and all the glory of His character -- not only what He was when He became obedient unto death, but what He is in the majesty of His risen nature -- is reckoned unto us. Some teach imputed righteousness as if it were something apart from Christ, flung over the rags of the sinner. But it is truer and better to consider it as a matter of blessed identification with Him through faith; so that as He was one with us in being made sin, we are one with Him in being made the Righteousness of God. In the counsels of Eternity that which is true of the glorious Lord is accounted also true of us who, by a living faith, have become members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. Jesus Christ is made unto us Righteousness, and we are accepted in the Beloved. There is nothing in faith, considered in itself, which can account for this marvelous fact of imputation. Faith is only the link of union; but inasmuch as it unites us to the Son of God, it brings us into the enjoyment of all that He is as the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 29: 02.11. CHAPTER 11, WATCHING WITH GOD ======================================================================== CHAPTER ELEVEN WATCHING WITH GOD (Genesis 15:7) "The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come; it will not tarry." --Habakkuk 2:3. "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." -- Lamentations 3:26. "If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience with patience wait for it." -- Romans 8:25. It is not easy to watch with God, or to wait for Him. The orbit of His providence is so vast. The stages of His progress are so wide apart. He holds on His way through the ages; we tire in a few short hours. And when His dealings with us are perplexing and mysterious, the heart that had boasted its unwavering loyalty begins to grow faint with misgivings, and to question -- When shall we be able to trust absolutely, and not be afraid? In human relationships, when once the heart has found its rest in another, it can bear the test of distance and delay. Years may pass without a word or sigh to break the sad monotony. Strange contradictions may baffle the understanding and confuse the mind. Officious friends may delight in putting unkind and false constructions on conduct confessedly hard to explain. But the trust never varies or abates. It knows that all is well. It is content to exist without a token, and to be quiet without attempting to explain or defend. Ah, when shall we treat God so? When shall we thus rest in Him, trusting where we cannot understand? Can any education be too hard which shall secure this as its final and crowning result? Surely that were heaven, when the heart of man could afford to wait for a millennium, unstaggered by delay, untinged by doubt. At this stage, at least, of his education, Abraham had not learnt this lesson. But in that grey dawn, as the stars which symbolized his posterity were beginning to fade in the sky, he answered the Divine assurance that he should inherit the land of which he as yet did not own a foot, by the sad complaint: "Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" How human this is! It was not that he was absolutely incredulous: but he yearned for some tangible evident token that it was to be as God had said; something he could see; something which should be an ever-present sacrament of the coming heritage, as the stars were of the future seed. Do not wonder at him; but rather adore the love which bears with these human frailties, and stoops to give them stepping-stones by which to cross the sands to the firm rock of an assured faith. (1) WATCHING BY THE SACRIFICE In those early days, when a written agreement was very rare, if not quite unknown, men sought to bind one another to their word with the most solemn religious sanctions. The contracting party was required to bring certain animals, which were slaughtered and divided into pieces. These were laid on the ground in such a manner as to leave a narrow lane between; up and down which the covenanting party passed to ratify and confirm his solemn pledge. It was to this ancient and solemn rite that Jehovah referred, when he said, "Take Me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another" (Genesis 15:8; Genesis 15:10). It was still the early morning. The day was young. And Abraham sat down to watch. Then there came a long pause. Hour after hour passed by; but God did not give a sign or utter a single word. Judging by appearances, there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. Higher and ever higher the sun drove his chariot up the sky, and shone with torrid heat on those pieces of flesh lying there exposed upon the sand; but still no voice or vision came. The unclean vultures, attracted by the scent of carrion, drew together as to a feast, and demanded incessant attention if they were to be kept away. Did Abraham ever permit himself to imagine that he was sitting there on a fool’s mission? Did not the thought instil itself into his mind, that perhaps after all he had been led to arrange those pieces by a freak of his own fancy, and that God would not come at all? Did he shrink from the curious gaze of his servants, and of Sarah his wife, because half-conscious of having taken up a position he could not justify? We cannot tell what passed through that much-tried heart during those long hours. But this, at least, we recognize; that this is in a line with the discipline through which we all have to pass. Hours of waiting for God!Days of watching! Nights of sleepless vigil! Looking for the outposts of the relief that tarries! Wondering why the Master comes not! Climbing the hill again and again, to return without the expected vision! Watching for some long-expected letter, till the path to the Post Office is trodden down with constant passing to and fro, and wet with many tears! But all in vain! Nay, but it is not in vain. For these long waiting hours are building up the fabric of the spirit-life, with gold, and silver, and precious stones, so as to become a thing of beauty, and a joy for evermore. Only let us see to it that we never relax our attitude of patience, but wait to the end for the grace to be brought unto us. And let us give the unclean birds no quarter. We cannot help them sailing slowly through the air, or uttering dismal screams, or circling around us as if to pounce. But we CAN help them settling dawn. And this we must do, in the name and by the help of God. "If the vision tarry, wait for it." (2) THE HORROR OF A GREAT DARKNESS The sun at last went down, and the swift Eastern night cast its heavy veil over the scene. Worn out with the mental conflict, the watchings, and the exertions of the day, Abraham fell into a deep sleep. And in that sleep his soul was oppressed with a dense and dreadful darkness; such as almost stifled him, and lay like a nightmare upon his heart. "Lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him." Do my readers understand something of the horror of that darkness? When one who has been brought up in a traditional belief, which fails to satisfy the instincts of maturer life, supposes that in letting go the creed, there must also be the renunciation of all faith and hope, not seeing that the form may go, whilst the essential substance may remain: when one, mistaking the nature of sin and the mercy of God, fears that there has been committed an unpardonable sin, or that the bounds of repentance have been overstepped for ever: when some terrible sorrow which seems so hard to reconcile with perfect love, crushes down upon the soul, wringing from it all its peaceful rest in the pitifulness of God, and launching it on a sea unlit by a ray of hope: when unkindness, and cruelty, and monstrous injustice browbeat, and mock, and maltreat the trusting heart, till it begins to doubt whether there be a God overhead who can see and still permit -- these know something of the horror of great darkness; and what weird and frightful visions will in that darkness pass one after another before the spirit, like the phantoms of a drunkard’s delirium or the apparitions of an unhealthy brain. It was a long and dark prospect which unfolded itself before Abraham. He beheld the history of his people through coming centuries, strangers in a foreign land, enslaved and afflicted. Did he not see the anguish of their soul, and their cruel bondage beneath the task-master’s whips? Did he not hear their groans, and see mothers weeping over their babes, doomed to the insatiable Nile? Did he not witness the building of Pyramid and Treasure-city, cemented by blood and suffering? It was, indeed, enough to fill him with darkness that could be felt. And yet the sombre woof was crossed by the warp of silver threads. The enslaved were to come out, and to come out with great substance, their oppressors being overwhelmed with crushing judgment. They were to come into that land again. Whilst, as for himself, he should go to his fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age. It is thus that human life is made up: brightness and gloom; shadow and sun; long tracks of cloud, succeeded by brilliant glints of light. And amid all, Divine justice is working out its own schemes, affecting others equally with the individual soul which seems the subject of especial discipline. The children of Abraham must not inherit the Land of Promise till the fourth generation has passed away, because the iniquity of the Amorites had not yet filled up the measure of their doom. Only then -- when the reformation of that race was impossible; when their condition had become irremediable, and their existence was a menace to the peace and purity of mankind -- was the order given for their extermination, and for the transference of their power to those who might hold it more worthily. Oh, ye who are filled with the horror of great darkness because of God’s dealings with mankind, learn to trust that infallible wisdom which is co-assesor with immutable justice, and know that He who passed through the horror of the darkness of Calvary, with the cry of forsakenness, is ready to bear you company through the valley of the shadow of death, till you see the sun shining upon its further side. "Who is among you that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." (3) THE RATIFICATION OF THE COVENANT When Abraham awoke, the sun was down. Darkness reigned supreme. "It was dark." A solemn stillness brooded over the world. Then came the awful act of ratification. For the first time since man left the gates of Eden there appeared the symbol of the glory of God; that awful light which was afterwards to shine in the pillar of cloud, and the Shekinah gleam. In the thick darkness, that mysterious light -- a lamp of fire -- passed slowly and majestically between the divided pieces; and, as it did so, a voice said: "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18). Remember that promise: made with the most solemn sanctions, never repealed since, and never perfectly fulfilled. For a few years during the reign of Solomon the dominions of Israel almost touched these limits, but only for a very brief period. The perfect fulfillment is yet in the future. Somehow the descendants of Abraham shall yet inherit their own land, secured to them by the covenant of God. Those rivers shall yet form their boundary lines: for "the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." A foreign power forbids their entrance yet; and Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles. But we may be entering on a series of events, which shall shatter the decrepit empire of the unspeakable Turk, and release Egypt and Palestine from his blighting sway, so that the land which awaits the people, and the people which awaits the land, may be reunited beneath the blessing of Him who, by word and oath, gave strong consolation to His much-tried servant Abraham. As we turn from this scene -- in which God bound Himself by such solemn sanctions, to strengthen the ground of His servant’s faith -- we may carry with us exalted conceptions of His great goodness, which will humble itself so low in order to secure the trust of one poor heart. By two immutable things, His word and oath, God has given strong assurance to us who are menaced by the storm, drawing us on to a rock-bound shore. Let us, by our Forerunner, send forward our anchor, Hope, within the vail that parts us from the unseen: where it will grapple in ground that will not yield, but hold until the day dawn, and we follow it into the haven guaranteed to us by God’s immutable counsel (Hebrews 6:19-20). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 30: 02.12. CHAPTER 12, HAGAR, THE SLAVE GIRL ======================================================================== CHAPTER TWELVE HAGAR, THE SLAVE GIRL "Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar." -- Genesis 16:1. We none of us know all that is involved when we tear ourselves from the familiar scenes of our Harans to follow God into the lands of separation which lie beyond the river. The separated life cannot be an easy one. We may dimly guess this as we step out into the untried and unknown; but God graciously veils from our eyes that which would needlessly startle and daunt us; unfolding to us His requirements, only as we are able to bear them. The difficulties of the separated life arise, not from any arbitrary appointments of Divine Providence, but from the persistent manifestation of the self-life in its many Protean forms. It is absurd to say that it dies once for all in some early stage of the Christian life; and it is perilous to lead men to think so. When men think or boast that it is dead, it peeps out in their very assertions, and laughs at the success of its efforts to blind them to its presence. This is the masterpiece of its art: to cajole its dupes into thinking that it is dead. Bands of thieves always like to secure the insertion of a paragraph in the newspapers, announcing that they have left the neighborhood, because in the false security which is induced by the announcement, they are more able to carry out their plans of pillage. We say, in the first moments of consecration, that we are eager, not only to be reckoned dead in the sight of God, so far as our self-life is concerned, but to be dead. And if we really mean what we say, God undertakes the work, first of revealing the insidious presence of the self-life where we had least expected it, and then of nailing it in bitter suffering to the cross of a painful death. O ye who know something of the analysis of your inner life, do not your hearts bear witness that, as the light of heaven breaks with glowing glory on your souls, it reveals unexpected glimpses into the insidious workings of self? -- so much so that you are driven to claim, with no bated breath: first, Divine forgiveness for harboring such a traitor; and then, the interposition of Divine grace to mete out that death which is the only condition of growth and blessedness. There is here a very startling manifestation of the tenacity with which Abraham’s self-life still survived. We might have expected that by this time it had been extinguished: the long waiting of ten slow-moving years: the repeated promises of God: the habit of contact with God Himself -- all this had surely been enough to eradicate and burn out all confidence in the flesh; all trust in the activities of the self-life; all desire to help himself to the realization of the promises of God. Surely, now, this much-tried man will wait until, in His own time and way, God shall do as He has said. Abraham would not take a shoe-latchet, or a thread, from the King of Sodom, because he was so sure that God would GIVE him all the land. Nor was he disappointed: when God said, "I am thy exceeding great reward." And similarly we might have expected that he would have strenuously resisted every endeavor to induce him to realize for himself God’s promise about his seed. Surely he will wait meekly and quietly for God to fulfil His own word, by means best known to Himself. Instead of this he listened to THE REASONING OF EXPEDIENCY, which happened to chime in with his own thoughts, and sought to gratify the promptings of his spirit by doing something to secure the result of which God had spoken. Simple-hearted faith waits for God to unfold His purpose, sure that He will not fail. But mistrust, reacting on the self-life, leads us to take matters into our own hands -- even as Saul did, when he took upon himself to offer sacrifice, without awaiting the arrival of Samuel. (1) THE QUARTER WHENCE THESE REASONINGS CAME "Sarai said unto Abram." Poor Sarah! She had not had her husband’s advantages. When he had been standing in fellowship with God, she had been quietly pursuing the routine of household duty, pondering many things. It was clear that Abraham should have a son; but it was not definitely said by God that the child would be hers. Abraham was a strict monogamist; but the laxer notions of those days warranted the filling of the harem with others, who occupied an inferior rank to that of the principal wife, and whose children, according to common practice, were reckoned as if they were her own. Why should not her husband fall in with those laxer notions of the marriage vow? Why should he not marry the slave-girl, whom they had either purchased in an Egyptian slave market, or acquired amongst the other gifts with which Pharaoh had sent them away? It was an heroic sacrifice for her to make. She was willing to forego a woman’s dearest prerogative; to put another in her own place; and to surrender a position to which she had a perfect right to cling, even though it seemed to clash with the direct promise of God. But her love to Abraham; her despair of having a child of her own; and her inability to conceive of God fulfilling His word by other than natural means -- all these things combined to make the proposal from which, in another aspect, her wifely nature must have shrunk. Love in Sarah did violence to love. No one else could have approached Abraham with such a proposition, with the slightest hope of success. But when Sarah made it, the case was altered. The suggestion might have flitted across his own mind, in his weaker moments, only to be instantly rejected and put aside, as doing a grievous wrong to his faithful wife. But now, as it emanated from her, there seemed less fear of it. It was supported by the susceptibilities of natural instinct. It was consistent with the whisperings of doubt. It seemed to be a likely expedient for realizing God’s promise. And without demur, or reference to God, he fell in with the proposal. "Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai." It is always hard to resist temptation when it appeals to natural instinct or to distrusting fear. At such an hour, if the Savior be not our Keeper, there is small hope of our being able to resist the double assault. But the temptation is still more perilous when it is presented, not by some repellent fiend, but by some object of our love; who, like Sarah, has been the partner of our pilgrimage, and who is willing to sacrifice all in order to obtain a blessing which God has promised, but has not yet bestowed. We should be exceedingly careful before acting on the suggestions of any who are not as advanced as we are in the Divine life. What may seem right to them may be terribly wrong for us. And we should be especially careful to criticize and weigh any proposals which harmonize completely with the tendencies of our self-life. "If the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly... thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare" (Deuteronomy 13:6-8). But does not the response of the soul to such suggestions indicate how far the self-life is from being dead. (2) THE SORROWS TO WHICH THEY LED As soon as the end was obtained, the results, like a crop of nettles, began to appear in that home, which had been the abode of purity and bliss; but which was not destined to be the scene of discord. Raised into a position of rivalry with Sarah, and expectant of giving the long-desired son to Abraham, and a young master to the camp, Hagar despised her childless mistress, and took no pains to conceal her contempt. This was more than Sarah could endure. It was easier to make one heroic act of self-sacrifice, than to bear each day the insolent carriage of the maid whom she had herself exalted to this position. Nor was she reasonable in her irritation; instead of assuming the responsibility of having brought about the untoward event, so fraught with misery to herself, she passionately upbraided her husband, saying: "My wrong be upon thee: the Lord judge between me and thee" (Genesis 16:5). How true this is to human nature! We take one false step, unsanctioned by God; and when we begin to discover our mistake, we give way to outbursts of wounded pride. But instead of chiding ourselves, we turn upon others, whom we may have instigated to take the wrong course, and we bitterly reproach them for wrongs of which they at most were only instruments, whilst we were the final cause. Out of this fleshly expedient sprang many sorrows. Sorrow to Sarah, who on this occasion, as afterwards, must have drunk to the dregs the cup of bitter gall; of jealousy and wounded pride; of hate and malice, which always destroy peace and joy in the nature, from which they stream as the fiery lava torrents from a volcanic crater. Sorrow to Hagar, driven forth as an exile from the home of which she had dreamt to become the mistress, and to which she had thought herself essential. Ah, bitter disappointment! Sorrow to Abraham, loth to part with one who, to all human appearance, would now become the mother of the child who should bless his life: stung, moreover, as he was, by the unwonted bitterness of his wife’s reproaches. If any should read these words who are tempted to use any expedients of human devising for the attainment of ends, which in themselves may be quite legitimate, let them stand still, and take to heart the teachings of this narrative. For, as surely as God reigns, shall every selfish expedient involve us in unutterable and heartrending sorrow. "From this time shalt thou have wars." (3) THE VICTIM WHOSE LIFE-COURSE WAS SO LARGELY INVOLVED We cannot be surprised at the insolent bearing of the untutored slave-girl. It was only what might have been expected. But we mourn to see in her only one of myriads who have been sacrificed to the whim or passion, to the expediency or selfishness, of men. Innocent and light-hearted, she might have been the devoted wife of some man in her own station and the mother of a happy family. But, taken as she was from her true station, and put into a position in which she was a mother without being a lawful wife, what could her lot be but misery in the home in which she had no proper status, and at last in the exiled and homeless wanderings to which Sarah’s bitter jealousy twice drove her: once for a time -- afterwards for ever? Abraham, for the sake of the peace of his home, dared not interpose between his wife and her slave. "Behold," said he, "thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee." Not slow to act upon this implied consent, the irate mistress dealt so bitterly with the girl that she fled from her face, and took the road, trodden by the caravans, towards her native land. "The angel of the Lord" (and here, for the first time, that significant expression is used, which is held by many to express some evident manifestation of the Son of God in angel-guise) "found her by a well of water" which was familiarly known in the days of Moses. There, worn, and weary, and lonely, she sat down to rest. How often does the Angel of the Lord still find us in our extremity! -- when we are running away from the post which was assigned to us; when we are evading the cross. And what questions could be more pertinent, whether to Hagar or to us: "Whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go?" Reader, answer those two questions, ere thou readest further. What is thine origin? and what thy destiny? Then there followed the distinct command, which applies to us evermore, "Return, and submit." The day would come when God Himself would open the door, and send Hagar out of that house (Genesis 21:12-14). But until that moment should come, after thirteen years had rolled away, she must return to the place which she had left, bearing her burden and fulfilling her duty as best she might. "Return, and submit." We are all prone to act as Hagar did. If our lot is hard, and our cross is heavy, we start off in a fit of impatience and wounded pride. We shirk the discipline; we evade the yoke; we make our own way out of the difficulty. Ah! we shall never get right thus. Never! We must retrace our steps; we must meekly bend our necks under the yoke. We must accept the lot which God has ordained for us, even though it be the result of the cruelty and sin of others. We shall conquer by yielding. We shall escape by returning. We shall become free by offering ourselves to be bound. "Return, and submit." By and by, when the lesson is perfectly learnt, the prison-door will open of its own accord. Meanwhile the heart of the prodigal is cheered by promise (Genesis 16:10). The Angel of the Lord unfolds all the blessed results of obedience. And as the spirit considers these, it finds the homeward way no longer lined by flints, but soft with flowers. Nor is this all: but in addition to promise, there breaks on the soul the conception of One who lives and sees; who lives to avenge the wronged, and to defend the helpless; and who sees each tear and pang of the afflicted soul. "Thou are a God that seeth." Not like those blind Egyptian idols that stare with stony gaze across the desert: having eyes, though they see not. It was a new thought to the untutored slave-girl; it is familiar enough to us. And yet we might find new depths of meaning in life and duty, if every moment were spent in that habitual realization of these words. Let us look after Him that seeth us. Let us often stay the whirr of life’s shuttles to say softly to ourselves, "God is here; God is near; God sees -- He will provide; He will defend; He will avenge." "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him" (2 Chronicles 16:9, Zechariah 4:10). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 31: 02.13. CHAPTER 13, BE THOU PERFECT ======================================================================== CHAPTER THIRTEEN "BE THOU PERFECT!" "I am the Almighty God: walk before Me, and be thou perfect." -- Genesis 17:1. Thirteen long years passed slowly on after the return of Hagar to Abraham’s camp. The child Ishmael was born, and grew up in the patriarch’s house -- the acknowledged heir of the camp, and yet showing symptoms of the wild-ass nature of which the angel had spoken (Genesis 16:12 RV). Not a little perplexed must Abraham have been with those strange manifestations; and yet the heart of the old man warmed to the lad, and clung to him, often asking that Ishmael might live before God. And throughout that long period there was no fresh appearance, no new announcement. Never since God had spoken to him in Charran had there been so long a pause. And it must have been a terrible ordeal, driving him back on the promise which had been given, and searching his heart to ascertain if the cause lay within himself. Such silences have always exercised the hearts of God’s saints, leading them to say with the Psalmist: "Be not silent to me; lest, if Thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit" (Psalms 28:1). And yet they are to the heart what the long silence of winter is to the world of nature, in preparing it for the outburst of spring. Some people are ever on the outlook for Divine appearances, for special manifestations, for celestial voices. If these are withheld, they are almost ready to break their hearts. And their life tends to an incessant straining after some startling evidence of the nearness and the love of God. This feverishness is unwholesome and mistaken. Such manifestations are, indeed, delightful; but they are meant as the bright surprises, and not as the rule of Christian life: they are flung into our lives as a holiday into the school routine of a child, awakening thrilling and unexpected emotions of Joy. It is true that they are liable to be withheld when we are walking at a distance from God, or indulging in coldheartedness and sin. But it is not always so. And when the child of God has lost these bright visitations for long and sad intervals -- if, so far as can be ascertained, there is no sense of condemnation on the heart for known unfaithfulness -- then it must be believed that they are withheld, not in consequence of palpable sin, but to test the inner life, and to teach the necessity of basing it on faith, rather than on feelings however gladsome, or experiences however divine. At last, "when Abram was ninety years old and nine," the Lord appeared unto him again, and gave him a new revelation of Himself; unfolded the terms of His covenant; and addressed to him that memorable charge, which rings its summons in the ear and heart of every believer still: "Walk before Me, and be thou perfect." (1) THE DIVINE SUMMONS "Walk before Me, and be thou perfect." Men have sadly stumbled over that word. They have not erred, when they have taught that there is an experience, denoted by the phrase, which is possible to men. But they have sadly erred in pressing their own significance into the word, and in then asserting that men are expected to fulfil it, or that they have themselves attained it. "Perfection" is often supposed to denote sinlessness of moral character, which at the best is only a negative conception, and fails to bring out the positive force of this mighty word. Surely perfection means more than -- sinlessness. And if this be admitted, and the further admission be made, that it contains the thought of moral completeness, then it becomes yet more absurd for any mortal to assert it of himself. The very assertion shows the lack of any such thing, and reveals but slender knowledge of the inner life and of the nature of sin. ABSOLUTE SINLESSNESS is surely impossible for us so long as we have not perfect knowledge; for as our light is growing constantly, so are we constantly discovering evil in things which once we allowed without compunction: and if those who assert their sinlessness live but a few years longer, and continue to grow, they will be compelled to admit, if they are true to themselves, that there was evil in things which they now deem to be harmless. But whether they admit it or not, their shortcomings are not less sinful in the sight of the holy God, although undetected by their own fallible judgment. And as to MORAL COMPLETENESS, it is enough to compare the best man whom we ever knew with the perfect beauty of God incarnate, to feel how monstrous such an assumption is. Surely the language of the Apostle Paul better becomes our lips, as he cries, "Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect; but I follow after." Perhaps in the dateless noon of eternity such words will still best become our lips. Besides all this, the word "perfect" bears very different renderings from those often given to it. For instance, when we are told that the man of God must be PERFECT (2 Timothy 3:17), the underlying thought, as any scholar would affirm, is that of a workman being "thoroughly equipped for his work," as when a carpenter comes to the house, bearing in his hand the bag in which all necessary tools are readily available. Again, when we join in the prayer that the God of Peace would make us PERFECT in every good work to do His will, we are, in fact, asking that we may be "put in joint" with the blessed Lord; so that the glorious Head may freely secure through us the doing of His will (Hebrews 13:20-21). Again, when our Lord bids us be PERFECT as our Father in heaven is perfect, He simply incites us to that "impartiality of mercy" which knows no distinctions of evil and good, of unjust and just, but distributes its favors with bountiful and equal hand (Matthew 5:48). What, then, is the true force and significance of this word in that stirring command which lies before us here, "Walk before Me, and be thou perfect"? A comparison of the various passages where it occurs establishes its meaning beyond a doubt, and compels us to think into it the conception of "whole-heartedness." It denotes the entire surrender of the being; and may be fairly expressed in the well-known words of the sweet and gifted songstress of modern days: "True-hearted, whole-hearted, faithful and loyal, King of our lives, by Thy grace will we be." This quality of whole-hearted devotion has ever been dear to God. It was this that He considered in Job, and loved in David. It is in favor of this that His eyes run to and fro to show Himself strong (2 Chronicles 16:9). It is for this that He pleads with Abraham; and it was because He met with it to so large an extent in his character and obedience that He entered into eternal covenant bond with him and his. Here let each reader turn from the printed page, to the record of the inner life lying open to God alone, and ask, "Is my heart perfect with God? Am I whole-hearted towards Him? Is He first in my schemes, pleasures, friendships, thoughts, and actions? Is His will my law, His love my light, His business my aim, His ’well-done!’ my exceeding great reward? Do others share me with Him?" There is no life to be compared with that of which the undivided heart is the center and spring. Why not seek it now? --and, turning to God in holy reverie, ask Him to bring the whole inner realm under His government, and to hold it as His for evermore. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light" (Matthew 6:22). And such an attitude can only be MAINTAINED BY A VERY CAREFUL WALK. "Walk before Me, and be thou perfect." We must seek to realize constantly the presence of God, becoming instantly aware when the fleeciest cloud draws its veil for a moment over His face, and asking whether the cause may not lie in some scarcely-noticed sin. We must cultivate the habit of feeling Him near, as the Friend from whom we would never be separated, in work, in prayer, in recreation, in repose. We must guard against the restlessness and impetuosity, the excessive eagerness and impatience, which drown the accents of His still, small voice. We must abjure all expedients He does not inspire, all actions He does not promote. We must often turn from the friend, the poem, the landscape, or the task, to look up into His face with a smile of loving recognition. We must constantly have the watches which we carry next our hearts synchronized by His eternal movements. All this must be. And yet we shall not live forced or unnatural lives. None so blithe or light-hearted as we. All the circles of our daily life will move on unbroken order and beauty; just as each shining moon circles around its planet, because the planet obeys the law of gravitation to the sun. Would you walk before God? Then let there be nothing in heart or life which you would not open to the inspection of His holy and pitiful eye. (2) THE REVELATION ON WHICH THIS SUMMONS WAS BASED "I am the Almighty God" ("El-Shaddai"). What a name is this! And what awful emotions it must have excited in the rapt heart of the listener! God had been known to him by other names, but not by this. And this was the first of a series of revelations of those depths of meaning which lay in the fathomless abyss of the Divine name, each disclosure marking an epoch in the history of the race. In God’s dealings with men you will invariably find that some transcendent revelation precedes the Divine summons to new and difficult duty; promise opens the door to precept: He gives what He commands, ere He commands what He wills. And on this principle God acted here. It was no child’s play to which He called His servant. To walk always before Him -- when heart was weak, and strength was frail, and the temptation strong to swerve to right or left. To be perfect in devotion and obedience, when so many crosslights distracted, and perplexed, and fascinated the soul. To forego all methods of self-help, however tempting. To be separated from all alliances that others permitted or followed. This was much. And it was only possible through the might of the Almighty. Abraham could only do all these things on the condition, on which the Apostle insisted in after-days, that God should strengthen him. And, therefore, it was that there broke on him the assurance: "I am the Almighty God." It is as if He had said: "All power is Mine in Heaven, and upon earth. Of old I laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of My hands. I sit upon the circle of the earth; and its inhabitants are as grasshoppers. I bring out the starry hosts by number, calling them all by names, by the greatness of My might, for that I am strong in power: not one faileth. Hast thou not known - -- hast thou not heard -- that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary?" All this is as true today as ever. And if any will dare venture forth on the path of separation, cutting themselves aloof from all creature aid, and from all self-originated effort; content to walk alone with God, with no help from any but Him -- such will find that all the resources of the Divine Almightiness will be placed at their disposal, and that the resources of Omnipotence must be exhausted ere their cause can fail for want of help. O children of God, why do we run to and fro for the help of man, when the power of God is within reach of the perfect heart? But this condition must be fulfilled ere that mighty power can be put in operation on our behalf. "To him that overcometh I will give a white stone, and in the stone a new name written." In Abraham’s case, that name, graved on the glistening jewel, was "I am the Almighty God"; for Moses it was "Jehovah"; for us it is "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". (3) THE COVENANT WHICH WAS DIVINELY PROPOSED "I will make My covenant between Me and thee." A covenant is a promise made under the most solemn sanctions, and binding the consenting parties in the most definite and impressive way. What mortal would not consent when the Almighty God proposed to enter into an everlasting covenant with His creature, ordered in all things and sure, and more stable than the everlasting hills! IT REFERRED TO THE SEED And there was a marked advance. In Haran it ran thus, "I will make of thee a great nation." At Bethel, thus, "Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth." At Mamre, thus, "Count the stars; so shall thy seed be." But now, three times over, the patriarch is told that he should be the father of many nations, a phrase explained by the Apostle as including all, of every land, who share Abraham’s faith, though not sprung from him in the line of natural descent (Galatians 3:7-29). In memory of that promise his name was slightly altered, so that it signified the "father of a great multitude". Nations of thee, and kings of thee" (Genesis 17:6). WE are included in the golden circle of those words, if we believe; and we may claim the spiritual part, at least, of this covenant, which was made with Abraham before he was circumcised. IT REFERRED TO THE LAND "I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession." This promise waits for fulfillment. The word "everlasting" must mean something more than those few centuries of broken, fitful rule. The recent immigration of Jews to Palestine may be an initial stage to its realization. But there is a time, no doubt, at hand when our covenant-keeping God will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down, and will repair the ruins thereof; and the land, which now sighs under the cruel despotism of the infidel, shall be again inhabited by the seed of Abraham His friend. IT REFERRED TO THE COMING CHILD Till then Abraham had no other thought than that Ishmael should be his heir. But this could not be: (1) because he was slave-born; and the slave abideth not in the house for ever: (2) because he was a child of the flesh, and not the direct gift of God. Abraham had been left to wait till the hope of children had become as remote from him as it had been for years from his wife; so that the heir should be evidently the creation of the Almighty God, whose name was disclosed, ere this astounding announcement was made. This is why we are kept waiting till all human and natural hope has died from our hearts, so that God may be All in all. "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac" (Genesis 17:19). For us there is yet a crowning sweetness in the words, "I will be a God unto thee, and to thy seed"; words repeated, in Hebrews 8:10, so as certainly to include us all, if we believe. Who can unfold all the wealth of meaning of these words? All light, and no darkness at all. All love, and no shadow of change. All strength, and no sign of weakness. Beauty, sweetness, glory, majesty, all are in God, and all these will be thine and mine, if God saith to us, "I will be a God unto thee." Nor shall this heritage be ours only: it shall belong to our children also, if we exercise Abraham’s faith. God pledges Himself to be the God of our seed. But it is for us to claim the fulfillment of His pledge. Not in heart-rending cries, but in quiet, determined faith, let us ask Him to do as He has said. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 32: 02.14. CHAPTER 14, THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT ======================================================================== CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT "I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly." -- Genesis 17:2. Three times over in Scripture Abraham is called "the friend of God." In that moment of agony, when tidings came to King Jehoshaphat of the great heathen alliance which had been formed against him, he stood in the Temple, and said, "Art not Thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land... and gavest it to the seed of Abraham, thy friend, for ever?" (2 Chronicles 20:7). And the Apostle James, at the close of his argument about faith and works, tells us that when Abraham believed God, "it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God" (James 2:23). But, better than all, Jehovah Himself uses the title of friendship, and acknowledges the sacred tie between this much tried spirit and Himself: "Thou Israel art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend" (Isaiah 41:8). And it would almost appear as if these two chapters, Genesis 17:1-27; Genesis 18:1-33, had been written for this, among other things: to show the familiarity and intimacy which existed between the Eternal God and the man who was honored to be called His "friend". However, in reading them, we must not suppose that there was something altogether exceptional and unique in this marvelous story. Without doubt it is a true record of what happened more than three thousand years ago: but it is surely also intended as a specimen of the way in which the Eternal God is willing to deal with true-hearted saints in all ages. To hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of His saints, God has been all that He was to Abraham; and He is willing to be all that to us still. Let us peruse these ancient lines beneath the flood of light shed on them by our Savior, when He said: "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends" (John 15:15). The friendship of God is freely offered to us in Jesus Christ our Lord. We cannot merit or deserve it. We cannot establish a prior claim to it. We are simply His bankrupt debtors forever, wondering at the heights and depths, the lengths and breadths, of the unsearchable riches of His grace. May we not say that one ultimate cause of this friendship is in the yearning of the heart of the Eternal for fellowship? But it must remain for ever a mystery why He should seek it amongst ourselves; the fallen children of Adam; the tenants of bodies of dust; the aphidae on the tiny leaf, called earth, amidst the forest foliage of the universe. Surely, if He had so desired it, He might have found -- or if He could not have found, He might have created -- a race more noble, more obedient, more sympathetic than ourselves. Or, at least, He might have secured one which should not cost Him so dearly, demanding of Him the anguish of Gethsemane, and the blood of the cross. So, perhaps, we are sometimes prone to think. And yet it could not be. That which is, and has been, must on the whole be the best that could be, since infinite love and wisdom have so ordered it. And perhaps none could be so perfectly the companions and fellows of the Son of God through all the ages as those who know the light, because they have dwelt in the darkness; who know the truth, because they have been ensnared in the meshes of the false; and who can appreciate love, because they have been in the far country, wasting their substance in riotous living, but have been redeemed by His blood. But what a wondrous destiny there is within our reach! One to which the first-born sons of light might aspire in vain! At the best they can only be ministers, flames of fire, hearts of love, excelling in strength, hearkening to His word. But we may be the FRIENDS of God; sons and daughters of the great King; members of the body of Christ; constituent parts of His Bride, in her peerless beauty and meetness for her Spouse. As one writes such words as these, the brain almost reels beneath the conception that flashes before it of the blessedness which awaits us, both in this world, and in those ages which rear their heads in the far distance, as lines on lines of snowy breakers rolling in from a sunlit sea. Oh, FRIENDS OF GOD! why do you not make more of your transcendent privileges? Why do you not talk to Him about all that wearies and worries you, as freely as Abraham did, telling Him about your Ishmaels, your Lots, and His dealings? Why do you not fall on your faces while God talks with you (Genesis 17:3)? Life should be one long talk between God and us. No day at least should close without our talking over its history with our patient and loving Lord; entering into His confessional; relieving our hearts of half their sorrow, and all their bitterness, in the act of telling Him all. And if only we get low enough, and be still enough, we shall hear His accents sweet and thrilling, soft and low, opening depths which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; but which He has prepared for those who love and wait for Him. There are, however, three conditions to be fulfilled by us if we would enjoy this blessed friendship: SEPARATION, PURITY, and OBEDIENCE, each of which was set forth in the rite of circumcision, which was given to Abraham for himself and his descendants at this time. Circumcision seems to have been in vogue among the Egyptians and other nations, even before it was taken up and adopted as the seal of the sacred covenant between God and Abraham. It existed previously; but it had never borne the interpretation with which it was now invested; just as the immersion of new disciples had been long practised both by the Baptist and the Jews, before our Lord appropriated it and gave it a significance which opened up in it entirely fresh depths of meaning and beauty. We are all of us more or less dependent on outward symbols and signs; and Abraham and his children were no exception to this rule; and it therefore seemed good to God to carve in the flesh of His people an unmistakable reminder and sacrament of that holy relationship into which they had entered. A similar function, in the Christian Church, is met by the ordinances of Believers’ Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The rite of circumcision was rigorously maintained amongst the children of Abraham. Moses was not permitted to undertake his life-work whilst his son was left uncircumcised. Nor were the people allowed to enter Canaan until they had rolled away the reproach of Egypt, and had submitted to this rite on the threshold of the Land of Promise. The sanctity of the Sabbath might at any time be invaded, rather than permit the eighth day of a child’s life to pass without the act of circumcision being performed. It is said of the child Jesus that "eight days were fulfilled for circumcising Him" (Luke 2:21 RV). Paul noted the fact that in his own life, according to Jewish usage, he was "circumcised the eighth day" (Php 3:5). And no one could receive benefit through sin-offering or sacrifice who had not passed through this initiatory rite. So strict was the line of demarcation, that the Jew counted the uncircumcised as unclean, and would not eat with them or go into their houses. It was a formidable charge against the Apostle Peter, on his return to Jerusalem from visiting in the house of Cornelius, "Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them" (Acts 11:3). It was concerning this matter that controversy waxed so warm in the early Church. The Pharisee party were quite willing for Gentiles to meet with them in Church fellowship, if they were circumcised as Jews; but not otherwise. They went so far as to affirm, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1; Acts 15:24). And, not content with affirming this in Antioch and Jerusalem, they sent their emissaries far and wide, especially visiting the churches which had been recently founded by the Apostle Paul’s assiduous care, and insisting upon the circumcision of the new converts so soon as he had turned his back. There was no compromise possible in this matter; and both the Council at Jerusalem and the Apostle Paul, guided by the Spirit of God, made it abundantly clear, both by circular letter and epistle, that circumcision was part of the temporary ritual of Judaism, which was destined to pass away. "If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." "In the new man there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision." "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Galatians 5:2; Colossians 3:11; Galatians 5:6; Galatians 6:15). And thus this danger was averted from the Church, which had been in peril of becoming a Jewish institution, a kind of inner circle of the Judaistic commonwealth, but which henceforth became the common meeting-ground for all who loved, trusted, and obeyed the Lord Jesus in sincerity. At the same time, as in so many other Jewish rites, there was as inner spirit, which passed on into the Christian Church, and is our heritage today. St. Paul, the deadly foe of the outward rite, speaks of the spiritual circumcision, and says it is made without human hands, by the direct interposition of the Holy Spirit; and that it consists in "the putting-off of the body of the sins of the flesh" (Colossians 2:11). Oh, blessed High Priest, this is what we need: take the knife in hand; and, though it cost us blood, make haste to set us free from the dominion of evil, and to constitute us the true circumcision: "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Php 3:3). It is only in proportion as we know the spiritual meaning of circumcision that we can enter into the joyous appropriation of the friendship of God. But if we are willing, our Lord and Savior is both able and willing to effect in us this blessed spiritual result. (1) SEPARATION Abraham and his seed were marked out by this rite as a separated people. And it is only as such that any of us can be admitted into the friendship of God. Blood-shedding and death -- the cross and the grave -- must lie between us and our own past life; yea, between us and all complicity with evil. The only trysting place for Christ and His followers is outside the camp, where the ground is still freshly trodden by the feet of the exiled King. There are times when we may be expressly bidden to abide where we were originally called of God; but this will be for special purposes of ministry, and because the darkness needs light, and the carcase requires salt. For the most part the clarion note rings out to all who are wishful to know the sweets of Divine fellowship: "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you" "2 Corinthians 6:17-18). This was the key to Abraham’s life; and is the inner meaning of the rite of circumcision. (2) PURITY "Putting off of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ (Colossians 2:11 RV). There is hardly a single grace dearer to God than this -- to keep lily-white amid the defiling atmosphere: to walk with unspotted garments even in Sardis: to be as sensitive to the taint of impurity as the most delicate nostril to an evil odor. Ah, this is a condition of great price in the sight of God, and one to which He unveils Himself. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Purity can only be attained by the special Grace of the Holy Spirit; and by doing two things: first, by our turning instantly from paragraphs in papers, or pictures on the walls, and all things else, which excite impure imaginations; secondly, by our seeking immediate forgiveness, when we are conscious of having yielded, even for a moment, to the deadly and insidious fascinations of the flesh. There are some who sigh after the white rose of chastity, with a kind of despair that it should ever become their own. They forget that it is only possible to us by the grace of Christ, and through the Holy Spirit; whose temples we profess ourselves to be. Let us trust Him to keep His own property in the perfect loveliness of that purity and chastity which are so dear to God; this is the circumcision of Christ. (3) OBEDIENCE For Abraham this rite might have seemed less necessary than for some in his camp. But no sooner was it commanded than it was undergone. "In the self-same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son." Does it not remind us of Him who said, "Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you"? Instant obedience to known duty is an indispensable condition of all intimacy with God: and if the duty be irksome and difficult, then remember to claim all the more of the Divine grace; for there is no duty, to which we are called, for the discharge of which there is not strength enough within reach, if only we will put forth our hands to take it. We do not obey in order to become friends; but having become friends we hasten to obey. Love is more inexorable than law. And for the love of Him who calls us by so dear a title, we are glad to undertake and accomplish what Sinai with all its thunders would fail to nerve us to attempt. Of the secrets which shall be revealed; of the delights which shall be experienced; of the blessings which shall accrue to ever widening circles, through the friendship of one man with God -- we have not space to speak. This, however, is true, that the soul laughs to itself (Genesis 17:17), not with incredulity, but with the uncontrollable gladness of conscious acceptance and love. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 33: 02.15. CHAPTER 15, THE DIVINE GUEST ======================================================================== CHAPTER FIFTEEN THE DIVINE GUEST "The LORD appeared unto Abraham in the plains of Mamre." -- Genesis 18:1. When, in the course of some royal progress, a Sovereign deigns to sojourn in the homestead of one of the subjects of his realm, the event becomes at once the theme of chroniclers, and the family selected for so high an honor is held in deepened respect. But what shall we say in the presence of such an episode as this -- in which the God of Heaven became the guest of His servant Abraham! There is no doubt as to the august character of one of the three who, on that memorable afternoon, when every living thing was seeking shelter during the heat of the day, visited the tent of the patriarch. In the first verse we are expressly told that Jehovah appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. And in the tenth verse there is the accent of Deity, who alone can create life, and to whom nothing is too hard, in the words of promise which tell how certainly Sarah should have a son. And, besides, we are told that two angels came to Sodom at even. Evidently they were two of the three who had sat as Abraham’s guests beneath the tree which sheltered his tent in the blazing noon. But as for the other, who throughout the wondrous hours had been the only spokesman, His dignity is disclosed in the amazing colloquy which took place on the heights of Mamre, when Abraham stood yet before the Lord, and pleaded with Him as the Judge of all the earth. It was thus that the Son of God anticipated His incarnation; and was found in fashion as a man before He became flesh. He loved to come INCOGNITO into the homes of those He cherished as His friends, even before He came across the slopes of Olivet to make His home in the favored cottage, where His spirit rested from the din of the great city, and girded itself for the cross and the tomb. "He rejoiced in the habitable part of the earth, and His delights were with the sons of men" (Proverbs 8:31). It is very marvelous! We may well ask with deepest reverence and awe the question of Solomon, when he felt the utter inadequacy of his splendid Temple as the abode of the eternal God: "Will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house that I have builded!" (1 Kings 8:27 RV). But this question has been forever settled by God Himself, in the majestic words: "Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (Isaiah 42:15). And the life of our blessed Master is a delightful commentary on these mighty affirmations. He said to a publican, "Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house." He went to the home of Peter, and was ministered to by one of the household, whom He had raised from the gates of death. And after His resurrection, He entered the humble lodging of the two disciples in whose company He had walked from Jerusalem, seeking to dry their tears as they went. Nor is this all. There is no heart so lowly but that He will enter. There is no home so humble, but that He will make Himself a welcome inmate. There is no table so poorly provided, but that He will sit thereat, turning water into wine, multiplying the loaves and fishes, and converting the simple meal into a sacrament. When seated at meat with those He loves, He still takes bread, and blesses it and breaks, and gives to them (Luke 24:30). To each and all He says, as He stands laden with raiment, eyesalve, gold, and viands for the evening meal: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him; and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20). Abraham evidently, at the outset, did not realize the full meaning of the episode in which he was taking part. Even so do we often fail to value aright characters with whom we come in contact. It is only as they pass away from us for ever, and we look back upon them, that we realize that we have been entertaining angels unawares. Let us so act always and everywhere, that as we review the past we may have nothing to regret; and may not have to reproach ourselves with having omitted to do something or other, which we would have inserted in our programme had we only realized our opportunities. Abraham treated his visitors with true eastern hospitality. ... he ran to meet them, and bowed himself toward the ground. He proposed water for their feet, and rest for their tired frames, beneath the spreading shadow. He started his wife to the immediate kneading of the meal for baking on the scorching stones. He ran to choose his tenderest calf, refusing to delegate the work to another’s hand. He served his visitors himself, and stood as a servant by their side, under the tree, while they did eat. Christians have not much to boast of -- and a good deal to learn -- as they consider the action of this old-time saint, and his dealings with the three strangers who came to his tent. The faith which he had towards God had a very winsome aspect towards men. There was nothing in him which was austere or forbidding; but much that was exceedingly lovely, and brimming with the milk of human kindness. MAY IT NOT BE THAT CHRIST COMES TO US OFTEN IN THE GUISE OF A STRANGER? But we are too busy, or too tired, or too much afraid of making a mistake; and, therefore, we either refuse Him altogether, or we treat Him so badly that He passes unobserved away, to carry to some one else the blessing which He would have left with us had we only shown ourselves worthy. Does He not test us thus? Of course if He were to come in His manifested splendor as the Son of the Highest, every one would receive Him, and provide Him with sumptuous hospitality. But this would not reveal our true character. And so He comes to us as a wayfaring man, hungry and athirst; or as a stranger, naked and sick. Those that are akin to Him will show Him mercy, in whatsoever disguise He comes, though they recognize Him not, and will be surprised to learn that they ever ministered to Him. Those, on the other hand, who are not really His, will fail to discern Him; will let Him go unhelped away; and will wake up to find that "inasmuch as they did it not to one of the least of these, they did it not to Him" (Matthew 25:45). There was much truth in the simplicity of the little German lad, who left the door open for the Lord to enter and sit with his mother and himself at their frugal supper-table; and who, as a beggar stood within the portal, asking for alms, remarked: "Perhaps the Lord could not come Himself, and had therefore sent this poor man as His representative." BUT GOD NEVER LEAVES US IN HIS DEBT He takes care to pay for His entertainment, royally and divinely. He uses Peter’s fishing smack, and gives it back, nearly submerged by the weight of the fish which He had driven into the nets. He sits down with His friends to a country marriage-feast, and pays for their simple fare by jars brimming with water turned to wine. He uses the five barley loaves and two small fishes; but He fills the lad with an ample meal. He sends His prophet to lodge with a widow, and provides meal and oil for him and her for many days. And Abraham was no loser by his ready hospitality; for, as they sat at meat, the Lord foretold the birth of Sarah’s child: "I will certainly return unto thee; and Sarah thy wife shall have a son." Sarah was sitting inside the flimsy curtain of camel’s hair, secluded after the Eastern fashion for those of high rank; and as she heard the words, she laughed within herself the laugh of incredulity. That laugh was at once noticed by Him from whom nothing can be hid, and whose eyes are as a flame of fire. "And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 28:13-14). With strange simplicity she answered through the curtain, denying that she had laughed: for she was afraid. But her reply was met by the stern and uncompromising asseveration, which was altogether final, "Nay, but thou didst laugh." These were the only audible words which we know to have passed between God and Abraham’s wife; and they reveal the superficiality and unbelief of her nature. But we must not judge her too harshly, for she had not had the opportunities of her husband. However, she seems to have been led by these words into a true faith; for it is said, "By faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised" (Hebrews 11:11). THIS IS THE TRUE LAW OF FAITH Do not look at your faith or at your feelings; but look away to the word of promise, and, above all, to the Promiser. Study the punctuality of His orderings in the starry firmament. Are planets ever overdue? or do the seasons forget to revolve? Consider how accurately He has kept His word with the nations of the past, whose ruined cities attest His judgments! Has He ever failed to keep His word? Is there any conceivable reason why He should not keep it? His power is omnipotent; and would He ever have pledged Himself to do what He could not effect? "He is faithful that promised." Look from faith to the promise, and from the promise to the Promiser. And as we become conscious of possessing the power of vision whilst we look on any object to which we may direct our gaze, so we shall become conscious of the presence and growth of faith as we look away to our faithful God. "IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD?" That is one of God’s unanswered questions. It has lain there for three thousand years, perused by myriads, answered by none; unless, indeed, those words of Jeremiah are the only answer which mortal men can give: "Ah, Lord God" behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched-out arm; and there is nothing too hard for Thee" (Jeremiah 32:17). It may seem to you hard to the verge of impossibility, that ever God should keep his word, in the conversion of that friend for whom you have a warrant to pray, according to 1 John 5:16. Hard to vindicate your character from the aspersions with which it is being befouled. Hard to keep your evil nature in the place of death; and to cast down your evil imaginings, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Hard to make you sweet and gentle, forgiving and loving. Hard to produce from you the fruits of a lovely and holy nature. It may be hard; but it is not too hard for the Lord. "With God all things are possible." And, as Sarah found it, all things are possible to those who believe. The one thing that hinders God is our unbelief. Sarah must believe, and Abraham also, ere the child of promise could be born. And so must it be with us. As soon as we believe, then, according to our faith it is done to us; yea, exceeding abundantly beyond all we had asked or thought. It may seem hard that the sins of a life should be forgiven; but God will do it for any penitent and believing soul. "All that believe in Christ are justified from all things" (Acts 13:39). It may seem hard that our naked souls should be attired in vestments fit for the royal palace; but it shall be so, if we have faith; for the righteousness of Christ is imputed and reckoned to all who believe (Romans 3:22). It may seem hard that rebels should become children; yet this, too, shall be; for to them that receive Him He gives the right to become children of God (John 1:12). You ask how to obtain this faith. Remember that faith is the receptive attitude of the soul, begotten and maintained by the grace of God. Christ is the Author and Finisher of faith; not only in the abstract, but in the personal experience of the soul. Faith is the gift of God. If, then, you would receive it, put your will on the side of Christ; not a passing wish, but the whole will of your being: will to believe patiently, persistently, yearningly; let your eyes be ever toward the Lord; study the promises of God; consider the nature of God; be prepared to be rid of everything that grieves His Holy Spirit; and it is as certain as the truth of Christ, that you will have begotten and maintained in you the faith that can move mountains, and laugh at impossibilities. And to such faith God will come, not as a passing wayfarer, but to abide; to feast with the soul in holy strengthening fellowship; to fill it with the true laughter; and to leave behind promises soon to become accomplished facts. "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them; and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Revelation 21:3). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 34: 02.16. CHAPTER 16, PLEADING FOR SODOM ======================================================================== CHAPTER SIXTEEN PLEADING FOR SODOM "And Abraham stood yet before the Lord; and Abraham drew near." -- Genesis 18:22-23. As the day wore on, Abraham’s mysterious guests went off across the hills towards Sodom; and Abraham went with them to bring them on their way. But all three did not reach the guilty city, over which the thunder clouds had already commenced to gather. That evening two angels entered it alone. And where was their companion? Ah! He had stayed behind to talk yet further with His friend. Tradition still points out the spot on the hills at the head of a long steep ravine leading down to the sullen waters of the Dead Sea where the Lord tarried behind to tell Abraham all that was in His heart. Why did not the Lord accompany His angels down to Sodom? Was it because vengeance is His strange work, in which He can take no pleasure? It surely befits the dignity of the sovereign Judge to delegate to other hands the execution of His decrees. "The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity" (Matthew 13:41). But there was a deeper reason still. Abraham was the "friend of God"; and friendship constitutes a claim to be entrusted with secrets hidden from all beside. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." "Henceforth," said the Master to His disciples, "I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you" (John 15:15). If we live near God, we shall have many things revealed to us which are hidden from the wise and prudent. The Septuagint version has well brought out the spirit of the Divine reverie, when it puts the question thus: "Shall I hide from Abraham, MY SERVANT, the thing which I do"? The Lord does nothing which He does not first reveal to His holy servants and prophets. But the words which follow point to a yet further reason for the full disclosures that were made: "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him; and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment" (Genesis 18:19). Was there a fear lest Abraham and his children might doubt the justice of the judgment of God if the righteous were summarily cut off with the wicked; and if the cities of the plain were destroyed without a revelation of their sin on the one hand, and the display of the Divine mercy on the other? Certainly it has placed the Divine character in an altogether different light, in that we have been permitted, in such a case as this, to understand some of the motives which have actuated God in His goodness or severity. And though His judgments must ever be a great deep, yet such a wondrous colloquy as this shines above them; as the rainbow trembles in its matchless beauty over the steamy depths of Niagara’s plunge. (1) THE BURDEN OF THE DIVINE ANNOUNCEMENT "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great." What marvelous expression is this! There, far down the valley, bathed in the radiance of the westering sun, lay the guilty cities, still and peaceful. No sound travelled to the patriarch’s ear, not even the roar which aeronauts detect in the dizzy heights of air, through which they travel on their adventurous way, passing mighty cities far beneath, which betray their existence by their voice. Quiet though Sodom seemed in the far distance, and in the hush of the closing day; yet to God there was a cry. The cry of the earth compelled to carry such a scar. The cry of inanimate creation, groaning and travailing in pain. The cry of the oppressed, the down trodden -- the victims of human violence and lust. The cry of the maiden, the wife, and the child. These were the cries which had entered into the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth. And each sin has a cry. "The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me" And it will go on crying; unless it is silenced by the yet greater voice of the blood of Christ, "which speaketh better things." And, if each sin has a cry, what must not be the volume of sound for a life, and for a city! Must not God still have to say of our great cities, one by one? - -- "Its cry is great; and its sin is very grievous." "I will go down now, and see." God always narrowly investigates the true condition of the case, before He awards or executes His sentences. He comes seeking fruit for three years, before He gives the order for the cutting down of the tree that cumbered the vineyard soil. He walks our streets day and night. He patrols our thoroughfares, marking everything, missing nothing. He glides unasked into our most sacred privacy; for all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. He is prepared, nay, eager to give us the benefit of any excuse. But flagrant sin, like that which broke out in Sodom that very night, is enough to settle for ever the fate of a Godless community when standing at the bar of Him who is Judge and Witness both. And if not, I will know." There was something very ominous in all these words, which Abraham clearly understood to indicate the approaching destruction of the place; for in his prayer he again and again alludes to the imminence of its doom: "Wilt Thou, also, destroy the righteous with the wicked?" But what is there that God does not know? "The darkness and the light are both alike to Him." Yet He says, "I will know." Yes, ungodly man who mayest read this page: remember that from God no secrets can be hid. He will search out the most hidden ramifications of thy sin; bringing them out before the gaze of the universe; and justifying His righteous judgments which He will not spare. (2) THE IMPRESSION WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MADE ON ABRAHAM’S MIND So soon as the angels had gone on, leaving Abraham alone with the Lord, he was thoroughly aroused by the revelation which had broken upon him; and his mind was filled with a tumult of emotion. He hardly dared expostulate with God: what was he, but "dust and ashes"? And yet he was impelled to make some attempt to avert the doom that threatened the cities of the plain. The motives that prompted him were twofold: (1) THERE WAS A NATURAL ANXIETY ABOUT HIS KINSMAN, LOT. -- Twenty years had passed since Lot had left him; but he had never ceased to follow him with the most tender affection. He could not forget that Lot was the son of his dead brother Haran: or that he had been his ward; or that he had braved the hardships of the desert in his company. All this had been present to his mind, when, a few years before, he had made a heroic effort to extricate him from the hands of Chedorlaomer. And now the strong impulse of natural affection stirred him to make one strenuous effort to save Sodom, lest his nephew might be overwhelmed in its overthrow. Real religion tends not to destroy, but to fulfill all the impulses of true natural love. (2) THERE WAS ALSO A FEAR LEST THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN MIGHT PREJUDICE THE CHARACTER OF GOD IN THE MINDS OF THE NEIGHBORING PEOPLES Abraham did not deny that the fate which was about to overtake them was deserved by many of the people of that enervating and luxuriant valley: but he could not bring his mind to suppose that the whole of the population was equally debased; and he feared that if all were summarily swept away, the surrounding nations would have a handle of reproach against the justice of his God, and would accuse Him of unrighteousness, inasmuch as He destroyed the righteous with the wicked. The character of God has ever been dear to his true-hearted servants of every age. Moses was prepared to forego the honor of being the ancestor of the chosen people, rather than that the nations which had heard of the Divine fame should be able to say that God was not able to bring them into the Land of Promise. [See Exodus 32:10, Numbers 14:12.] And when the men of Israel fled before Ai, Joshua and the elders appear to have thought less of the danger of the immediate rising to cut them off than of what God would do for His great name. Oh for more of this chivalrous devotion to the interests and glory of our God! Would that we were so absorbed in all that touches the honor of the Divine name amongst men, that this might be the supreme element in our anxiety, as we view the drift of human opinion concerning the enactments of Divine providence! This passion for the glory of God burnt with a clear strong flame in Abraham’s heart; and it was out of this that there arose his wondrous intercession. And when we become as closely identified with the interests of God as he was, we shall come to feel as he did; and shall be eager that the Divine character should be vindicated amongst the children of men; content, if need be, to lie dying in the ditch, so long as we can hear the shouts of triumph amid which our King rides over us to victory. (3) THE ELEMENTS IN ABRAHAM’S INTERCESSION. -- IT WAS LONELY PRAYER He waited till on all that wide plateau, and beneath those arching skies, there was no living man to overhear this marvelous outpouring of a soul overcharged, as are the pools, when, after the rains of spring, they overflow their banks. "He stood before the Lord." It is fatal to all the intensest, strongest devotion to pray always in the presence of another, even the dearest. Every saint must have a closet, of which he can shut the door, and in which he can pray to the Father which is in secret. This "closet" may be the mountains, or the woods, or the sounding shore; but it must be somewhere. Pitiable is the one who cannot -- miserable the one who dare not -- meet God face to face, and talk with Him of His ways, and plead for his fellows. "For what are men better than sheep or goats, That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend." IT WAS PROLONGED PRAYER "Abraham stood yet before the Lord." The story takes but a few moments to read; but the scene may have lasted for the space of hours. We cannot climb the more elevated pinnacles of prayer in a hasty rush. They demand patience, toil, prolonged endeavor, ere the lower slopes can be left, and the brooding cloud-line passed, and the aspiring soul can reach that cleft in the mountain side, where Moses stood beneath the shadow of God’s hand. Of course, our God is ever on the alert to hear and answer those prayers which, like minute-guns, we fire through the live-long day; but we cannot maintain this posture of ejaculatory prayer unless we cultivate the prolonged occasions. How much we miss because we do not wait before God! We do not give the sun a chance to thaw us. We do not linger long enough upon the quay to see the vessels return freighted with the answers we had been praying for. If only we had remained longer at the palace door, we might have seen the King come out with a benediction in His face and a largess in His hands. IT WAS VERY HUMBLE PRAYER "Behold, now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes." "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak." "Behold, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord." "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once." The nearer we get to God, the more conscious are we of our unworthiness; just as the higher a bird flies in mid-heaven, the deeper will be the reflection of its snowy pinions in the placid mere beneath. Let the glow-worm vie with the meridian sun; let the dewdrop boast itself against the fullness of the ocean bed; let the babe vaunt its knowledge with the intelligence of a seraph -- before the man who lives in touch with God shall think of taking any other position than that of lowliest humiliation and prostration in His presence. Before Him angels veil their faces, and the heavens are not clean in His sight. And is it not remarkable that our sense of weakness is one of our strongest claims and arguments with God? "He forgetteth not the cry of the humble." "To that man will I look who trembleth." This Prayer Was Based On A Belief That God Possessed The Same Moral Intuitions As Himself. -- "Wilt Thou destroy the righteous with the wicked? That be far from Thee that the righteous should be as the wicked!" "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" There is an infinite interest in this. It is as if the patriarch looked up from the clear depths of his own integrity into the azure heights of the Divine Being, and saw there enthroned a moral nature, at least as upright, fair, and true as his own; and to that he made his appeal, sure of a favorable response. It was as if he had said: "Almighty God, I could not think it right to destroy the righteous with the wicked; and I am sure that any number of righteous men would shrink from doing so. And if this is binding on man, of course it must be much more binding on Thee, because Thou art the Judge of all the earth." And God was not angry; indeed He assented to Abraham’s plea. And may we not go further, and say? -- that though God may act in ways above our reason, yet He will not contradict those instincts of the moral sense which He has placed within our hearts. And if at times He seem to do so, it is because we have falsely conceived of His dealings, and put an erroneous interpretation upon them. It was a cherished motto of bygone days that "the king could do no wrong." "Alas! it was a vain dream. But what was untrue of the Stuarts is literally true of the Eternal God. He cannot outrage the moral nature in man, which is made in the likeness of His own. Let us possess our souls in patience, sure that any appearances to the contrary are mists generated by our own evil natures or limited intelligence, and will be swept away from obscuring that everlasting righteousness which is steadfast and changeless as the great mountains. THIS PRAYER WAS PERSEVERING SIX TIMES Abraham returned to the charge, and as each petition was granted, his faith and courage grew; and, finding he had struck a right vein, he worked it again, and yet again. It looks at first sight as if he forced God back from point to point, and wrung his petitions from an unwilling hand. But this is a mistake. In point of fact, GOD WAS DRAWING HIM ON; and if he had dared to ask at first what he asked at the last, he would have got more than all that he asked or thought at the very commencement of his intercession. This was the time of his education. He did not learn the vast extent of God’s righteousness and mercy all at once; he climbed the dizzy heights step by step; and, as he gained each step, he was inspired to dare another. What a pity that he stopped at ten! There is no knowing what he might have reached, had he gone on. As it was, the Almighty was obliged, by the demands of His own nature, to exceed the limits placed by Abraham, in bringing out of Sodom the only persons that could, by any possibility, be accounted "righteous." It is so that God educates us still. In ever-widening circles, He tempts his new-fledged eaglets to try the sustaining elasticity of the air. He forces us to ask one thing; and then another, and yet another. And when we have asked our utmost, there are always unexplored remainders behind; and He does exceeding abundantly above all. There were not ten righteous men in Sodom; but Lot and his wife, and his two daughters, were saved, though three of them were deeply infected with the moral contagion of the place. And God’s righteousness was clearly established and vindicated in the eyes of the surrounding peoples. In closing, we remark ONE OF THE GREAT PRINCIPLES IN THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD. -- A whole city had been spared, if ten righteous men had been found within its walls. Ungodly men little realize how much they owe to the presence of the children of God in their midst. Long ere now had the floods of deserved wrath swept them all away; but judgment has been restrained, because God could not do anything while the righteous were found amongst them. The impatient servants have often asked if they should not gather out the tares. But the answer of the righteous Lord has ever been: "Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat also with them." Ah, how little the world realizes the debt it owes to its saints, the salt to stay its corruption, the light to arrest the re-institution of the reign of chaos and night! We cannot but yearn over the world, as it rolls on its way towards its sad dark doom. Let us plead for it from the heights above Mamre. And may we and our beloved ones be led out from it into safety, ere the last plagues break full upon it in inevitable destruction! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 35: 02.17. CHAPTER 17, ANGEL WORK IN A BAD TOWN ======================================================================== CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ANGEL WORK IN A BAD TOWN (Genesis 19:1-38) The waters of the Dead Sea ripple over a part of the site where once stood the cities of the plain, with their busy stir of life, and thought, and trade. But all the sounds of human joy, sorrow, or industry. the tread of the soldier, the call of the herdsman, the murmur of the market, the voices of little children playing in the open spaces -- ALL are hushed in that awful solitude, the aspect of which is a striking testimony to the truth of the inspired Word. Embosomed in gaunt mountains, the Dead Sea lies thirteen hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea. So weird and desolate is the scene, that it was long believed that no birds would fly across the sullen waters; no shells line the strand; no trace of living verdure is found along the shores: but, strewn along the desolate margin lie trunks and branches of trees, torn from the thickets of the river jungle by the violence of the Jordan, borne rapidly into the Sea of Sodom, and cast up again from its depths, encrusted with the salt which makes those waters utterly unfit to drink. And as the traveller wanders around the spot, he is irresistibly reminded of the time, when "the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." THE REASONS WHICH JUSTIFIED THIS SUPREME ACT OF DESTRUCTION: (1) IT WAS A MERCIFUL WARNING TO THE REST OF MANKIND The lesson of the Flood had well-nigh faded from the memory of man; and, heedless of all restraint, the human family had made terrible advances in the course of open shameless vice -- so much so that there seemed an imminent danger of men repeating the abominable crimes that had opened the sluices of the Deluge. It was surely, therefore, wise and merciful to set up a warning, which told its own terrible story, and reminded transgressors that there were limits beyond which the Judge of all the earth would not permit them to go. It is true that the visitation, if it temporarily alarmed the nations of the immediate neighborhood, did not prevent them from reaching a similar excess of immorality some centuries later, or from incurring at the edge of Joshua’s sword the doom which heaven’s fire had executed on their neighbors in the Jordan plain. Still, God’s warnings have a merciful intention, even where they are unheeded; and this Sodom catastrophe has been well said to belong to that class of terrors in which a wise man will trace "the loving-kindness of the Lord." (2) MOREOVER, IN THIS TERRIBLE ACT THE ALMIGHTY SIMPLY HASTENED THE RESULT OF THEIR OWN ACTIONS Nations are not destroyed until they are rotten at the core; as the north-east wind which snaps the forest trees only hastens the result for which the borer-worm had already prepared. It would have been clear to any thoughtful observer who had ventured out after dark in Sodom that it must inevitably fall. Unnatural crime had already eaten out the national heart, and, in the ordinary course of events, utter collapse could not be long delayed. Go into the tents of Abraham, and you find simplicity; hospitality; the graces of a truly noble character, which guarantee the perpetuity of his name, and the glorious future of his children. Now go to Sodom; and in that sultry climate you find a population enervated with luxury; debased by cowardly submission to a foreign tyrant; cankered to the core with vice; not ten righteous men among them all; whilst the purity and sanctity of home are idle words. All these symptoms prognosticate, with prophetic voice, that their "sentence lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not." This suggests a solemn lesson for ourselves. The tide of empire has ever set westwards. India, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, have successively wielded supreme power, and sunk into oblivion. Shall it depart from Britain, as it has departed from the rest? It need not do so. Yet, as we remark the increase of extravagance and luxury; the reckless expenditure on pleasure; the shameless vice that flaunts itself in our streets; the adulation of wealth, the devotion to gambling laxness of the marriage tie -- we may well entertain the darkest fears about the future of our fatherland. The only hope for us is based on the important part which we are called to play in facilitating the evangelization of the world. Should we once fail in this -- or should we send out more opium chests than Bibles, more spirit-sellers than missionaries --nothing can avert our fall. (3) BESIDES, THIS OVERTHROW ONLY HAPPENED AFTER CAREFUL INVESTIGATION "I will go down now and see." Beneath these simple words we catch a glimpse of one of the most sacred principles of Divine action. God does not act hastily, nor upon hearsay evidence; He must see for Himself if there may not be some mitigating or extenuating circumstances. It was only after He had come to the fig-tree for many years, seeking fruit in vain, that He said, "Cut it down: why cumbereth it the ground?" And this deliberation is characteristic of God. He is unwilling that any should perish. He is slow to anger. Judgment is His strange work. He tells us that some day, when we come to look into His doings, we shall be comforted, concerning many of the evils which He has brought on the world, because we shall know that He has not done WITHOUT CAUSE all that He has done (Ezekiel 14:23). (4) THERE IS THIS CONSIDERATION ALSO -- THAT, DURING THE DELAY, MANY A WARNING WAS SENT First, there was the conquest by Chedorlaomer, some twenty years before the time of which we write. Then there was the presence of Lot, which, indeed, was enfeebled by his inconsistencies, but was yet a protest on the behalf of righteousness (2 Peter 2:7-8). Finally, there was the deliverance and restoration by the energetic interposition of Abraham. Again and again had God warned the men of these cities of their inevitable doom, if they did not repent. To use His own expressive words, He "rose up early" to send His messengers; but the people would not hear. Nor is His usage different in the case of individuals. The course of every sin is against a succession of menacing red lights and exploding fog signals, warning of danger if that course be pursued. Just as the quivering of the nerves tells when the system is overstrained, and demands immediate rest at the risk of certain paralysis, if that warning be disregarded; so has God arranged that no downward step can be taken, without setting going vast numbers of shrill bells that tell of danger ahead. Transgressor! the signals are all against thee. To regard these alarm-tokens is to be saved. To disregard them, persevering in spite of all, is to deaden the soul and harden the heart, and run the risk of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. For that unpardonable sin is not an act, but a state -- the condition of the soul that does not, and cannot, feel; that is utterly insensible and careless of its state; that drifts heedless to its doom; and is not forgiven, simply because it does not admit or feel its need of forgiveness, and, therefore, does not ask for it. (5) IT IS WORTHY OF NOTICE THAT GOD SAVED ALL WHOM HE COULD Lot was a sorry wreck of a noble beginning. When he started forth, as Abraham’s companion from Ur, he gave promise of a life of quite unusual power and fruit. But he was one of those characters which cannot stand success. There is no temptation more insidious or perilous than that. The Enchanted Ground is more to be dreaded than the open assaults of Apollyon. More are ruined by the deceitfulness of riches than by the cares of life. When first Lot went down to Sodom, attracted by the sole consideration of its pastures, it was no doubt his intention to keep aloof from its people, and to live outside its walls. But the moth cannot with impunity flutter about the flame. By and by he abandoned the tent life altogether, and took a house inside the city. At last he betrothed his daughters to native Sodomites, and sat in its gateway as one of its aldermen. He was given to hospitality; but in the proposals by which he endeavored to vindicate its exercise, he proved how the air of Sodom had taken the bloom off his purity. He was with difficulty dragged out of Sodom, as a brand plucked from the burning; and over the closing scenes of his life it is decent to draw a veil. And yet such a wreck was saved! Nor was he saved alone; but his wife also, who did not take many steps outside the city, before, by looking back, with a mixture of disobedience and regret, she showed herself utterly hopeless; and her two daughters, whose names are branded with eternal infamy. If God was so careful to secure their safety, how bad must those have been whom He left to their fate! Is it not clear that He saved all who at all came within the range of mercy’s possibilities? There will not be one soul amongst the lost who had the faintest claim to be among the saved; and there will be a great many among the saved whose presence there will be a very great surprise to us. "They shall come from the east and west... but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out." THE MOTIVES OF THE ANGELS’ VISIT These were three: (1) THE PROXIMATE, OR NEAREST CAUSE WAS THEIR OWN LOVE TO MAN The angels love us. Though they know that we are destined to a dignity before which that of the loftiest seraphs must pale, no envy eats out the pure benevolence which throbs within their holy spirits. It is enough that God has willed it so, and that we are dear to their sweet Master, Christ. It is then no hardship for them to leave "their golden bowers," or "cleave the flitting skies," that they may come and hasten lingerers to repentance. If there were any hardship, it would be in their mission to destroy. (2) THE EFFICIENT CAUSE WAS ABRAHAM’S PRAYER "And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow" (Genesis 19:29). Pray on, beloved reader, pray on for that dear one far away in the midst of a very Sodom of iniquity. It may seem impossible for you to go down into it for his rescue, or to help him in any other way; but, in answer to your prayer, God will send His angels to that ship laboring in mid-ocean; into that log-house in the Canadian clearing, or that shanty by an African diamond mine; or away to that abode dedicated to vice or drink. God’s angels go everywhere. A Sodom cannot hold its victims back from their touch, any more than their bright presences can be soiled by the polluting atmosphere through which they pass. Whilst you are praying, God’s angels are on their way to perform your desire, albeit that their progress may be hindered by causes hidden from our ken (see Daniel 10:12). (3) BUT THE ULTIMATE CAUSE WAS GOD’S MERCY "The Lord being merciful to him." Mercy: that is the last link in the chain. Is it not the staple in the wall? There is nothing beyond it. The Apostle himself cannot allege a more comprehensive or satisfactory reason for his position in the sunlit circle of salvation than this: "I obtained mercy." "By the grace of God, I am what I am." And this shall be our theme also through that eternity whose day-star has already arisen in our hearts. It seems marvelous that God should employ sons of men to win men to Himself. Surely angels could do it better! Nay, did they not save Lot with a pertinacity, and a holy ingenuity, which are full of teaching and stimulus to ourselves, as workers for the Lord? The world is full of Sodoms still; and Lots, whom we have known and loved or who have a claim on us, are sitting at their gates. Oh, why are we behind the angels in eagerness to pluck them as brands from the burning? Bright spirits, ye shall read us some holy lessons as to methods of Christian work; and we will try and emulate you -- lest the time should come when we shall be dismissed from our posts; and heaven’s doors flung wide open each dawn to let out your rejoicing crowds, to take our place in class, or pulpit, or squalid court! THE ANGELS WENT TO WHERE LOT WAS "There came two angels to Sodom at even." What! did angels go to Sodom? Yes, to Sodom -- and yet angels. And as a ray of light may pass through the fetid atmosphere of some squalid court, and emerge without a stain on its pure texture, so may angels spend a night in Sodom, surrounded by crowds of sinners, and yet be untainted angel still. If you go to Sodom for your gains, as Lot did, you will soon show signs of moral pollution. But if you go to save men, as these angels did, you may go into a very hell of evil, where the air is laden with impurity and blasphemy, but you will not be befouled. No grain of mud shall stick. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn" (Isaiah 54:17). This is the spirit of Christ’s Gospel. "He goeth after that which is lost till He find it." "He put forth His hand and touched him" (Luke 15:4; Matthew 8:3). We must not wait for sinners to come to us; we must go to them -- to the banks of the stream, where the fish hide in the dark, cool depths; to the highways of the town, where men congregate; to public-houses, music-halls, stews of crime, and homes of poverty; yea, and to the most distant parts of the world - -- wherever men are found we must go to them, to preach the Gospel. The most unlikely places will yield Lots, who would have died in their sins, if they had not been sought out. THEY WERE CONTENT TO WORK FOR VERY FEW Special value attaches to hand-picked fruit. Too often we, in our ignorance, prefer to go into the orchard and shake down from the trees the abundant crop, until the ground far and near is littered with fruit. But we forget how much waste there is in the process; and how much of the crop becomes bruised: whilst some is torn prematurely from the parent bough. So far as we can gather, all our Lord’s choicest followers were the result of His personal ministry. To one and another He said, "Follow Me!" His life was full of personal interviews. He sought out individual souls (Matthew 4:19; Matthew 4:21; Matthew 9:9; Luke 19:5). He would spend much time and thought to win one solitary woman, her character none too good (John 4:1-54). He believed in going after one sheep that was lost. And the steadfastness of their characters vindicated His methods. And it is most beautiful to trace the same characteristic in the Apostle Paul, who says that he "warned every man, and taught every man, that he might present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Colossians 1:28). It is a question whether more men are not saved by individual appeal than by all our preaching. It is not the sermon which wins them; but the quiet talk with a worker at an after-meeting, or the letter of a parent, or the words of a friend. When Christ said, "Preach the Gospel to every creature," did He not suggest that we were to set ourselves to the work of leaving the proclamation of heaven’s love at every door, and to every child of Adam, throughout the world? We never know what we do when we win one soul for God. Is not the following instance, culled from the biography of James Brainerd Taylor -- called home to God too early, and yet not before he had won hundreds of souls by his personal appeals -- a fair specimen of myriads more? On one occasion he reined up his horse to drink at a roadside well. Another horseman at the same moment did the same. The servant of God, as the horses were eagerly quenching their thirst, turned to the stranger, and spoke some burning words concerning the duty and honor of Christian discipleship. In a moment more they had parted, and were riding in different directions. But the word of God remained as incorruptible seed, and led to the conversion of that wayside hearer. He became a Christian and a missionary. Often he wondered who had been the instrument of his conversion, and sought for him in vain. But he did not succeed in identifying him till years after, when, in a packet of books, sent him from his native land, he opened the story of that devoted life, and in the frontispiece beheld the face which had haunted him, in sleeping and waking hours, ever since that slight but memorable interview. It has been said that the true method of soul-winning is to set the heart on some one soul; and to pursue it, until it has either definitely accepted, or finally rejected, the Gospel of the grace of God. We should not hear so many cries for larger spheres, if Christians only realized the possibilities of the humblest life. Christ found work enough in a village to keep Him there for thirty years. Philip was torn from the great revival in Samaria to go into the desert to win one seeker after God. Have you ever spoken to your servant, your shoeblack, your postman, your companion, your neighbor? Ah, it would not take long to evangelize the world, if every man would teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying "Know the Lord!" THEY TOLD LOT PLAINLY OF HIS DANGER "Hast thou here any besides? ...bring them out of this place: for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them in waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it" (Genesis 19:12-13). We are rather squeamish nowadays of talking to men thus. We have lined our lips with velvet. We aim to be gentler than Christ. He dod not hesitate to speak of an undying worm and a quenchless flame. The gnashing of teeth; the wail of despair; the knock to which no door would open -- were arguments which came more than once from His lips. (See Matthew 8:12; Matthew 13:42; Matthew 13:50; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 24:51; Matthew 25:10-12; Matthew 25:30; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 13:25-28). He evidently taught as if men might make a mistake which they could not possibly repair. If certain elements are wanting in food, the children will grow up boneless and unhealthy; and if we do not take care, the deficiency of our modern teaching will have disastrous results. Whether we talk about it or not, it is yet as true as the nature of God, that those who obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). And "if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26-27). It may be that the day of grace is nearer to its close than we think. The clock of destiny may have struck; the avalanche may have commenced to roll forward its overwhelming mass; whilst the storm-clouds may brood heavily over a godless age, for which, in the Day of Judgment, it shall be worse than for Sodom and Gomorrah. There may be nothing to portend this momentous fact. "The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar." Nature keeps God’s secrets well. No portent in heaven, no driving up of the cloud-wrack in the clouds, no tremor on earth; but the axe suddenly driven home to the heart of the doomed tree. Escape, my reader, for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou anywhere short of the cleft side of Jesus, where only we may hide from the just judgment of sin. Rest not till thou hast put the Lord Jesus between thyself and the footsteps of pursuing justice. THEY HASTENED HIM "When the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot" (Genesis 19:15). They had been reluctant to stay in his house, unlike the alacrity with which they accepted Abraham’s hospitality; and they spent the short sultry night in urging on Lot the certainty and terror of the approaching destruction. So much so that they actually got him to go to arouse his sons-in-law. But an inconsistent life cannot arrest the wanderer, or startle the sleeper into wide-awakeness about his soul. People say that we must conform a little to the manners of our time, if we would exert a saving influence over men. It is a fatal mistake. If we live in Sodom, we shall have no power to save the people of Sodom. You must stand outside of them, if you would save them from the gurgling rapids. Yes, dwellers in Sodom, you cannot level Sodom up; but it will certainly level you down, and laugh at you, when you try to speak. "He seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law." But when he came back from his ineffectual mission, Lot seemed infected by the scepticism which had ridiculed his warnings. "He lingered." How could he leave his children, and household goods, and property, on what seemed to be a fool’s errand? Surely all things would continue as they had been from the beginning of the world. "And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand." It was hand-help. It was the urgency of a love that would take no denial. The two angels had but four hands, but each hand was full, and each clasped the hand of a procrastinating sinner. Would that we knew more fully this divine enthusiasm, which pulls men out of the fire! (Jude 1:23). Nor were they satisfied, till their _proteges_ were safe outside the city; and were speeding towards the rampart of the distant hills. So Lot was saved from the overthrow. But though he was sent out of Sodom, he took Sodom with him; and over the remainder of his history we must draw a veil. Still, it is a marvelous testimony to the power of intercessory prayer, to learn that a man so low in the moral scale, together with his daughters, was saved for Abraham’s sake; and if he had finally settled at the little city of Zoar, that too would have been spared for his sake. Let us hasten sinners. Let us say to each one: "Escape for thy life; better lose all than lose your soul. Look not behind to past attainments or failures. Linger nowhere outside the City of Refuge, which is Jesus Christ Himself. Haste ye! habits of indecision strengthen; opportunities are closing in; the arrow of destruction has already left the bow of justice: "behold, now is the accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 36: 02.18. CHAPTER 18, A BIT OF THE OLD NATURE ======================================================================== CHAPTER EIGHTEEN A BIT OF THE OLD NATURE "Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, and thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?" Genesis 20:9. For long years an evil may lurk in our hearts, permitted and unjudged, breeding failure and sorrow in our lives, as some unnoticed and forgotten sewer may secretly undermine the health of an entire household. In the twilight we overlook many a thing which we should not allow for a single moment if we saw it in its true character; and which, amid the all-revealing light of the perfect day, we should be the first to fling away in horror. But that which escapes our ken is patent in all its naked deformity to the eye of God. "The darkness and the light are both alike to Him." And He will so direct the discipline of our lives as to set in clear prominence the deadly evil which He hates; so that, when He has laid bare the cancerous growth, He may bring us to long for and invite the knife which shall set us free from it for ever. These words have been suggested by the thirteenth verse of this chapter, which indicates an evil compact, into which Abraham had entered with Sarah some thirty years before the time of which we write. Addressing the king of the Philistines, the patriarch let fall a hint which sheds a startling light upon his failure, when first he entered the Land of Promise, and, under stress of famine, went down into Egypt; and upon that repetition of his failure which we must now consider. Here is what he said: "And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto my wife, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother." In a certain sense, no doubt, Sarah was his sister. She was the daughter of his father, though not the daughter of his mother. But she was much more his wife than his sister; and to withhold that fact was to withhold the one fact that was essential to the maintenance of his honor, and the protection of her virtue. We are not bound to tell the whole truth to gratify an idle curiosity; but we are bound not to withhold the one item, which another should know before completing a bargain, if the knowledge of it would materially alter the result. A lie consists in the motive quite as much as in the actual words. We may unwittingly say that which is actually false, meaning above all things to speak the truth, and, though a lie in form, there is no lie in fact. On the other hand, like Abraham, we may utter true words, meaning them to convey a deliberate and shameful falsehood. This secret compact between Abraham and his wife, in the earliest days of his exodus, was due to his slender faith in God’s power to take care of them, which again sprang from his limited experience of his Almighty Friend. In this we may find its sole excuse. But it ought long before this to have been canceled by mutual consent. The faithless treaty should have been torn into shreds, and scattered to the winds of heaven. It was not enough that they did not act on it for many years; for it was evidently still in existence, tacitly admitted by each of them, and only waiting for an emergency to arise from the dusty obscurity into which it had receded, and to come again into light and use. But the existence of this hidden understanding, though perhaps Abraham did not realize it, was inconsistent with the relation into which he had now entered with God. It was altogether a source of weakness and failure. And, above all, it was a secret flaw in his faith, which would inevitably affect its tone, and destroy its effectiveness in the dark trials which were approaching. God could afford to pass it over in those early days, when faith itself was yet in germ; but it could not be permitted, when that faith was reaching to a maturity in which any flaw would be instantly detected; and it would be an unsuitable example in one who was to become the model of faith to the world. The judgment and eradication of this lurking evil were therefore necessary, and were brought about in this wise. The day before Sodom’s fall, the Almighty told Abraham that, at a set time in the following year, he should have a son and heir. And we should have expected that he would have spent the slow-moving months beneath the oak of Mamre, already hallowed by so many associations. But such was not the case. It has been suggested that he was too horrified at the overthrow of the cities of the plain, to be able to remain any longer in the vicinity. All further association with the spot was distasteful to him. Or it may have been that another famine was threatening. But in any case "he journeyed from hence towards the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar" (Genesis 20:1). Gerar was the capital of a race of men who had dispossessed the original inhabitants of the land, and were gradually passing from the condition of wandering shepherd life into that of a settled and warlike nation; afterwards to be known to the Hebrews by the dreaded name, Philistines: a title which, in fact, gave to the whole land its name of Palestine. Their chieftain bore the official title of Abimelech, "My Father the King." Here, the almost forgotten agreement between Sarah and himself offered itself as a ready expedient, behind which Abraham’s unbelief took shelter. He knew the ungoverned license of his time, unbridled by the fear of God (Genesis 20:11). He dreaded, lest the heathen monarch, enamored with Sarah’s beauty, or ambitious to get her into his power for purposes of State policy, might slay him for his wife’s sake. And so he again resorted to the paltry policy of calling her his sister. As if God could not have defended him and her, screening them from all evil; as He had done so often in days gone by. HIS CONDUCT WAS VERY COWARDLY He risked Sarah’s virtue, and the purity of the promised seed. And, even if we accept the justification of his conduct proposed by some, who argue that he was so sure of the seed promised him by God that he could dare to risk what otherwise he would have more carefully guarded, his faith leading him into the license of presumption, yet, it was surely very mean on his part to permit Sarah to pass through any ordeal of the sort. If he had such superabundant faith, he might have risked his own safety at the hand of Abimelech rather than Sarah’s virtue. IT WAS ALSO VERY DISHONORING TO GOD amongst those untutored tribes Abraham was well known as the servant of Jehovah. And they could not but judge of the character of Him whom they could not see, by the traits they discerned in His servant, whom they knew in familiar intercourse. Alas that Abraham’s standard was lower than their own! so much so that Abimelech was able to rebuke him, saying: "Thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin: thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done." Such an opinion, elicited in such a way, must have been an unpropitious preparation for any attempt to proselytize Abimelech to the Hebrew faith. "Not so," we can imagine him saying: "I have had some experience of one of its foremost representatives, and I prefer to remain as I am." It is heartbreaking, when the heathen rebukes a professor of superior godliness for speaking lies. Yet it is lamentable to confess that such men often enough have higher standards of morality than those who profess godliness. Even if they do not fulfill their own conceptions, yet the beauty of their ideal is undeniable, and is a remarkable vindication of the universal vitality of conscience. The temperate Hindu is scandalized by the drunkenness of the Englishman whose religion he is invited to embrace. The Chinaman cannot understand why he should exchange the hoary religion of Confucius for that of a people which by superior armaments forces upon his country a drug which is sapping its vitals. The employee abhors a creed which is professed by his master for one day of the week, but is disowned on the other six. Let us walk circumspectly towards them that are outside; adorning in all things the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and giving no occasion to the enemy to blaspheme, save as it concerns the law of our God. IT ALSO STOOD OUT IN POOR RELIEF AGAINST THE BEHAVIOR OF ABIMELECH As to his original character, Abimelech commends himself to us as the nobler of the two. He rises early in the morning, prompt to set the great wrong right. He warns his people. He restores Sarah with munificent presents. His reproach and rebuke are spoken in the gentlest, kindest tones. He simply tells Sarah that her position as the wife of a prophet would, not in Philistia only, but wherever they might come, be a sufficient security and veil (Genesis 20:16). There is the air of high-minded nobility in his behavior throughout this crisis which is exceedingly winsome. It would almost appear as if the Spirit of God took delight in showing that the original texture of God’s saints was not higher than that of other men, nor indeed so high. What they became, they became in spite of their natural selves. So marvelous is the wonder-working power of the grace of God that He can graft His rarest fruits on the wildest stocks. He seems to delight to secure His choicest results in natures which men of the world might reject as hopelessly bad. He demands no assistance from us, so sure is He that when once faith is admitted as the root-principle of character, all other things will be added to it. Oh, critics of God’s handiwork, we do not deny the inconsistencies of a David, a Peter, or an Abraham; but we insist that those inconsistencies were not the result of God’s work, but in spite of it. They indicate the hopelessness of the original nature --the moorland waste to which He has set His cultivating hand. And shall we blame the Gardener’s skill, when, in the paradise which it has created, we encounter a bit of original soil, which, by force of contrast, indicates the marvel of His genius; and which, before long, if only we exercise patience, will yield to the selfsame spell, and blossom as the rest? And you, on the other hand, who aspire for the crown of saintliness, to which ye are truly called, take heart! There is nothing which God has done for any soul that He will not do for you. And there is no soil so unpromising that He will not compel it to yield His fairest results. "What is impossible to man is possible to God." The same power in all its matchless energy, which raised the body of our Lord from its sleep in the grave of Joseph, to sit at the Father’s side in the heights of glory, in spite of opposing battalions of evil spirits -- is ready to do as much for each of us, if only we will daily, hourly, yield to it without reserve. Only cease from your own works, and keep always on God’s "lift," refusing each solicitation to step off its ascending energy, or to do for yourself what He will do for you so much better than you can ask or think. Let us ponder, as we close, these practical lessons: (1) WE ARE NEVER SAFE SO LONG AS WE ARE IN THIS WORLD Abraham was an old man. Thirty years had passed since that sin had shown itself last. During that time he had been growing and learning much. But, alas! the snake was scotched, not killed. The weeds were cut down, not eradicated. The dry-rot had been checked; but the rotten timbers had not been cut away. Never boast yourself against once-cherished sins: only by God’s grace are they kept in check; and if you cease to abide in Christ, they will revive and revisit you, as the seven sleepers of Ephesus reappeared to the panic-stricken town. (2) WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO THROW OURSELVES INTO THE WAY OF THE TEMPTATION WHICH HAS OFTEN MASTERED US Those who daily cry, "Lead us not into temptation," should see to it that they do not court the temptation against which they pray. We must not expect angels to catch us every time we choose to cast ourselves from the mountain brow. A godly fear will avoid the perilous pass marked by crosses to indicate the failures of the past, and will choose a safer route. Abraham had been wiser had he never gone into the Philistines’ territory at all. (3) WE MAY BE ENCOURAGED BY GOD’S TREATMENT OF ABRAHAM’S SIN Although God had a secret controversy with His child, He did not put him away. And when his wife and he were in extreme danger, as the result of his sin, their Almighty Friend stepped in to deliver them from the peril which menaced them. Again "He reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not My anointed, and do My prophets no harm." He told Abimelech that he was a dead man; put an arrest upon him by the ministry of an ominous disease; and bade him apply to the intercession of the very man by whom he had been so grievously misled, and who, in spite of all his failures, was a prophet still, having power with God. Have you sinned, bringing disrepute on the name of God? Do not despair. Go alone, as Abraham must have done, and confess your sin with tears and childlike trust. Do not abandon prayer. Your prayers are still sweet to Him; and He waits to answer them. It is only through them that His purposes can be fulfilled toward men. Trust then in the patience and forgiveness of God, and let His love, as consuming fire, rid you of concealed and hidden sin. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 37: 02.19. CHAPTER 19, HAGAR AND ISHMAEL CAST OUT ======================================================================== CHAPTER NINETEEN HAGAR AND ISHMAEL CAST OUT "Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir... with Isaac." -- Genesis 21:10. Even though we were hearing this story for the first time, and did not know of the grave crisis to which we were approaching in the next chapter, we might be sure that something of the sort was imminent; and we should rest our conclusion on the fact of the stern discipline through which the great patriarch was called to pass. Faith is the expression of our inner moral life; and it cannot be exercised in its loftiest form so long as there is any obliquity of the heart, any hidden or unholy affection. These things must be cut away, or passed through the fiery discipline of sorrow; that, being freed from them, the heart may exercise that supreme faith in God which is the fairest crown of human existence. The Almighty Lover of souls knew the trial which awaited His child in the near future; and set Himself to prepare him for it, by ridding him of certain clinging inconsistencies, which would have paralyzed the action of his faith in the hour of trial. We have already seen how one of these -- the secret compact between himself and Sarah -- was exposed to the light and judged. We have now to see how another matter, the patriarch’s connection with Hagar and her child, was also dealt with by Him, who acts on us either as fuller’s soap, or if that be not strong enough, as a refiner’s fire. In what way the presence of Hagar and Ishmael hindered the development of Abraham’s noblest life of faith, we cannot entirely understand. Did his heart still cling to the girl who had given him his firstborn son? Was there any secret satisfaction in the arrangement, which had at least achieved one cherished purpose, though it had been unblessed by God? Was there any fear that if he were summoned to surrender Isaac, he would find it easier to do so, because, at any moment, he could fall back on Ishmael, as both son and heir? We cannot read all that was in Abraham’s mind; but surely some such thoughts are suggested by the expressions which to this hour record the history of the anguish of this torn and lonely heart, as one darling idol after another was rent away, that he himself might be cast naked and helpless on the omnipotence of the Eternal God. "The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight" (Genesis 21:11). It may be that not a few who read these lines sigh to possess a faith like that which Abraham had: a faith which staggers not through unbelief; a faith to which God cannot give a denial; a faith which can open and shut heaven, and to which all things are possible. But are you willing to pay the cost? -- the cost of suffering; the cost of rending from your heart all that would frustrate the cherished idol after another cast out; the cost of being stripped even to nakedness of all the dear delights in which the flesh may have found pleasure. "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto Him, We are able" (Matthew 20:22; Mark 10:38-39). You hardly realize all that is meant when you say so much; but it shall be revealed to you step by step; and nothing shall be too difficult, all being measured out according to your strength by Him who knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. Let us not dread the pruning-knife; for it is wielded by the hand of One who loves us infinitely, and who is seeking results that are to fill our hearts with eternal gratitude, and heaven with praise. The final separation from Abraham of ingredients which would have been prejudicial to the exercise of a supreme faith was brought about by the birth of the long-promised child, which is alluded to at the commencement of this chapter (Genesis 21:1-34), and which led up to the crisis with which we are now dealing. "The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as He had spoken" (Genesis 21:1). It is impossible to trust God too absolutely. God’s least word is a spar of imperishable wood driven into the Rock of Ages, which will never give, and on which you may hang your entire weight for evermore. "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever; the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Psalms 33:11). BUT WE MUST BE PREPARED TO WAIT GOD’S TIME "Sarah bare Abraham a son in his old age, AT THE SET TIME of which God had spoken unto him." God has His set times. It is not for us to know them; indeed, we cannot know them; we must wait for them. If God had told Abraham in Haran that he must wait for thirty years until he pressed the promised child to his bosom, his heart would have failed him. So, in gracious love, the length of the weary years was hidden, and only as they were nearly spent, and there were only a few more months to wait, God told him that "according to the time of life, Sarah shall have a son" (Genesis 18:14). The set time came at last; and then the laughter that filled the patriarch’s home made the aged pair forget the long and weary vigil. "And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare unto him, ISAAC" (that is LAUGHTER). Take heart, waiting one, thou waitest for One who cannot disappoint thee; and who will not be five minutes behind the appointed moment: ere long "your sorrow shall be turned into joy." "A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world" (John 16:21). That joy may give the clue to the unwonted outburst of song on the part of the happy and aged mother. The laughter of incredulity, with which she received the first intimation of her approaching motherhood (Genesis 18:12), was now exchanged for the laughter of fulfilled hope. And she gave utterance to words that approached the elevation of a rhythmic chant, and which served as the model of that other song with which the virgin mother announced the advent of her Lord. So Sarah said, "God hath made me to laugh: Every one that heareth will laugh with me." And long after, one of her daughters said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord; And my spirit hath rejoiced In God my Savior. For He that is mighty Hath done to me great things; And holy is His name." Luke 1:46-49. Ah, happy soul, when God makes thee laugh! Then sorrow and crying shall flee away for ever, as darkness before the dawn. The peace of Abraham’s house remained at first unbroken, though there may have been some slight symptoms of the rupture which was at hand. The dislike which Sarah had manifested to Hagar, long years before, had never been extinguished: it had only smouldered in her bosom, waiting for some slight incident to stir it again into a blaze. Nor had the warm passionate nature of Hagar ever forgotten those hard dealings which had driven her forth, to fare as best she might in the inhospitable desert. Abraham must have been often sorely put to it to keep the peace between them. At last the women’s quarters could conceal the quarrel no longer, and the scandal broke out into the open day. THE IMMEDIATE OCCASION OF THIS OPEN RUPTURE was the weaning of the young Isaac. "The child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the day that Isaac was weaned." But amid all the bright joy of that happy occasion, one shadow suddenly stole over the scene, and brooded on the mother’s soul. Sarah’s jealous eye saw Ishmael mocking. It was hardly to be wondered at. The lad had recently suffered a severe disappointment. He had grown up as the undisputed heir of all that camp, accustomed to receive its undivided loyalty; and it must have been very difficult to view with equanimity the preparations made in honor of the child who was destined to supersede him; and so, under the appearance of sportive jesting, he jeered at Isaac in a way which betrayed the bitterness of his soul; and which indeed he was at no pains to conceal. This awoke all Sarah’s slumbering jealousy; which may have often been severely tested during the last few years by Ishmael’s assumption and independent bearing. She would stand it no longer. Why should she, the chieftain’s wife, and mother of his heir, brook the insolence of a slave? And so she said unto Abraham with a sneer and the sting of the old jealousy, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." WE CANNOT BUT RECALL THE USE WHICH THE GREAT APOSTLE MAKES OF THIS INCIDENT In his days the Jews, priding themselves on being the lineal descendants of Abraham, refused to consider it possible that any but themselves could be children of God, and the heirs of promise. They arrogated to themselves exclusive privileges and position. And when large numbers of Gentiles were born into the Christian Church under the first preaching of the Gospel, and claimed to be the spiritual seed, with all the rights pertaining thereunto; they who, like Ishmael, were simply born after the flesh, persecuted them which, like Isaac, were born after the Spirit. Everywhere the Jews set themselves to resist the preaching of the Gospel, which denied to them their exclusive privileges; and to harry those who would not enter the Church through the rites of Judaism. And ere long the Jewish nation was rejected; put aside; cast out. Succeeding ages have seen the building-up of the Church from among the once-persecuted ones, whilst the children of Abraham have wandered in the wilderness fainting for the true water of life (Galatians 4:29). BUT THERE IS A STILL DEEPER REFERENCE Hagar, the slave, who may even have been born in the Sinaitic Desert, with which she seems to have been so familiar, is a fit representative of the spirit of legalism and bondage, seeking to win life by the observance of the law, which was given from those hoary cliffs. Hagar is the covenant of Mount Sinai in Arabia, "which gendereth to bondage," and "is in bondage with her children" (Galatians 4:24-25). Sarah, the free woman, on the other hand, represents the covenant of free grace. Her children are love, and faith, and hope; they are not bound by the spirit of "must," but by the promptings of spontaneous gratitude; their home is not in the frowning clefts of Sinai, but in Jerusalem above, which is free, and is the mother of us all. Now, argues the Apostle, there was no room for Hagar and Sarah, with their respective children, in Abraham’s tent. If Ishmael was there, it was because Isaac was not born. But as soon as Isaac came in, Ishmael must go out. So the two principles -- of legalism, which insists on the performance of the outward rite of circumcision; and of faith, which accepts the finished work of the Savior -- cannot coexist in one heart. It is a moral impossibility. As well could darkness coexist with light, and slavery with freedom. So, addressing the Galatian converts, who were being tempted by Judaizing teachers to mingle legalism and faith, the Apostle bade them follow the example of Abraham, and cast out the spirit of bandage which keeps the soul in one perpetual agony of unrest. You, my readers, are trusting Christ; but, perhaps, you are living in perpetual bondage to your scruples; or, perhaps you are always endeavoring to add some acts of obedience, by way of completing and assuring your salvation. Ah! it is a great mistake. Cease to worry about these legal matters. Beware of morbid scrupulosity of conscience, one of the most terrible diseases by which the human spirit can be plagued. Do not always imagine that God’s love to you depends on the performance of many minute acts, concerning which there are no definite instructions given. Trust Christ. Realize His wonderful and complete salvation. Work not towards sonship, but from it. "Cast out the bondwoman and her son." Live the free, happy life of Isaac, whose position is assured; and not that of Ishmael, whose position is dependent on his good behavior. "The servant abideth not in the house for ever; but the son abideth ever." THE REMAINING HISTORY IS BRIEFLY TOLD With many a pang --as the vine which bleeds copiously when the pruning knife is doing its work -- Abraham sent Hagar and her child forth from his home, bidding them a last sad farewell. In the dim twilight they fared forth, before the camp was astir. The strong man must have suffered keenly as he put the bread into her hand, and with his own fingers bound the bottle of water on her shoulder, and kissed Ishmael once more. And yet he must not let Sarah guess how much he felt it. How many passages in our lives are only known to God! Yet it was better so. And God provided for them both. When the mother’s hopes were on the point of expiring, and the lad lay dying of thirst in the scorching noon, under the slender shade of a desert shrub, the Angel of God stayed her sobs, pointed out the well of water to which her tears had made her blind, and promised that her child should become a great nation. Ishmael would never have developed to his full stature if he had perpetually lived in the enervating luxury of Abraham’s camp. There was not room enough there for him to grow. For him, as for us all, there was need of the free air of the desert, in which he should match himself with his peers, becoming strong by privation and want. That which seems like to break our hearts at the moment, turns out in after-years to have been of God. "And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice" (Genesis 21:12). One more weight was laid aside, and one more step taken in the preparation of God’s "friend" for the supreme victory of his faith; for which his whole life had been a preparation, and which was now at hand. Some flowers are the result of a century of growth, and the Divine Husbandman will consider Himself repaid for years of loving, patient care, if the life He has tended will bloom out into but one act, like that which we are soon to record. Such acts scatter the seeds of noble and heroic deeds for all future time. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 38: 02.20. CHAPTER 20, A QUIET RESTING PLACE ======================================================================== CHAPTER TWENTY A QUIET RESTING PLACE "And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God: and Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days." -- Genesis 21:33-34. When a river is approaching its plunge down some mighty chasm, its waters flow with placid stillness; every ripple is smoothed out of the peaceful surface, and the great volume of water is hushed and quieted. There could hardly be a greater contrast than that which exists between the restfulness of the river before it is torn by the ragged rocks in its downward rush, and its excitement and foam at the foot of the falls. In the one case you can discern, through the translucent waters, the stones and rocks that line its bed; in the other you are blinded by the spray and deafened by the noise. IS NOT THIS AN EMBLEM OF OUR LIVES? Our Father often inserts in them a parenthesis of rest and peace, to prepare us for some coming trial. It is not invariably so. We need not always temper our enjoyment of some precious gift with a foreboding dread of its AFTERWARDS. But this, at least, is largely true: that if every season of clear-shining is not followed by a time of cloud, yet seasons of sorrow and trial are almost always preceded by hours or days or years of sunny experience, which lie in the retrospect of life, as a bright and comforting memory, where the soul was able to gather the strength it was to expend, and to prepare itself for its supreme effort. THUS IT HAPPENED TO ABRAHAM We have already seen how wisely and tenderly his Almighty Friend had been preparing him for his approaching trial; first, in searching out his hidden compact with Sarah; and then in ridding him of the presence of Hagar and her son. And now some further preparation was to be wrought in his spirit, through this period of peaceful rest beside the well of the oath. Leaving Gerar, the patriarch travelled with his slow-moving flocks along the fertile valley, which extends from the sea into the country. The whole district was admirably suited for the maintenance of a vast pastoral clan. In the winter the valley contains a running stream, and at any time water may be obtained by digging at a greater or less depth. Having reached a suitable camping-ground, Abraham digged a well, which is probably one of those which remain to this day; and of which the water, lying some forty feet below the surface, is pure and sweet. Drinking troughs for the use of cattle are scattered around in close proximity to the mouth, the curbstones of which are deeply worn by the friction of the ropes used in drawing up the water by hand. It is not improbably that these very stones were originally hewn under the patriarch’s direction, even though their position may have been somewhat altered by the Arab workmen of a later date. Shortly after Abraham had settled there, Abimelech, the king, accompanied by Phichol, the chief captain of his host, came to his encampment, intent on entering into a treaty which should be binding, not only on themselves, but on their children: "Swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son" (Genesis 21:23). Before formally binding himself under these solemn sanctions, Abraham brought up a matter which is still a fruitful subject of dispute in Eastern lands. The herdsman of Abimelech had violently taken away the well of water which the servants of Abraham had dug. But the king immediately repudiated all knowledge of their action. It had been done without his cognizance and sanction. And in the treaty into which the two chieftains entered, there was, so to speak, a special clause inserted with reference to this well, destined in after years to be so famous. Writing materials were not then in use; but the seven ewe lambs, which Abraham gave Abimelech, were the visible and lasting memorial that the well was his recognized property. Thus it happened that as the solemnly-sworn covenant was made beside the well, so its name became for ever associated with it, and it was called "Beersheba", the well of the oath, or "the well of the seven", with reference to the seven gifts, or victims, on which the oath was taken. In further commemoration of this treaty, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree, which, as a hardy evergreen, would long perpetuate the memory of the transaction in those lands, where the mind of man eagerly catches at anything that will break the monotony of the landscape. There also he erected an altar, or shrine, and called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. "And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days." Ah! those long, happy days! Their course was only marked by the growing years of Isaac, who passed on through the natural stages of human growth -- from boyhood to youth, and from youth to opening manhood -- the object of Abraham’s tender, clinging love. No words can tell the joy of Abraham over this beloved child of his old age. "Thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest." It seemed as if perpetual laughter had come to take up its abode in that home, to brighten the declining years of that aged pair. Who could have foretold that the greatest trial of all his life had yet to come, and that from a clear sky a thunderbolt was about to fall, threatening to destroy all his happiness at a single stroke? WE NONE OF US KNOW WHAT AWAITS US This at least is clear, that our life is being portioned out by the tender love of God; who spared not His own Son, and has pledged Himself, with Him, also freely to give us all things. Here is one of the unanswerable questions of Scripture: What will not God do for them that love Him? No love, no care, no wisdom, which they need, shall be spared. And yet, with all this, there may be keen suffering to bear. We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire: that nothing less than the discipline of pain can ever disintegrate the clinging dross of our natures; and that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave. Nothing will dare to inflict so much pain -- as the love which desires the richest and sweetest life of the object of its affection. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth; and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." Let us prepare then for coming hours of trial by doing as Abraham did. (1) LET US LIVE BY THE WELL There is a great tendency among Christians today to magnify special places and scenes which have been associated with times of blessing; and to obtain from them a supply which they store up for their maintenance in after-days. But so many of these, and of others, are in danger of forgetting that instead of making an annual pilgrimage to the well, they might take up their abode beside it, and live there. The water of that well speaks of the life of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord, and is stored up for us in the fathomless depths of the Word of God. The well is deep; yet can faith’s bucket reach its precious contents, and bring them to the thirsty lip and yearning heart. One of the greatest blessings that can come to the soul is to acquire the habit of sinking wells into the depth that lieth under, and to draw water for itself. We are too much in the habit of drinking water which others have drawn; and too little initiated into the sacred science of drawing for ourselves. It is my growing conviction that if Christians would not attempt to read so many chapters of the Bible daily, but would study what they do read more carefully, turning to the marginal references, reading the context, comparing Scripture with Scripture, endeavoring to get one or more complete thoughts of the mind of God, there would be a greater richness in their experience; more freshness in their interest in Scripture; more independence of men and means; and more real enjoyment of the Word of the living God. Oh for a practical realization of what Jesus meant when He said ! -- "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life." Oh, my readers, open your hearts to the teaching of the Holy Ghost. Rest content with nothing short of a deep and loving knowledge of the Bible. Ask that within you there may be a repetition of the old miracle, "when Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it" (Numbers 21:17). Then "in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert: and the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water" (Isaiah 35:6-7). (2) LET US SHELTER BENEATH THE COVENANT Abraham was quiet from the fear of evil, because of Abimelech’s oath. How much more sure and restful should be the believing soul, which shelters beneath that everlasting covenant which is "ordered in all things and sure." There are some Christians doubtful of their eternal salvation, and fearful lest they should ultimately fall away from grace and be lost, to whom this advice is peculiarly appropriate: "Live by the well of the oath." In the eternity of the past, the Eternal Father entered into covenant with His Son, the terms of which covenant seem to have been on this wise. On the one hand our Lord pledged his complete obedience and His atoning death on behalf of all who should believe. And, on the other hand, the Father promised that all who should believe in Him should be delivered from the penalty of a broken law; should be forgiven, adopted into His family, and saved with an eternal salvation. This is but a crude and inadequate statement of mysteries so fathomless that the loftiest seraphs peer into them in vain. And yet it sets forth, in the babbling of human language, a truth of the utmost importance, behind which the weakest believer may securely shelter. The one question is, Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Or, to put it still more simply, Are you willing that the Holy Ghost should create in you a living faith in the Savior of men? WOULD YOU BELIEVE IF YOU COULD? Is your will on God’s side in this matter of faith? Are you prepared to surrender anything and everything that would hinder your simple-hearted faith in Jesus? If so, you may appropriate to yourself the blessings of the Covenant confirmed by the counsel and oath of God. Your faith may be weak; but it is faith in the embryo and germ. And as the Ark saved the squirrel as well as the elephant, so does the Covenant shelter the weakest and feeblest believer equally with the giant in faith. This, then, becomes true of us, if we believe. We are forgiven; our name is inscribed on the roll of the saved; we are adopted into the family of God; we have within us the beginning of a life which is eternal as the life of God. "The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee" (Isaiah 54:10). And shall not this comfort us amid many a heartbreaking sorrow? Nothing can break the bonds by which our souls are knit with the eternal God. "Although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although He make it not to grow" (2 Samuel 23:5). Rejoice in all the good things which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Plant thy trees; be comforted by their shade, and fed by their fruit. Listen to the ringing laughter of thine Isaac. Dread not the future; but trust the great love of God. Live by the well, and shelter beneath the covenant. So, if trial is approaching, thou shalt be the better able to meet it with a calm and strong heart. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 39: 02.21. CHAPTER 21, THE GREATEST TRIAL OF ALL ======================================================================== CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE THE GREATEST TRIAL OF ALL "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest; and offer him for a burnt offering." -- Genesis 22:2. So long as men live in the world, they will turn to this story with unwaning interest. There is only one scene in history by which it is surpassed; that where the Great Father gave His Isaac to a death from which there was no deliverance. God and Abraham were friends in a common sorrow up to a certain point; though the infinite love of God stepped in to stay the hand of Abraham at the critical moment, sparing His friend what He would not spare Himself. "GOD DID TEMPT ABRAHAM." A better rendering might be, "God did put Abraham to the test." Satan tempts us that he may bring out the evil that is in our hearts; God tries or tests us that He may bring out all the good. In the fiery trial through which the believer is called to pass, ingredients of evil which had counteracted his true development drop away, shriveled and consumed; whilst latent qualities -- produced by grace, but not yet brought into exercise --are called to the front; receive due recognition; and acquire a fixity of position and influence which nothing else could possibly have given them. In the agony of sorrow we say words and assume positions, which otherwise we should never have dreamt of, but from which we never again recede. Looking back, we wonder how we dared to do as we did: and yet we are not sorry -- because the memory of what we were in that supreme hour is a precious legacy; and a platform from which we take a wider view, and climb to the further heights which beckon us. The common incidents of daily life, as well as the rare and exceptional crises, are so contrived as to give us incessant opportunities of exercising, and so strengthening, the graces of Christian living. Happy are they who are ever on the alert to manifest each grace, according to the successive demands of the varied experiences of daily life. If we were always on the outlook for opportunities of manifesting the special qualities of Christ’s character, which are called for by the trials, and worries, and vexations of common experience, we should find that they were the twenty thousand chariots of God, waiting to carry us up to heights which could never otherwise be trodden by our feet. BUT GOD SENDS US NO TRIAL, WHETHER GREAT OR SMALL, WITHOUT FIRST PREPARING US He "will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). Trials are, therefore, God’s vote of confidence in us. Many a trifling event is sent to test us, ere a greater trial is permitted to break on our heads. We are set to climb the lower peaks before urged to the loftiest summits with their virgin snows; are made to run with footmen before contending with horses; are taught to wade in the shallows, before venturing into the swell of the ocean waves. So it is written: "It came to pass AFTER THESE THINGS, that God did tempt Abraham." Moreover, GOD OFTEN PREPARES US FOR COMING TRIAL, BY GIVING US SOME NEW AND BLISSFUL REVELATION OF HIMSELF I notice that, at the close of the preceding chapter, we are told that "Abraham called on the name of the everlasting God." Now, we do not learn that he had ever looked on God in this light before. He had known Him as God, the Almighty (Genesis 17:1), but not as God, the Everlasting. The unchangeableness, the eternity, the independence of change, and time, and tens, which mark the Being of Jehovah -- all these broke suddenly on his soul about that time in a fresh and more vivid manner. Who that can remember seeing the sea for the first time can ever forget the first impression of its grandeur and far-spread mirror-like expanse? And the soul of the patriarch was thrilled with the lofty train of high and holy thought, as he used that name in prayer beside the well, and beneath the spreading shade of the tree he had planted. And with him, as so often with us, the new name was to enable him the better to withstand the shock of coming sorrow. THE TRIAL CAME VERY SUDDENLY As we have seen, life was flowing smoothly with the patriarch, -- courted by Abimelech; secure of his wells; gladdened with the presence of Isaac; the everlasting God his friend. "Ah, happy man," we might well have exclaimed, "thou hast entered upon thy land of Beulah; thy sun shall no more go down, nor thy moon withdraw itself; before thee lie the sunlit years, in an unbroken chain of blessing." But this was not to be. And just at that moment, like a bolt out of a clear sky, there burst upon him the severest trial of his life. It is not often that the express trains of heaven are announced by warning bell, or falling signal; they dash suddenly into the station of the soul. It becomes us to be ever on the alert; for at such an hour and in such a guise as we think not, the Son of Man comes. THE TRIAL TOUCHED ABRAHAM IN HIS TENDEREST POINT It concerned his Isaac. Nothing else in the circumference of his life could have been such a test as anything connected with the heir of promise, the child of his old age, the laughter of his life. HIS LOVE WAS TESTED. For love of God, he had done much. But at whatever cost, he had ever put God first, glad to sacrifice all, for very love of Him. For this he had torn himself from Charran. For this he had been willing to become a homeless wanderer; content if at the last he became an inmate of God’s home. For this he had renounced the hopes he had built on Ishmael; driving him, as a scapegoat, into the wilderness to return no more. But, perhaps, if he had been asked if he felt that he loved God most of all, he would not have dared to say that he did. We can never gauge our love by feeling. The only true test of love is in how much we are prepared to do for the one to whom we profess it. "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." But God knew how true and strong His child’s love was, and that he loved Him best. So He put him to a supreme test, that all men might henceforth know that a mortal man could love God so much as to put Him first, though his dearest lay in the opposite scale of the balance of the heart. Would not you like to love God like this? Then tell Him you are willing to pay the cost, if only He will create that love within you. And, remember: though at first He may ask you to give up your Isaac to Him, it is only that you may take up your true position, and evince to the world your choice; for He will give your beloved back again from the altar on which you have laid him. "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him for a burnt-offering." (Genesis 22:2). IT WAS ALSO A GREAT TEST OF HIS FAITH Isaac was the child of promise. "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." With reiterated emphasis this lad had been indicated as the one essential link between the aged pair and the vast posterity which was promised them. And now the father was asked to sacrifice his life. It was a tremendous test to his faith. How could God keep His word, and let Isaac die? It was utterly inexplicable to human thought. If Isaac had been old enough to have a son who could perpetuate the seed to future generations, the difficulty would have been removed. But how could the childless Isaac die; and still the promise stand of a posterity through him, innumerable as stars and sand? One thought, however, as the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us, filled the old man’s mind, "GOD IS ABLE." He "accounted that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead" (Hebrews 11:19). He felt sure that somehow God would keep His word. It was not for him to reason how, but simply to obey. He had already seen Divine power giving life where all was as good as dead; why should it not do it again? In any case he must go straight on, doing as he was told, and calculating on the unexhausted stores in the secret hand of God. Oh for faith like this! -- simply to believe what God says; assured that God will do just what He has promised; looking without alarm, from circumstances that threaten to make the fulfillment impossible, to the bare word of God’s unswerving truthfulness. Surely this habit is not so impossible of attainment. Why then should we not begin to practice it, stepping from stone to stone, until we are far out from the shore of human expediency leaning on the unseen but felt arm of Omnipotence? IT WAS A TEST OF ABRAHAM’S OBEDIENCE It was in the visions of the night that the word of the Lord must have come to him: and early the next morning the patriarch was on his way. The night before, as he lay down, he had not the least idea of the mission on which he would be started when the early beams of dawn had broken up the short Eastern night. But he acted immediately. We might have excused him if he had dallied with his duty; postponing it, procrastinating, lingering as long as possible. That, however, was not the habit of this heroic soul, which had well acquired the habit of instantaneity, one of the most priceless acquisitions for any soul ambitious of saintliness. "And Abraham rose up early in the morning" (Genesis 22:3). No other hand was permitted to saddle the ass, or cleave the wood, or interfere with the promptness of his action. He "saddled his ass, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him." This promptness was his safeguard. While the herdsmen were beginning to stir, and the long lines of cattle were being driven forth to their several grazing grounds, the old man was on his way. I do not think he confided his secret to a single soul, not even to Sarah. Why should he? The lad and he would enter that camp again, when the short but awful journey was over. "I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." THIS TEST DID NOT OUTRAGE ANY OF THE NATURAL INSTINCTS OF HIS SOUL First of all, he was too familiar with God’s voice to mistake it. Too often had he listened to it to make a mistake in this solemn crisis. And he was sure that God had some way of deliverance; which, though he might not be able to forecast it, would secure the sparing of Isaac’s life. Besides, he lived at a time when such sacrifices as that to which he was called were very common; and he had never been taught decisively that they were abhorrent to the mind of his Almighty Friend. We must, in reading Scripture, remember that at first all God’s servants were more or less affected by the religious notions that were current in their age; and we must not imagine that in all respects they were divested of the misconceptions that resulted from the twilight revelation in which they lived, but have since become dissipated before the meridian light of the Gospel, One of the first principles of that old Canaanitish religion demanded that men should give their firstborn for their transgression, the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul. On the altars of Moab, and Phoenicia, and Carthage; nay, even in the history of Israel itself -- this almost irrepressible expression of human horror at sin, and desire to propitiate God, found terrible expression. Not that fathers were less tender than now, but because they had a keener sense of the terror of unforgiven sin; they cowered before gods whom they knew not, and to whom they imputed a thirst for blood and suffering; they counted no cost too great to appease the awful demands which ignorance, and superstition, and a consciousness of sin, made upon them. Perhaps Abraham had lately witnessed these rites; and as he did so, he had thought of Isaac, and wondered if he could do the same with him; and marveled why such a sacrifice had never been demanded at his hands. And it did not, therefore, startle him when God said, "Take now thy son, and offer him up." He was to learn that whilst God demanded as much love as ever the heathen gave their cruel and imaginary deities, yet Heaven would not permit of human sacrifices or of offered sons. A Greater Sacrifice was to be made to put away sin. Abraham’s obedience was, therefore, allowed to go up to a certain point, and then peremptorily stayed -- that in all future time men might know that God would not demand, or permit, or accept human blood at their hands, much less the blood of a bright and noble lad; and that in such things He could have no delight. Here let us ask ourselves whether we are of this same mind; holding our treasures with a loose hand; loving God most of all; prepared to obey Him at all costs; slaying our brightest hopes if God bid it -- because so sure that He will not fail or deceive us. If so, may God give us this mind, and keep us in it, for His glory, and for the maturing of our own faith. What those three days of quiet traveling must have been to Abraham, we can never know. It is always so much easier to act immediately and precipitately, than to wait through long days, and even years; but it is in this process of waiting upon God that souls are drawn out to a strength of purpose and nobility of daring, which become their sacred inheritance for all after-time. And yet, despite the patriarch’s preoccupation with his own special sorrow, the necessity was laid upon him to hide it under an appearance of resignation, and even gladsomeness; so that neither his son nor his servants might guess the agony which was gnawing at his heart. At last, on the third day, he saw from afar the goal of his journey, God had informed him that He would tell him which of the mountains was the appointed spot of the sacrifice: and now probably some sudden conviction seized upon his soul, that an especial summit, which reared itself in the blue distance, was to be the scene of that supreme act in which he should prove that to his soul God was chiefest and best. Tradition, which seems well authenticated, has always associated that "mountain in the land of Moriah" with the place on which, in after days, stood the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, and the site of Solomon’s Temple; and there is a wonderful appropriateness in the fact that this great act of obedience took place on the very spot where hecatombs of victims and rivers of blood were to point to that supreme Sacrifice which this prefigured. As soon as the mountain had loomed into view, Abraham said unto his young men: "Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." What a significant expression, in this connection, is that word WORSHIP! It reflects the mood of the patriarch’s mind. He was preoccupied with that Being, at whose command he had gone forth on this sorrowful errand. He looked upon his God, at the moment when He was asking so great a gift, as only deserving adoration and worship. The loftiest sentiment that can fill the heart of man swayed his whole nature; and it seemed to him as if his costliest and dearest treasure was not too great to give to that great and glorious God who was the one object of his life. It is of the utmost importance that we should emphasize the words of ASSURED CONFIDENCE, which Abraham addressed to his young men before he left them. "I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." This was something more than unconscious prophecy: it was the assurance of an unwavering faith, that somehow or other God would interpose to spare his son; or at least, if necessary, to raise him from the dead. In any case Abraham was sure that Isaac and he would before long come again. It is this which so largely removes the difficulties that might otherwise obscure this act; and it remains to all time a most striking proof of the tenacity with which faith can cling to the promises of God. When once you have received a promise, cling to it as a sailor to a spar in the midst of the boiling waters. God is bound to be as good as His word. And even though He ask you to do the one thing that might seem to make deliverance impossible; yet if you dare to do it, you will find not only that you shall obtain the promise, but that you shall also receive some crowning and unexpected mark of His love. THE INFLUENCE OF ABRAHAM’S BEHAVIOR WAS FELT BY HIS SON He caught his father’s spirit. We do not know how old he was; he was at least old enough to sustain the toil of a long march on foot, and strong enough to carry up hill the faggots, laid upon his shoulders by his father. But he gladly bent his youthful strength under the weight of the wood, just as through the Via Dolorosa a greater than he carried His cross. Probably this was not the first time that Abraham and Isaac had gone on such an errand; but it is beautiful to see the evident interest the lad took in the proceedings as they went, "both of them together." At all previous sacrifices, Abraham had taken with him a lamb; but on this occasion Isaac’s wondering attention was drawn to the omission of that constant appendage to their acts of sacrifice; and with a simplicity which must have touched Abraham to the quick, he said, "My father, behold the fire and the wood! but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" What a stab was this to that sorely-tried heart, which dared not even reveal the secret beneath which it bowed; and which eagerly caught at a subterfuge to enable it to postpone the answer. Thus with a gleam of prophetic insight, mingled with unwavering faith in Him for whose sake he was suffering, the father answered, "My son, God will Himself provide a lamb for a burnt-offering." So they went Both of them together. CAN WE WONDER THAT ABRAHAM SHRANK FROM DISCLOSING ALL THE FACTS? We all have our treasures whom we fondly love. We shudder at the remotest thought of losing them. With breaking hearts we watch the color fade from the cheek of a darling child, or mark the slow progress of disease in some twin soul; but Abraham must submit to a keener test than these. Our dear ones depart in spite of all we do to keep them; but in Abraham’s case there was this added anguish, that he was to inflict the blow. The last thought that Isaac would have of him would be, holding the uplifted knife; and even though the lad might be restored to him -- yet would it not be a revelation to the young heart to discover that it was possible for his father to do to him an act of violence like that? BUT AT LAST THE DISCOVERY COULD NO LONGER BE WITHHELD "They came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order." Can you not see the old man slowly gathering the stones; bringing them from the furthest distance possible; placing them with a reverent and judicious precision; and binding the wood with as much deliberation as possible? But at last everything is complete; and he turns to break the fatal secret to the young lad who had stood wonderingly by. Inspiration draws a veil over that last tender scene -- the father’s announcement of his mission; the broken sobs; the kisses, wet with tears; the instant submission of the son, who was old enough and strong enough to rebel if he had had the mind. Then the binding of that tender frame; which, indeed, needed no compulsion, because the young heart had learned the secret of obedience and resignation. Finally, the lifting him to lie upon the altar, on the wood. Here was a spectacle which must have arrested the attention of heaven. Here was a proof of how much mortal man will do for the love of God. Here was an evidence of Childlike faith which must have thrilled the heart of the Eternal God, and moved Him in the very depths of His being. Do you and I love God like this? Is He more to us than our nearest and dearest? Suppose they stood on this side, and He on that side: would we go with Him, though it cost us the loss of all? You think you would. Aye, it is a great thing to say. The air upon this height is too rare to breathe with comfort. The one explanation of it is to be found in the words of our Lord; "He that loveth father or mother, son or daughter, more than Me, is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:37). The blade was raised high, flashing in the rays of the morning sun; but it was not permitted to fall. With the temptation God also made a way of escape. "And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, ’Abraham!’" With what avidity would that much-tried soul seize at anything that offered the chance of respite or of pause! and he said, his uplifted hand returning gladly to his side, "Here am I!" Would that we could more constantly live in the spirit of that response, so that God might constantly live in the spirit of that response, so that God might always know where to find us; and so that we might be always ready to fulfill His will. Then followed words that spoke release and deliverance: "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me" (Genesis 22:12). When we have given our best and costliest to God, passing our gifts through the fire, surrendering them to His will, He will give them back to us as gold refined -- multiplied, as Job’s belongings were. But it is also quite likely that He will not do so until we have almost lost all heart and hope. "Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh," "The Lord will provide." And so it passed into a proverb, and men said one to another, "In the mount of the Lord deliverance shall be seen." It is a true word. Deliverance is not seen till we come to the mount of sacrifice. God does not provide deliverance until we have reached the point of our extremest need. It is when our Isaac is on the altar, and the knife is about to descend upon him, that God’s angel interposes to deliver. Near by the altar there was a thicket; and, as Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked around, he beheld a ram caught there by its horns. Nothing could be more opportune. He had wanted to show his gratitude, and the fullness of his heart’s devotion; and he gladly went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering instead of his son. Here, surely, is the great doctrine of substitution; and we are taught how life can only be preserved at the cost of life given. According to one of the early Church writers, there is a yet deeper mystery latent here; viz., that whilst Isaac represents the Deity of Christ, the ram represents His human nature, which became a sacrifice for the sins of the world. I am not user that I would altogether accept this interpretation; because it is the Deity of Christ working through His humanity which gives value to His sacrifice; but all through this marvelous story there is an evident setting forth of the mysteries of Calvary. Abraham’s act enables us better to understand the sacrifice which God made to save us. The gentle submission of Isaac, laid upon the altar with throat bare to the knife, gives us a better insight into Christ’s obedience to death. Isaac’s restoration to life, as from the dead, and after having been three days dead in his father’s purpose, suggests the resurrection from Joseph’s tomb. Yet the reality surpasses the shadow. Isaac suffers with a clear apprehension of his father’s presence. Christ, bereft of the consciousness of His Father’s love, complains of His forsakenness. All was done that love could do to alleviate Isaac’s anguish; but Christ suffered the rudeness of coarse soldiery, and the upbraidings of Pharisee and Scribe. Isaac was spared death; but Christ drank the bitter cup to its dregs. Before they left the mountain brow, the angel of Jehovah once more addressed the patriarch. God had often promised: now for the first time He sware; and since He could swear by no greater He sware by Himself, and said: "By Myself have I sworn, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will bless thee; and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice" (Genesis 22:16-17). Think not, O soul of man, that this is a unique and solitary experience. It is simply a specimen and pattern of God’s dealings with all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whatever cost. After thou hast patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise. The moment of supreme sacrifice shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing. God’s river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee a tide of wealth and grace. There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds it rock beneath him. ALL WHO BELIEVE ARE THE CHILDREN OF FAITHFUL ABRAHAM We then, Gentiles though we are, divided from him by the lapse of centuries, may inherit the blessing that he won; and the more so as we follow closely in his steps. That blessing is for us if we will claim it. That multiplication of seed may be realized in our fruitfulness of service. That victory over all enemies may give us victory in all time of our temptation, and that blessing for all the nations of the earth may be verified again as we go forth into all the world telling the story of a Savior’s death. From that eminence Abraham looked across the vale of centuries, and saw the day of Christ. He "saw it, and was glad" (John 8:56). With a new light in his heart, with a new composure on his face, talking much with Isaac of the vision which had broken upon his noble soul, Abraham returned to his young men. "And they rose up and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba;" but the halo of the vision lit up the common places of his life, as it shall do for us, when from the mounts of sacrifice we turn back to the lowlands of daily duty. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 40: 02.22. CHAPTER 22, MACHPELAH, AND IT'S FIRST TENANT ======================================================================== CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO MACHPELAH, AND ITS FIRST TENANT "Give me a possession of a burying-place with you; that I may bury my dead out of my sight." -- Genesis 23:4. "And Abraham buried Sarah, his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre." -- Genesis 23:19. When Abraham came down the slopes of Mount Moriah, hand in hand with Isaac, fifty years of his long life still lay before him. Of those fifty years, twenty-five passed away before the event recorded in this chapter. What happened in those serene and untroubled years which lie between these two chapters, as a valley between two ridges of hills, we do not know. In all likelihood one year was as much as possible like another. Few events broke their monotony. The river of Abraham’s life had passed the rapids and narrows of its earlier course, and now broadened into reaches of still water, over which its current glided with an almost imperceptible movement. The changes that mark the progress of our year are unknown beneath those glorious skies which rain perpetual summer on the earth; and the equitableness of the climate is symbolical of the equitableness of the simple patriarch life. The tending of vast flocks and herds; the perpetual recurrence of birth, marriage, and death, among the vast household of slaves; the occasional interchange of hospitality with neighboring clans; special days for sacrifice and worship; -- these would be the most exciting episodes of that serene and calm existence, which is separated as far as possible from our feverish, broken lives. And yet, is there so very much that we can vaunt ourselves in, when we compare our days with those? True, there was not the railway; the telegraph wire; the journal; the constant interchange of news. But perhaps life may more fully attain its ideal, and fulfill its purpose, when its moments and hours are not dissipated by the constant intrusion of petty details, like those which for most of us make up the fabric of existence. Perhaps we can never realize how much the members of such a household as Abraham’s would be to one another. Through long, unbroken periods they lived together, finding all their society in one another. The course of pastoral life left ample leisure for close personal intercourse; and it was inevitable that human lives spent under such circumstances should grow together; even as trees in a dense wood, wherein they sometimes became so entangled and entwined that no human ingenuity can disentangle one from another. Thus it must have happened that the loss through death of one loved and familiar face would leave a blank never to be filled, and scarcely ever to be forgotten. We need not wonder, therefore, that so much stress is laid upon the death of Sarah, the chief event of those fifty years of Abraham’s life; nor need we regret that such ample details are given of her death and burial; since they enable us to get a glimpse of the patriarch, and see if he has altered at all during the quarter of a century which has passed over him. (1) WE ARE FIRST ARRESTED BY ABRAHAM’S TEARS "And Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan." Abraham seems to have been away from home, perhaps at Beersheba, when she breathed her last; but he came at once "to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her." This is the first time we read of Abraham weeping. We do not read that he wept when he crossed the Euphrates, and left for ever home and kindred. There is no record of his tears when tidings came to him that his nephew Lot was carried into captivity. He does not seem to have bedewed his pathway to Mount Moriah with the tears of his heart. But now that Sarah is lying dead before him, the fountains of his grief are broken up. WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE? Ah! there is all the difference between DOING God’s will and SUFFERING it. So long as we have something to do for God -- whether it be a toilsome march; or a battle; or a sacrifice -- we can keep back our tears, and bear up our attention from our griefs. But when all is over; when there is nothing more to do; when we are left with the silent dead, requiring nothing more at our hands; when the last office is performed, the last flower arranged, the last touch given -- then the tears come. IT IS NOT WONDERFUL THAT ABRAHAM WEPT Sarah had been the partner of his life for seventy or eighty years. She was the only link to the home of his childhood. She alone could sympathize with him when he talked of Terah and Nahor, or of Haran and Ur of the Chaldees. She alone was left of all who thirty years before had shared the hardships of his pilgrimage. As he knelt by her side, what a tide of memories must have rushed over him of their common plans, and hopes, and fears, and joys! He remembered her as the bright young wife; as the fellow-pilgrim; as the childless persecutor of Hagar; as the prisoner of Pharaoh and Abimelech; as the loving mother of Isaac; and every memory would bring a fresh rush of tears. There are some who chide tears as unmanly, unsubmissive, unchristian. They would comfort us with chill and pious stoicism, bidding us meet the most agitating passages of our history with rigid and tearless countenance. With such the spirit of the Gospel, and of the Bible, has little sympathy. We have no sympathy with a morbid sentimentality; but we may well question whether the man who cannot weep can really love; for sorrow is love, widowed and bereaved -- and where that is present, its most natural expression is in tears. Religion does not come to make us unnatural and inhuman; but to purify and ennoble all those natural emotions with which our manifold nature is endowed. Jesus wept. Peter wept. The Ephesian converts wept on the neck of the Apostle whose face they thought they were never to see again. Christ stands by each mourner, saying, "Weep, my child; weep, for I have wept." Tears relieve the burning brain, as a shower the electric clouds. Tears discharge the insupportable agony of the heart, as an overflow lessens the pressure of the flood against the dam. Tears are the material out of which heaven weaves its brightest rainbows. Tears are transmuted into the jewels of better life, as the wounds in the oyster turn to pearls. Happy, however, is that man who, when he weeps for his departed, has not to reproach himself with unkindnesses and bitter words. We cannot always understand what makes people weep, when we stand with them on the loose earth beside the open grave. In many cases their sorrow is due to pure affection; in some cases, however, there is an additional saltness in their tears, because of unspoken regret. "I wish that I had not acted so: that I could recall those words: that I had had another opportunity of expressing the love I really felt, but hid: that I had taken more pains to curb myself; to be gentle, loving, endearing, and endeared. Oh for one hour of explanation and confession and forgiveness!" Let us see to it that we may never have to drink such bitter ingredients in the cup of our bereavement; and that we may not, let us not fail to give expression to those nobler feelings which often strive within our breasts, but which we too often repress. And if some should read these words whose tears are the more bitter because they themselves are unsubmissive, let such remember that where they cannot feel resigned, they must will to be resigned, putting their will on God’s side in this matter; asking Him to take it and fashion it according to His own; and remembering that our only province is with the will. This is all God asks; and if this is right with Him, He will subdue every other thought, and bring the whole being into a state of glad acquiescence. "I delight to do Thy will, O my God." "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!" (2) NOTICE ABRAHAM’S CONFESSION "Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a possession of a burying-place with you" (Genesis 23:3-4). See how sorrow reveals the heart. When all is going well, we wrap up our secrets; but when sorrow rends the vail, the ARCANA of the inner temple are laid bare! To look at Abraham as the great and wealthy patriarch, the emir, the chieftain of a mighty clan, we cannot guess his secret thoughts. He has been in the land for sixty-two years; and surely by this time he must have lost his first feelings of loneliness. He is probably as settled and naturalized as any of the princes round. So you might think, until he is widowed of his beloved Sarah! Then, amidst his grief, you hear the real man speaking his most secret thought: "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you." These are very remarkable words; and they were never forgotten by his children. Speaking of the land of promise, God said, through Moses, to the people, "The land shall not be sold for ever; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me." When David and his people made splendid preparations to build the Temple, as their spokesman he said, "Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly? for all things come of Thee; for we are strangers before Thee and sojourners, as were all our fathers. Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding." And, further, in one of his matchless Psalms, he pleads, "Hear my prayer, O Lord! Hold not Thy peace at my tears; for I am a stranger with Thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." (Psalms 39:12) So deeply had those words of Abraham sunk in the national mind, that the Apostle inscribes them over the cemetery where the great and the good of the Jewish nation lie entombed: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them; and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). We may ask what it was that maintained this spirit in Abraham for so many years. There is but one answer: "They that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country" (Hebrews 11:14). That country is never looked upon by the sun, or watered by the rivers of the earth, or refreshed by the generous dews. It is the better country, even the heavenly; the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God; the land that needs neither sun nor moon, because the Lord God and the Lamb are the light thereof. Uprooted from the land of his birth, the patriarch could never take root again in any earthly country; and his spirit was always on the alert, eagerly reaching out towards the city of God, the home where only such royal souls as his can meet their peers, and find their rest. He refused to be contented with anything short of this; and, therefore, God was not ashamed to be called his God, because He had prepared for him a city. How this elevation of soul shames some of us! In our better moments we say that we are "the burgesses of the skies"; but our conversation is not in heaven, in our practical ordinary daily life. We profess to look for a city; but we take good care to make for ourselves an assured position among the citizens of this world. We affect to count all things dross; but the eagerness with which, muck-rake in hand, we strive to heap together the treasures of earth is a startling commentary upon our words. (3) NOTICE ABRAHAM’S FAITH Men are wont to bury their dead beside their ancestors. The graves of past generations are the heritage of their posterity. By them rather than by the habitations of the living do tribes and races of men find their resting-place. The American loves to visit the quiet English churchyard where his fathers lie. The Jew elects in old age to journey to Palestine, that dying he may be buried in soil consecrated by the remains of his race. And it may be that Abraham first thought of that far distant grave in Charran, where Terah and Haran lay buried. Should he take Sarah thither? "No," thought he, "that country has no claim upon me now. The only land, indeed, on which I have a claim is this wherein I have been a stranger. Here in after-days shall my children live. Here the generations that bear my name shall spread themselves out as the sands on the sea shore, and as the stars in the midnight sky. It is meet, therefore, that I should place our grave, in which Sarah their mother, and I their father, shall lie, in the heart of the land -- to be a nucleus around which our descendants shall gather in all coming time. What though, as God has told me, four hundred years of suffering and furnace fire must pass, yet my children shall ultimately come hither again: and I will hold the land in pledge against their coming, sure that it shall be as God has said!" It is very beautiful to remark the action of Abraham’s faith in this matter; and to see its outcome in his utter refusal to receive the land as a gift from any hand but that of God. When the chieftains to whom he made his appeal heard it, they instantly offered him the choice of their sepulchre affirming that none of them would withhold his sepulchre from so mighty a prince. And afterwards, when he sought their intercession with Ephron the son of Zohar, for the obtaining of the cave of Machpelah, which was at the end of his field, and Ephron proposed to give it to him in the presence of the sons of his people, Abraham steadfastly refused. It was all his as the gift of God; it would be all his some day in fact; and in the meanwhile he would purchase the temporary use of that which he could never accept as a gift from any but his Almighty Friend. And so after many courteous speeches, in the dignified manner which still prevails amongst Orientals, "the field and the cave, and all the trees, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city" (Genesis 23:17-18). Their witness had the same binding effect in those rude days as legal documents have in our own. There Abraham buried Sarah; there Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham; there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife; there Jacob buried Leah; and there Joseph buried Jacob his father; and there in all likelihood, guarded by the jealous Moslem, untouched by the changes and storms that have swept around their quiet resting-place, those remains are sleeping still, holding that land in fee, and anticipating the time when on a larger and more prominent scale the promise of God to Abraham shall be accomplished. Not yet has the Divine promise been fully realized. The children of Abraham have possessed the Land of Promise for "but a little while" (Isaiah 63:18). For long ages their adversaries have held sway there. But the days are hastening on when once more God will set His hand to gather His chosen people from all lands; and the infidel shall no longer desecrate those sacred spots; but once again shall the hills, and valleys, and pasture lands of Palestine come into the possession of the seed of Abraham, the friend of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 41: 02.23. CHAPTER 23, THE SOUL'S ANSWER TO THE DIVINE SUMM ======================================================================== CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE THE SOUL’S ANSWER TO THE DIVINE SUMMONS "I will go!" -- Genesis 24:58. Carry back your mind for thirty-seven centuries. The loft light of an Oriental sunset falls gently on the fertile grazing grounds watered by the broad Euphrates; and as its gloom lights up all the landscapes dotted by flocks, and huts, and villages, it irradiates with an especial wealth of color the little town of Haran, founded one hundred years before by Terah, who, travelling northwards from Ur, resolved to go no further. The old man was smarting keenly at the recent loss of his youngest son, and after him the infant settlement was named. And so in time houses were built, and girdled by a wall in Oriental style. There Terah died, and thence the caravan had started at the command of God across the terrible desert, for the unknown Land of Promise. One branch of the family, however -- that of Nahor - -- lived there still. His son, Bethuel, was the head; and in that family, at the time of which I speak, there was at least a mother; a brother named Laban; and a daughter in the first flush of girlish beauty, Rebecca. It is Rebecca who occupies the central place in the pastoral scene before us. All her young life had been spent in that old town. Daughter of the Sheikh though she was, yet she was not kept in that listless indolence which is the curse of so many well-born girls today. She could make savory meat, and tend the flocks, as her niece Rachel did in after-years on that same spot, and carry her pitcher gracefully poised upon her shoulder. She knew by name all the people who dwelt in that little town; and she had heard of those of her kindred who before her birth had gone beyond the great desert, and of whom hardly a word had travelled back for so many years. She little guessed the greatness of the world, and of her place in it; and in her wildest dreams she never thought of doing more than living and dying within the narrow limits of her native place. Elastic in step, modest in manner, pure in heart, amiable and generous, with a very fair face, as the sacred story tells us -- how little did she imagine that the wheel of God’s providence was soon to catch her out of her quiet home, and whirl her into the mighty outer world that lay beyond the horizon of desert sand. On a special evening a stranger halted at the well, outside the little town. He had with him a stately caravan of ten camels, each richly laden, and all bearing traces of long travel. There the little band waited, as if not knowing what next to do. Its leader was probably the good Eliezer, the steward of Abraham’s house, who had come there on a solemn commission from his master. Abraham was now advanced in years. Isaac his son was forty years of age, and the old man longed to see him suitably married; and though his faith never doubted that God would fulfil His promise of the seed, yet he was desirous of clasping in his aged arms the second link between him and his posterity. He had therefore bound his trusty servant by a double oath: first, that he would not take a wife for Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites around them, but from his own kith and kin at Haran; and secondly, that he would never be an accomplice to Isaac’s return to the land which he had left. This solemn oath was lit up by the assurance of the old man, that the Lord God of heaven, who took him from his father’s house and the land of his kindred, would send His angel before him, and would crown his mission with success. Having arrived at the city-well towards nightfall, -- "even, the time that women go out to draw water" -- the devout leader asked that God would send him "good speed," addressing the Almighty as the Lord God of his master Abraham, and pleading that in prospering his way He would show kindness to his master. The simplicity and trustfulness of his prayer are very beautiful; and are surely the reflection of the piety which reigned in than vast encampment gathered around the wells of Beersheba, and which was the result of Abraham’s own close walk with God. There would be less fault to find with servants in the present day, if they were treated as servants were once treated -- as souls rather than hands; and if they were encouraged to imitate, because they had learned to admire, the character of those with whom they live in such close contact. Alas that servants in Christian homes often find so little to attract them to the godliness which is professed, but scantily practiced! IT IS OUR PRIVILEGE TO TALK WITH GOD ABOUT EVERYTHING IN LIFE The minutest things are not too small for Him who numbers the hairs of our heads. No day can we afford to spend, without asking that He should send us good speed. Well would it be for us, as we stand by the well at morning, or at eventide, to commit our way unto the Lord, trusting that He should bring it to pass. And if this be true of ordinary days, how much more of those days which decide destiny, which are the watershed of life, and in which plans are concluded which may affect all after-years! Nor is it wrong for us to ask a sign form God, if by this we mean that He would permit the circumstances of our daily lot to indicate His will: to confirm by inner inspiration from Himself, and to embody, in fact, that which has already been impressed upon our own conscience. We have no right to ask for signs for the gratification of a morbid curiosity; but we are justified in asking for the concurrence of outward providence indicating the will of God. It was a holy and a happy inspiration that led the godly servant to ask that the damsel, who responded with courteous alacrity to his request for water, should be she whom God had appointed as a bride for his master’s son; and it happened to him as it will always happen to those who have learned to trust like little children, that "before he had done speaking," his answer was waiting by his side. We need not tell in detail all that followed: the gifts of heavy jewelry; the reverent recognition of God’s goodness in answering prayer, as the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord; the swift run home; the admiration of mother and brother at the splendid gifts; the breathless telling of the unexpected meeting; the proffered hospitality of Laban, whose notions of hospitality were quickened by his keen eye for gain, and who spoke the words of welcome with extra heat because he saw the rich lading of the camels; the provision of straw and provender for the camels, of water for the feet of the weary drivers, and of food for their leader, and the refusal to eat until his errand was unravelled and its purpose accomplished; the story, told in glowing words, of Abraham’s greatness; the narrative of the wonderful way in which the speaker had been led, and Rebecca indicated; the final request that her relatives would deal kindly and truly in the matter; and their unhesitating and swift consent in words that drew the old servant prostrate to the ground in holy ecstasy as he worshipped the Lord. "Behold," they said, "Rebecca is before thee; take her and go: and let her be thy master’s wife, as the Lord hath spoken." Then from his treasures he brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and raiment with which to deck Rebecca’s fair form; her mother and Laban also received precious things to their hearts’ desire. "Then they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night." In the early dawn, refusing all invitation to further waiting, Abraham’s steward started back again, carrying with him Rebecca and her nurse; and through the fragrant morning air the blessings of that little cluster of friendly hearts were wafted to her ear, as seated on her camel, and wrapped in a dream of girlish hope and wonder, she caught the last voice from her home. "They addressed Rebecca and said unto her, Thou art our sister: be thou the mother of thousands of millions; and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them," We must thus pass over the details of this story, which carries on its forefront the stamp of inspiration and of truth; suffice it to say that it has no superior in this book for its rich, soft, placid style. It is full of those touches of nature which make all men kin, and which move them everywhere alike. Let us not elicit two or three further lessons to illustrate by it the Divine summons, and the answer of the soul. (1) A LESSON TO THOSE WHO CARRY THE SUMMONS OF GOD. -- LET US SATURATE OUR WORK WITH PRAYER Like his master, the servant would not take a single step without prayer. Not that he always spoke aloud. No one would have known that the old man prayed as he stood there by the well. Nor did he arbitrarily dictate to God; but he threw the whole responsibility of the matter upon Him who had ever shown Himself so true a Friend to his beloved master. He had a most difficult thing to do, in which strong chances were running against him. Was it likely that a young girl would care to leave her home to cross the vast expanse of sand in company with himself, a complete stranger, and to become the wife of one whom she had never seen? "Peradventure the woman will not follow me!" and if she were willing, her relatives might not be; but he prayed, and prayed again, and God’s good speed crowned his errand with complete success. We too are sometimes sent on very unlikely errands: Humanly speaking, our mission seems likely to prove a failure; but those who trust in God have not the word "failure" in their vocabulary. Their hearts are centers from which the fragrance of silent prayer is ever exhaling into the presence of God. They succeed where they seem menaced with certain disappointment. Christian worker! never start on any mission for God, whether to an individual soul or to a congregation, without the prayer, "Send me good speed this day." WE MUST ALSO WAIT UPON GOD FOR DIRECTION Abraham’s steward asked that the chosen bride should be willing to draw water for his camels. A trifle this must seem to some; and yet it was a true test for a girl’s nature. It showed a ready kindness of heart, which was prepared to outrun the requirements of conventional politeness. It indicated a nature in which haughty pride had no place. Is it not a fact that in such trivial, unstudied acts there is a sure index of character? Very often God’s servants make great mistakes; because they force themselves on souls, not living in the will of God, not seeking the indication of His bidding, not waiting until He should open the door of circumstance into some new life. We do not always realize the solemn mystery that surrounds each human soul; or the depths into which all spiritual consciousness may have receded; or the thick cake of worldliness and carelessness which may have crusted over the sensibilities of the being. God only understands all this; and we should do very wisely to wait expectantly and trustfully for Him to open up the way of access into the citadel of the heart. We may be sure that in this God will not fail us, but that whilst we are speaking He will hear and answer. LET US SAY MUCH IN PRAISE OF OUR MASTER It is beautiful to notice how eloquent the old man is about his master. He does not say one word about himself, or extol himself in any way, so absorbed was he in the story of his absent, distant lord. Was not this also characteristic of the Apostles, who preached not themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and whose narratives are like colorless glass, only letting His glory through? Alas! that we so obtrude ourselves, that men go away talking of us. Let us lose ourselves in our theme. And whilst we show the jewels of Christian character in our own deportment, let the theme of our message be: "The Lord Jehovah hath greatly blessed our Master, Christ, and has given Him a name which is above every name; and has raised Him to His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and every name that is named: and He is worthy to receive power, and riches, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." And when success attends your words, be sure to give all the glory to Him from whom it has come. (2) THE SUMMONS ITSELF was a call to a simple, penniless girl to ally herself in marriage to one of the wealthiest and noblest of earth’s aristocracy. It was not sent because of her worth, or wealth, or beauty; but because it was so willed in the heart and counsel of Abraham. Such a call is sent to every soul that hears the Gospel. In yonder azure depths lives the great Father God. He has one Son, His only-begotten and well-beloved. He has resolved to choose from amongst men those who as one Church shall constitute His bride for ever. He sends this call to you, not because you are worthy, or wealthy, or beautiful; but because He has so willed it in the counsels of His own heart; and He longs that you shall be willing to detach yourself from all that you hold dear. This is His message: "Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear! forget also thine own people and thy father’s house: so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty: for He is thy Lord; and worship thou Him" (Psalms 95:10-11) And if that call is obeyed, thou shalt lose thine own name, sinner, in His name; thou shalt be arrayed in His fair jewels; thou shalt share His wealth; thou shalt sit down with Him on His throne; all things shall be thine. Wilt thou go with this Man? Wilt thou leave all to be Christ’s? Wilt thou give thine unseen Lover thine heart, to be His for ever? Come and put yourself under the convoy of the blessed Holy Spirit, who pleads the cause of Jesus, as did Abraham’s servant that of Isaac; and let Him conduct you where Jesus is. (3) HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS SUMMONS. -- WE MUST FIND ROOM FOR IT "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared a house and room." The Master saith, "Where is the guest-chamber?" There was no room for Christ in the inn: but we must make room for Him in the heart: or, at least, we must be willing that He should make room for Himself. WE MUST BEAR WITNESS "The damsel ran, and told her mother’s house." As soon as you have heard the call, and received the jewels of promise, which are the earnest of your inheritance, you must go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord hath done for you. WE MUST NOT PROCRASTINATE, OR CONFER WITH FLESH AND BLOOD Men, and circumstances, would fain defer our starting on pilgrimage. This is Satan’s method of breaking off the union for ever. There must be no dallying or delay: but when the enquiry is put to us, "Wilt thou go with this man?" we must promptly and swiftly answer, "I will go." The journey was long and toilsome; but all the way the heart of the young girl was sustained by the tidings told her by the faithful servant, who beguiled the weary miles with stories of the home to which she was journeying, and the man with whom her life was to be united -- "Whom having not seen, she loved; and in whom, though she saw him not, she rejoiced." She already loved him, and ardently longed to see him. One evening the meeting came. Isaac had gone forth to meditate at eventide, sadly lamenting the loss of his mother, eagerly anticipating the coming of his bride, and interweaving all with holy thought. And when he lifted up his eyes across the pastures, lo, the camels were coming, and the two young souls leapt to each other. Happy meeting! which made Rebecca oblivious to all the trials and hardships of her journey, and the loss of her friends. Was it not also an emblem of the moment when the work of the Holy Spirit, our gracious Conductor, will conclude in the presence of our Lord, the true Bridegroom of saintly hearts, and we shall see his face, to be for ever with Him, going no more out for ever? And after a while in that silent home, there was again the prattle of childish voices; and for several years the patriarch rejoiced in the presence of his grandchildren, to whom he would tell the history of the past, on which his aged soul loved to dwell. And of one narrative those lads would never tire; that which told how their father had once climbed the summit of Moriah, to be, as it were, raised from the dead. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 42: 02.24. CHAPTER 24, GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE ======================================================================== CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE "These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived; an hundred, threescore, and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people." -- Genesis 25:8. No human name can vie with Abraham’s for the wide-spread reverence which it has evoked amongst all races and throughout all time. The pious Jew looked forward to reposing, after death, in the bosom of Father Abraham. The fact of descent from him was counted by thousands sufficient to secure them a passport into heaven. Apostles so opposite as Paul and James united in commending his example to the imitation of primitive Christians, in an age which had seen the Lord Jesus Himself. The medieval Church canonized Abraham alone among Old Testament worthies, by no decree, but by popular consent. Devout Moslems reverence his name as second only to that of their prophet. What was the secret of this widespread renown? It is not because he headed one of the greatest movements of the human family; nor yet because he evinced manly and intellectual vigor; nor because he possessed vast wealth. It was rather the remarkable nobility and grandeur of his religious life that has made him the object of veneration to all generations of mankind. AT THE BASIS OF HIS CHARACTER WAS A MIGHTY FAITH "Abraham believed God." In that faith he left his native land, and travelled to one which was promised, but not clearly indicated. In that faith he felt able to let Lot choose the best he could for himself; because he was sure that none could do better for himself than God was prepared to do for the one who trusted Him. In that faith he waited through long years, sure that God would give him the promised child. In that faith he lived a nomad life, dwelling in tents, and making no attempt to return to the settled country from which he had come out. Indeed, his soul was consumed with the passionate expectancy of the city of God. In that faith he was prepared to offer Isaac, and buried Sarah. Do not suppose that his faith dwelt alone. On the contrary, it bore much fruit; for if we test him by those catalogues of the fruits of faith which are provided in the New Testament, we shall find that he manifested them each and all. Take, for instance, that chain of linked graces enumerated in the Second Epistle by the Apostle Peter; a kind of golden ladder, stretched across the chasm between heaven and earth, and uniting them. TO FAITH HE ADDED VIRTUE, OR MANLY COURAGE What could have been more manly than the speed with which he armed his trained servants; or than the heroism with which he, with a train of undisciplined shepherds, broke on the disciplined bands of Assyria, driving them before him as the chaff before the whirlwind, and returning victorious down the long valley of the Jordan? AND TO MANLY COURAGE HE ADDED KNOWLEDGE All his life he was a student in God’s college of divinity. Year by year fresh revelations of the character and attributes of God broke upon his soul. He grew in the knowledge of God and the Divine nature, which at the first had been to him a TERRA INCOGNITA. An unknown country grew beneath his gaze: as he climbed through the years into closer fellowship with God, and from the summit looked down upon its lengths and breadths, its depths and heights, its oceans, mountain-ranges, and plains. AND TO KNOWLEDGE HE ADDED TEMPERANCE, OR SELF-CONTROL That he was master of himself is evident from the way in which he repelled the offer of the King of Sodom; and curbed his spirit amid the irritations caused by Lot’s herdsmen. The strongest spirits are those which have the strongest hand upon themselves, and are able, therefore, to do things which weaker men would fail in. There is no type of character more splendid than that of the man who is master of himself, because he is the servant of God; and who can rule others rightly because he can rule himself well. AND TO TEMPERANCE, PATIENCE Speaking of him, the voice of New Testament inspiration affirms that he "patiently endured" (Hebrews 6:16). No ordinary patience was that which waited through the long years, not murmuring or complaining, but prepared to abide God’s time; weaned from the breasts of earthly consolation and help, and quieted after the manner of the Psalmist, who said, "I have quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever." (Psalms 131:2-3). AND TO HIS PATIENCE HE ADDED GODLINESS One of his chief characteristics was his piety -- a constant sense of the presence of God in his life, and a love and devotion to Him. Wherever he pitched his tent, there his first care was to rear an altar. Shechem, Hebron, Beersheba -- alike saw these tokens of his reverence and love. In every time of trouble he turned as naturally to God as a child to its father; and there was such holy intercourse between his spirit and that of God, that the name by which he is now best known throughout the East is "THE FRIEND" -- a name which he holds PAR EXCELLENCE, and which has almost overshadowed the use of that name by which we know him best. AND TO GODLINESS HE ADDED BROTHERLY KINDNESS Some men who are devoted towards God are lacking in the tenderer qualities towards those most closely knit with them in family bonds. Not so was it with Abraham. He was full of affection. Beneath the calm exterior and the erect bearing of the mighty chieftain there beat a warm and affectionate heart. Listen to that passionate cry, "Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee!" Remember God’s own testimony to the affection he bore towards Isaac -- "Thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest." Abraham’s nature therefore may be compared to those ranges of mighty hills, whose summits rear themselves above the region of storms, and hold converse with the skies; whilst their lower slopes are clothed with woods and meadows, where homesteads nestle and bright children string their necklaces of flowers with merry laughter. AND TO BROTHERLY KINDNESS HE ADDED CHARITY, OR LOVE In his dealings with men he could afford to be generous, open-hearted, open-handed; willing to pay down the large price demanded for Machpelah’s cave without haggling or complaint; destitute of petty pride; affable, courteous, able to break out into sunny laughter; right with God, and therefore able to shed upon men the rays of a genial, restful noble heart. ALL THESE THINGS WERE IN HIM AND ABOUNDED, and they made him neither barren nor unfruitful; they made his calling and election sure; they prepared for him an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of God our Savior. The thought that underlies the expression in the Greek (PLOUSIWS HE EISODOS) is richly significant. The words denote the welcome given by choral songs and joyous greetings to the conqueror who, laden with spoils, returned to his native city; and they indicate that for some favored souls, at least, there is waiting on the threshold of the other world a welcome so exuberant, so boisterous in its unutterable joy, so royally demonstrative, as to resemble that given in all times to those who have conferred great benefits, or who have learnt the art of stirring the loyal devotion of their fellows. If such an entrance could be accorded to any one, certainly it would be to Abraham, when, stooping beneath the weight of one hundred threescore and fifteen years, "he gave up the ghost, and died at a good old age, an old man, full of years, and was gathered to his people." "ABRAHAM GAVE UP THE GHOST." There was no reluctance in his death; he did not cling to life -- he was glad to be gone; and when the angel-messenger summoned him, without a struggle, nay, with the readiness of glad consent, his spirit returned to God who gave it. HE WAS GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE This cannot refer to his body; for that did not sleep beside his ancestors, but side by side with Sarah’s. Surely then it must refer to his spirit. The world’s grey fathers knew little of the future; but they felt that there was somewhere a mustering place of their clan, whither devout and holy souls were being gathered, one by one, so that each spirit, as it passed from this world, went to rejoin its people; the people from which it had sprung: the people whose name it bore; the people to which by its tastes and sympathies it was akin. What a lovely synonym for death! To DIE is to rejoin our people; to pass into a world where the great clan is gathering, welcoming with shouts each new-comer through the shadows. Where are your people? I trust they are God’s people; and if so, those that bear your name, standing on the other shore, are more numerous than the handful gathered around you here; many whom you have never known, but who know you; many whom you have loved and lost awhile; many who without you cannot be made perfect in their happiness. There they are, rank on rank, company on company, regiment on regiment, watching for your coming. Be sure you do not disappoint them! But remember, if your people are God’s people, you cannot be gathered to them unless first in faith and love you are gathered to Him. Little doubt had this noble man of the recognition of saintly spirits in the other world; and indeed, it is an untrue conception which has filled the future with strange spirits, unknowing and unknown. Heaven is not a prison with tier on tier of cells; but a HOME. And what is home without the recognition and love of fond hearts? So long as we read of David going to his child; of Paul anticipating the pleasure of meeting again his converts; of the women and disciples being able to recognize the appearance and the love of the Savior amid the glory of the resurrection body -- we may be prepared to believe, with the patriarch, that dying is re-union with those to whom in the deepest sense we are related. Spiritual affinities are for all time and for eternity, and will discover themselves through all worlds. "AND HIS SONS, ISAAC AND ISHMAEL, BURIED HIM IN THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH." There were great differences between these two. Ishmael, the child of his slave: Isaac, of the wedded wife. Ishmael, the offspring of expediency: Isaac, of promise. Ishmael, wild and masterful, "the wild ass"; strongly marked in his individuality; proud, independent, swift to take an insult, swift to avenge it: Isaac, quiet and retiring, submissive and meek, willing to carry wood, to be kept in the dark, to be bound, to yield up his wells, and to let his wife govern his house. And yet all differences were wiped out in that moment of supreme sorrow; and coming from his desert fastnesses, surrounded by his wild and ruffian freebooters, Ishmael united with the other son of their common father, who had displaced him in his inheritance, and who was so great a contrast to himself; but all differences were smoothed out in that hour. Many ancient chieftains may have been gathered by that ancient cave, to join in one last act of respect to the mighty prince who had dwelt amongst them for so long. Amid the wail of the women, and the dirge which even to this day tells of sorrow for departed worth in Eastern lands -- borne by a band of his trusted retainers, whilst a vast concourse of the camp stood wrapped in reverent silence around - -- the remains of the man who had dared to trust God at all costs, and who with pilgrim steps had traversed so many weary miles, were solemnly laid beside the dust of Sarah, his faithful wife. There, in all probability, they rest even to this day, and thence they will be raised at the coming of the King. Out of materials which were by no means extraordinary, God built up a character with which He could hold fellowship as friend with friend; and a life which has exerted a profound influence on all after-time. It would seem as if He can raise any crop He chooses, when the soil of the heart and life are entirely surrendered to Him. Why should not we henceforth yield ourselves utterly to His divine husbandry, asking Him to fulfil in us the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power? Only let us trust Him fully, and obey Him instantly and utterly; and as the years pass by, they shall witness results which shall bring glory to God in the highest, whilst they fill us with ceaseless praise. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 43: 03.00. BACK TO BETHEL ======================================================================== BACK TO BETHEL Separation from Sin, and Fellowship with God by F. B. Meyer, B. A. Author of "Old Testament Heroes," "Meet for the Master’s Use," etc. Copyright © 1901 by The Bible Institute Colportage Association of Chicago edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage Ministry of a century ago ~ out-of-print and in the public domain ~ No Evidence of a Current Copyright for the Printed Book Found This book was originally published prior to 1924, it is therefore in the public domain and free to be posted in its entirety despite recent publication. Please note: If you wish to read this book (which is absolutely free), simply click on the chapter title. You will have the option to either open it or to save it to your computer. To create a folder, right click and choose new - Folder, and name it the title of the book. GOD bless you from the Baptist Bible Believers website! Please tell everyone you know about this website, pray for this ministry - and that will be payment enough! TABLE OF CONTENTS Title 01. ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL 02. THE SONG OF THE LORD BEGAN 03. HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD 04. THE TRINITY OF TEMPTATION 05. THE RULE OF OUR THOUGHTS 06. THE STRONG MAN ARMED 07. GOD’S RUBBISH HEAP 08. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THIS DISPENSATION 09. THE GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED 10. LIFE, A POEM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 44: 03.01. ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL ======================================================================== CHAPTER ONE ARISE, GO UP TO BETHEL You will find the verses from which I am to speak in Genesis 35:1. "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make thee an altar unto God. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods from among you, and be clean." Bethel is not more than ten or fifteen hundred feet above the sea, a waste moorland, as we should say in our country, strewn with great boulders. The name means the House of GOD. How did it get that name? Thirty years before the words of my text were spoken, Jacob, fleeing from his father’s house to avoid the anger of Esau, came there on the first night of his absence from home. You must think of him as a pilgrim exile, with his staff in hand, no escort, nothing of household gear, coming upon that moorland, making what bed he could upon the heather, and lying down to sleep, with the stars above him and the wild wind beating across the waste. His last vision was of those stones that lay strewn around him; and as he slept these were piled one upon the other until from his couch there arose the ladder up and down which the angels trooped, coming down to him in blessing and going up to GOD in prayer. There he heard the voice of GOD, and as the morning broke and the vision faded and the sunshine lighted up the world, he vowed that from that moment GOD should be his GOD and he His faithful servant. I want to carry you back to days long gone by, it may be thirty years ago, when you left your father’s house in some country district as a young man or girl, and entered into some great city. Do you remember your first night there, and the tiny bedroom in which you knelt to say your evening prayer, and felt so lonesome and solitary? As you remained in the attitude of devotion it seemed as though the GOD of your old father and mother came very near you and spoke to your heart, and you promised from that night to be His faithful servant, so that until you died He would always find you ready to do His will. I want to know whether those vows have been kept? Has not that angel vision faded from your eyes? Has not that ladder died back into the dark? Have you not forgotten, or at least evaded, your solemn covenant? That young woman got a situation. She soon found herself beloved by one who could make a home for her. She and he together have climbed the ladder of prosperity, and she is now at the head of a beautiful home, and the angel ladder that linked her with GOD has faded away. She has drifted upon the current of fashion and worldliness. She is further away from GOD tonight than she was that other night so long ago. That young man has become one of your leading citizens. He is making money rapidly, but the promises have died upon his lips, and he is now further away from the GOD of his father than on the night he commenced his lonely pilgrimage. I am perfectly sure that I am speaking to some Jacobs that need to have the call of GOD addressed to them, saying, "Arise, go up to Bethel! Get away to the moor land plain! Get back to where you were thirty years ago, and at the foot of GOD’s ladder of fellowship again covenant yourselves to Him, and dedicate your life to His service." From Bethel Jacob traveled forth to Padan-Aram where he met Rachel. She became his beautiful wife. He had loved her at first sight, and stayed in Padan-Aram, serving seven years for Leah, seven years for Rachel and six years for his cattle and flocks. But they were like a few days for the love he had for Rachel. Years afterwards he started to return to his father’s house, with a large and wealthy following. He had difficulty in getting away from Laban, and you remember how the angels of GOD escorted him, though he had proved himself unfit to receive their help. This man who had seen the angel vision stooped to do things while in Laban’s employ which were not worthy of a son of GOD. Just as you who professed so much have been doing things which would not stand the scrutiny of GOD’s angels, and of which one day you must give account at the judgment seat. WRESTLING AT JABBOK However, GOD loved this man, and brought him down to Jabbok. I have been to Jabbok myself, not literally, but in spirit, for GOD cannot bear for us to live a low down life. Let us picture that scene! The stars shining above, the brook rushing down to the Jordan, the trees and shrubs overhanging it! Rachel the beloved, Leah and the children, the flocks and herds had all gone forward, and Jacob was left alone. And the angel of GOD met him. (Genesis 32:24). Too often that wonderful scene has been used as a symbol of wrestling prayer, but it is not meant to be taken only in that sense. It seems to me that it was not Jacob who wrestled with the angel, but the angel who wrestled with Jacob. It was as though GOD knew it was his only chance. He wanted to lift Jacob up to a new royal life, and so He actually wrestled with him as though to compel him to yield to Him. Jacob was a proud man. He stood his ground and resisted the effort of the angel to humble him. He struggled. He antagonized the angel of GOD’s love. It was only when the angel put forth his hand and touched the sinew of his thigh, which shriveled as a cord in the flame, and the man was no longer able to resist, that he cast his arms around the angel and said: "I yield, I yield! But I will not let thee go until thou bless me!" The angel blessed him, and said: "What is thy name?" He answered: "Jacob supplanter, cheat, mean, crafty." The angel said, "No more Jacob, but Israel! GOD wants you to leave all that behind and step up into a royal life." Did you ever have that experience in your life? I had it twenty years ago, and I think many another can point back to some secret hour when GOD’s angel came to lift him back into princeliness, and make him the servant of GOD. Perhaps when your wife lay at the point of death the angel came, and you vowed if GOD would spare her to you, you would live a worthy, godly life. You remember, woman, that time when your first babe was dangerously ill. You sat at the bedside and lifted up your heart to GOD and said: "If thou wilt spare my child I will renounce my worldliness, my low living, and I will live a true Christian life." That was your Jabbok, and you left it resolved that GOD and you would be forever in close and blessed fellowship. But what happened the next day? It seems too awful to tell, because it is so true not only of Jacob but of ourselves. Esau met him, and instead of trusting GOD, Jacob gave him a lame excuse why he could not go with him (Genesis 33:13). As soon as Esau’s back was turned the crafty Jacob turned in the opposite direction and made for a fat valley and land of pasture where his cattle and sheep could get all they needed, whilst his sons and himself could do a big trade with the men of Shechem. We are told he pitched his tent toward Shechem, and worse than that, he bought a parcel of a field. He who had come of a pilgrim race, who ought to have trusted GOD and known that GOD would give him the whole land, became a freeholder and bought some real estate right over against Shechem, one of the worst cities of the country. For wealth and gain he threw himself and his wife and children into the closest possible contact with this city, and you will hear presently what came of it. RACHEL’S INFLUENCE I always think that just here Rachel’s influence came in. I am not going to absolve man and say that he does not care for the world, but I am quite sure women often drive their husbands into expenditures which they cannot afford, because they say: "We want to give our children a chance." I always feel that Rachel’s influence there was baleful upon Jacob’s soul, and that she probably said: "Husband, don’t you think we ought to give our children some of the polish, some of the manners of our time? Don’t you think it would be wise for them to come into contact with other people?" Don’t think that I am too hard on Rachel. Her own behavior is my justification. We know that when Laban came to Jacob and said somebody had stolen his household gods Jacob knew nothing about it, but as a matter of fact, Rachel had stolen them and hidden them with their goods. Rachel no doubt knew of GOD, yet she had these little gods to which she gave her worship; and I cannot but feel that her influence was affected by the idolatry she was practicing. I want to speak for a moment to women. I want to ask whether in GOD’s sight they are using for GOD that holy, religious influence which should pervade the home and mold the husband and the children. I want to ask girls to begin their relations with men upon such a basis that their influence over them may always be for good. If only girls would build up sweet and noble lives and refuse to do things which GOD would not approve, they would surely have an influence over their brothers and future husbands in all after time. Pledge yourself to GOD in all purity and chastity. Build up in good works a life so full of the jewelry of heaven that men will be compelled to seek you for your intrinsic worth. If any woman has idols the idol of morphine, of worldliness or any other idol in GOD’s name put it away! Can you allow filthy novels to eat out the very core of your heart and blast the purity and virtue which are your chief graces? In the name of GOD, I ask you, whatever secret idols you are worshiping, that you tear them from their throne and open your heart to JESUS CHRIST, so that you may have no influence for evil, but every influence for good. Rachel ought to have been Jacob’s good angel. She should have said: "Husband, don’t go there! Remember the children!” But they drifted together, and for four or five years they lived near that prosperous, idolatrous city. And what happened next? We are told in Genesis 34:1-31 that Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, went out to see the daughters of the land. Poor child! She had been put in the way of temptation, and like a gnat she began to flit around the candle flame. It may be that home was irksome, it may be there was quarreling there among her brothers, it may be that she lacked tenderness and sweetness from those who lived with her. So she took a step from which there was no stepping back. She lost her honor, and ultimately brought disgrace and shame upon her father’s home. Who was to blame for all that? Was not Jacob to blame for putting his children in that position? Listen, you men who are making money! There is a tendency on the part of the Christian man, when he begins to make money, to say: "I can now live in a larger house. I can go into better society." Too often acting thus, you place your children under that influence which is to them what Shechem was to Jacob. What is the result? Your children at once begin to get worldly notions. They go into balls and dances and theaters. You expose your sons and daughters to companions who will lead them to perdition. I don’t say you ought to deny your children education or anything which makes life bright and happy for them, but I do say when you have given your family a house according to your means and provided for the education and pleasure and recreation of your children, you ought to look upon the increase of your prosperity as a talent from GOD. You should use anything that is over and above what is necessary for you and your family for the service of GOD, accounting yourself His steward and entrusted with His goods. Six, seven years passed like that, and culminated in a tragedy that compelled Jacob to be gone. Oh, that I were eloquent! Oh, that I could paint for you where you are living! Oh, that I could compare the angel-haunted ladder of Bethel with Shechem! If I could make you see that contrast, you would not need an angel voice to say to you: "Arise, go back to Bethel," but, making all haste, you would get back to the glorious heights where GOD meets the soul. When GOD spoke to Jacob he turned to his household and all that were with him, and said: "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel." I would touch the harp of memory, the memory of those past days when you were near GOD. Won’t you return to Bethel, where the angels go and come? I remember once going to a meeting of the Salvation Army where they had advertised an exhibition of idols. I expected to see idols from India and Africa and the South Seas, but instead of that eight young men, at the appointed time, stepped to the rear of the platform and returned, each bearing a large piece of cardboard. One card was covered with pipes and cigars and tobacco; another with sham jewelry, feathers, ribbons and things of that sort. There were eight cards, each covered with things that had been idols to some. A man sitting behind me pointed and said: "That was my pipe." A woman said: "See my bow of ribbon?" Those simple people felt that these things had become idols to them, and they had given them up. I am not here to say that tobacco or jewelry is your idol, because if I did, a great many who are not tempted in these directions would say, "He doesn’t mean me; I have no idol"; which would not be true. For a good many men the idol is money; for many women it is their beauty, or their skill in music, or perhaps their beautiful homes. You may depend upon it that unless you have gone through the purging process everyone of you is tempted to have some secret throne upon which is your idol. The Greek word for "idol" means "appearance." It is something which you trust in more than GOD whom you cannot see. If there is anything of that sort in your life, I pray you put it away! But you ask, "How can you put these things away?" There is only one way. Take them as GOD’s gift. As soon as you begin to look upon them as His loan, the fear of their hurting you passes away, if they are legitimate. Test yourself and say: "CHRIST, from henceforth I treat this as Thy gift to me, to be used for Thee!" And, my friends, be clean! Clean in your heart, clean in what you see, clean in every word you speak, clean in every act, clean in the whole body! Never allow an expression which is capable of a double meaning. Never let a thought intrude which is not just what it should be. Don’t look at those unclean pictures. Don’t read those unclean books. "Change your garments!” It may be you have dressed in polluted garments. I say to you, put off the old man and put on JESUS CHRIST, and say: "I am going to live henceforth as JESUS CHRIST would live were He in my place." Jacob did it, and he went back to Bethel, and a wonderful thing happened. GOD said to him: "Your name shall no more be Jacob, but Israel." Then He added, "I am God Almighty" as much as to say, "Jacob, you sought Shechem because you thought you would do better, and now you stand alone and wonder what is going to happen next. I am going to be with you. I am GOD Almighty. I will meet all demands. I will stand sponsor for you. Reckon on me. I will see you through." Now look to JESUS! Open your heart to Him. Give Him your whole nature. Don’t let there be any secrets. He will give you a new name. He will be to you GOD Almighty. He will make you fruitful and will multiply you. And may you and He live together in blessed fellowship until He makes up His jewels. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 45: 03.02. THE SONG OF THE LORD BEGAN ======================================================================== CHAPTER TWO THE SONG OF THE LORD BEGAN “And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel” (2 Chronicles 29:27). Abounding joy is the prime characteristic of our holy religion - joy unspeakable and full of glory. This is as natural to true religion as the bloom on a maiden’s face is to perfect health. You can’t create joy, but you can make the conditions from which it springs. If your life is joyless, it must be because of some sin. Find out, then, the reason why your harp hangs on the willow, and joy has died out of your life. Our Lord said: "These things have I spoken unto you that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). If your joy is not full you have not entered into the heart of our Lord’s sermon about the vine and the branches. Paul said: "The fruit of the Spirit is joy" (Galatians 5:22). Now, fruit is natural. There is no effort about fruit. Indeed the effort of the bough is to repress the fruit which presses forward into expression, so that gardeners have to prune away excessive production. If the bough is properly connected to the trunk, it bears fruit; and if you are properly related to our Lord, joy will be as natural to you as singing to a bird. Is your religion somber and dour? Is there no spring and elasticity about it? Do children find you out or shun you? When you enter society, does the laughter and merriment die? Are you an element of perfect gladness at a party? If not, there is something wrong in your inner life, which is choking the spring of joy. Some years ago my friend Dr. Handley Moule visited the excavations in the Forum at Rome. While there, as the rubbish was being cleared away, suddenly there gushed forth the waters of a spring that had been choked for centuries. Poor little spring! Longing to express itself and flash in the sunlight, but choked by the accumulations of the years! So, if you are a Christian at all, there is a spring of joy in your soul which has been stopped and silenced. My first mission is to put my hand on what is wrong. In order to help me lay hold of your conscience, turn to 2 Chronicles 29:27, where we are told: "When the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also." The word "began" indicates that it had ceased. If you look into the preceding chapter you will find that for sixteen years the song of the Lord had never broken from Levite throats, had never floated through the temple courts. Those courts, intended by David to resound with the praises and worship of GOD, were still. In this they resembled your heart, for your heart was meant for music. If it has ceased, it is probably from the same reason. THE CAUSE OF THE SILENCE What had happened during those sixteen years? Turn to 2 Chronicles 28:24-25. "Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every several city of Jerusalem he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers." King Ahaz was weary of the worship of GOD. So he put out the lights, he closed the doors, he took away the keys, he turned the Levites adrift. The sparrows made their homes, the birds of the air built their nests in the neglected courts of the temple. Neither Ahaz, nor the priests, nor the Levites frequented the holy place. Then came a change. The burnt offering began after sixteen years of discontinuance, and the song of the Lord broke into utterance once again. Hezekiah became king, and "in the first month of his reign he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place" (2 Chronicles 29:3-5). "Carry forth the filthiness,” that is what must first be done. It is the call of the apostle Paul: "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit," (2 Corinthians 7:1). I have yet to learn what the apostle quite meant by the distinction between filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit. Away back in the inner shrine of our spirit there must be filthiness. The priests and the Levites gathered at Hezekiah’s call. They "went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found," (2 Chronicles 29:16). What followed? They made a sin offering; and so sin was put away (2 Chronicles 29:24). OUR CHURCHES Let us apply these truths first to our churches. You are eagerly desirous of a revival of undefiled religion, that your hearts and homes should be full of praise to GOD. I call on the elders and deacons and leaders in our churches to come into the inner courts that they may be thoroughly cleansed from the filthiness that has accumulated there. Nobody brought it into the temple it just accumulated. And the dust and filthiness of the world has accumulated in our souls, and you and I must deal with it. Some years ago I met a gray-haired minister who told me the following story from his own life. Said he: "I was brought up under Finney, and after my seminary course was sent to carry on a decayed work in a distant country district. There had been no revival, no stirring up of the Holy Ghost in those parts for years. I gathered some godly people in the vestry every Friday night to pray for a revival. We kept this up for fifteen months, but the heavens were as brass above us. "When fall came on, I set apart a day for united prayer. My heart rejoiced as I saw the farmers driving in with their families, until the schoolhouse behind the chapel was filled. "I explained that we had gathered to pray for a revival. After the opening hymns and prayers the meeting was thrown open. "The silence of death settled upon the audience. Every one waited. "Presently a leading old elder rose in a front seat, and said: " ’Pastor, I don’t think there is going to be a revival of the Holy Ghost here so long as Brother Jones and I don’t speak to each other.’ "He left his pew, walked down the aisle and found Brother Jones, and said: " ’Brother Jones, you and I have not spoken for five years. Let’s bury the hatchet. Here’s my hand!’ "The old man returned to his pew, and sat down. A sob broke from the audience, and then there was silence again. "Soon another elder rose, and said: " „Pastor, I think there will be no revival here while I say fair things to your face and mean things behind your back. I want you to forgive me.‟ "We shook hands, and the audience relapsed into stillness again." The minister told me that he then witnessed the strangest scene of his life. For ten minutes men and women crept noiselessly about the house, squaring old scores. And GOD began to visit them. The operatives in a factory nearby heard what was going on in the school-house, and at the lunch hour they came over in such numbers that they were diverted into the church. The pastor preached to them the simple gospel, and within five minutes four of the ringleaders in sin in that community were crying to GOD for mercy. A revival broke out that swept to and fro over the district for three years. I told this story at Wandsworth, England, once. A few weeks later, when addressing a gathering of ministers in London, I told it again, and a brother minister rose and said that after I had preached at Wandsworth, as he was going out, a man who owed him twenty-five dollars took his hand, and said: "Forgive my delay in settling that debt. You shall have the money tomorrow." We must get back to first principles. We are right with GOD in the exact proportion that we are right with the men and women around us. Let us test ourselves, not by what we are on Sundays at church, but by what we are to the man whom we like least. That is the true gauge. Is there any unkind, jealous feeling between pastor and pastor? any irritation or fretting because of another’s success? Are you Christian people prepared to square up old scores? to give up things in business that you know are not perfectly consistent with CHRIST’s commands? If so, shake hands; write that letter; pay that money; have done with that source of irritation. Let the love of GOD be poured into your soul, and after that joy will come. THE INDIVIDUAL HEART Let us now come to your own heart. Is any secret sin harbored there? Joy began in my life one solemn night when I knelt before CHRIST and had the holy light of His Spirit turned upon one thing in my heart that was filthy. It had accumulated there, and I hardly knew it. I had been living a very unsettled life for some time, when a young fellow came and spoke in my church, and led me to feel that he possessed a secret which I had not myself. The following morning, at 7 o’clock, I found my way to the house where he was staying. I knew the house very well, and went up to the room which he was occupying. I said: "You will excuse my coming, won’t you? The fact is, I am very unhappy. I am a Christian minister, and people expect a great deal of me, but my heart is full of evil, and I cannot deal with it. Can you give me your secret?" I could see by the candles that he had been up a long time, and in fact he told me he had been up since 4 o’clock. I asked him what he had been doing, and he said that the Lord had said, "If ye love Me keep My commandments," and, said he: "I was just going over the commandments to see if I have kept them." I told him I wanted to learn his secret, and he said: "There is nothing I have which you may not have." "But how may I get right? I am a Christian, but how may I get entirely right?" "Have you ever given yourself entirely to CHRIST?" he asked. "Yes," I replied, "in a general way I have." "If you have not done so entirely, go alone and settle it." That night I knelt by my bed, with the door of my room locked, and resolved that I would not sleep until I had settled the matter and surrendered everything to JESUS. It seemed as though JESUS was by my side, and as if I took from my pocket a large bunch of keys which I generally carry when I am at home. I took from that bunch one tiny key, which I kept, and then held to JESUS the bunch with the one missing, and said to Him: "Here are the keys of my life." He looked at me sadly, and asked: "Are all there?" "All but one tiny one, to a small cupboard. It is so small that it cannot amount to anything." He replied, "Child, if you cannot trust Me with everything, you cannot trust Me with anything." Satan whispered to me: "You cannot give up that thing. Besides if you let CHRIST have His way, you don’t know what He will ask of you next. Don’t give it to Him!" Then the thought came to me of my only child, who at that time was somewhat wayward. Supposing she were to come to me and say: "Father, I give my whole life up to you; you may choose anything you want for me," I knew I would not call her mother and say: "Now is our chance. What can we do to make her life miserable and unhappy?" I would say: "Wife, here is our chance. We will take away everything that hurts her, and we will make her life one long summer day." CHRIST would not be harder on me than on my child, and at last I said: "Lord, I cannot give the key, but I am willing to have you come and take it." It was as I expected. I seemed to hold out my hand, and He came and opened the fingers and took the key from me. Then He went straight to that cupboard, unlocked and opened it, and saw there a thing that was terrible and hideous. He said: "This must go out. You must never go this way again." And the moment He took the thing from me, He took the desire for it out of my soul, and I began to hate it. Then I yielded myself absolutely to Him, and said: "From this night I want Thee to do as Thou wilt with my life." The next morning I wakened expecting a sort of hallelujah feeling, but I was as calm and quiet as I am now. I only had a delightful sense that I did belong to JESUS CHRIST, and a hundred times that day I said to myself: "I am His! I am absolutely His!" Have you some hidden cupboard in your soul in which you are harboring things whose miasma is killing your joy? Face your true condition. Too often we are like those who fear their lungs are diseased, and who dread examination by the stethoscope and surgeon lest he should reveal the true condition. We can make no headway until we are clean. Are you sure there is nothing in your heart you would not like CHRIST to deal with? Before you can have GOD’s best, you must let Him search your soul, and show what the unclean thing is which entered years ago and has choked your spiritual vitality ever since. THE SONG BEGAN Now notice what happened next. Hezekiah had the altar ready. On one side were the priests with the whole burnt offering, which signified CHRIST’s entire consecration to GOD in His death, and also the entire consecration of believers to CHRIST in life. On the other side was the Levite choir in white vesture, and other Levites with cymbals and psalteries and harps. At a given signal the burnt offering was laid on the altar. I know not whether GOD sent fire from heaven, or the wood was ignited with sacred fire that had somehow been kept burning all those years. But as the fire began the sweet voices of the choristers burst forth in song, and the music of the instruments was heard again. The very heavens must have stood still to listen. Angels must have come in troops to hear the music in that familiar place after sixteen years of silence. I found myself a few months ago in a bachelor’s house. Bachelors are often taciturn, gloomy, and wrapped up in themselves; but this one lived in a beautiful house, and was one of the brightest men I ever met. When supper was finished, I said: "You seem very happy?" "Yes," he replied, "I’ll tell you my story. Years ago I was making money, and chose this solitary life so as to be free from the anxieties of wife and children. But though I had all that the world could give, I was not happy. "Then my brother died. He had no genius for business, and was always poor. He left a large family of children. I tried to provide for them, but finally had to import them all into this house. I thought the peace of my life had then gone out. "For the first week it was agony to see those children run all over the house. But then they got hold of me, and I began to like them. I sent them to school, and have been both father and mother to them. Two of them are now married. I don’t believe there is a happier man on GOD’s earth than myself." When the burnt offering began, the song began. A self-centered life is a miserable life. When that man began to sacrifice himself, happiness came into his life. And if, to live for another is sweet, if it is lovely for a woman to live for a paralyzed husband, and if there is a song forever on her lips because she is all in all to him, what must it be when you are all in all for JESUS? Wherefore I beseech you, by the mercies of GOD, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice not a dead, but a living sacrifice holy, acceptable unto GOD; and be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may know what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of GOD. How I fought GOD’s will! I thought it was hard, inexorable, terrible; but when a man presents himself to it, he finds it good, acceptable and perfect. The thing you hate becomes your joy. As you look into CHRIST’s face, and say, "Rabboni Master," caster joy springs in your soul. GOD help you to clear away all the filthiness, and yield yourself to Him. Whether you can sing or not with the voice, the song of the Lord will begin in your soul! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 46: 03.03. HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD ======================================================================== CHAPTER THREE HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD Holiness stands for three things. First, separation from sin and common use, as the one day among the days of the week, as the one mountain amidst the mountains of the world, and as the child Samuel amidst the boys and girls of his age separate from sin and common use. Second, it means to be separated unto the service of GOD. That which is kept from sin is reserved for GOD’s most holy use, and that which is taken from common service is reserved utterly and absolutely for Him. Just as you would not permit the instruments which are used for the Lord’s table service to be employed for the common meals of your own home, so that which is holy is reserved and set apart for sacred use. Third, while holiness means separation from and separation to, it also implies Godlikeness, because that which is reserved for GOD’s use takes on something of GOD’s nature. Just as the silver plate at the Lord’s table reflects the light of the face of him who bears it, so that which is used by GOD tends to become like GOD. Never forget that holiness is not an attainment, but an attitude. It is the opening of the heart to the balmy air and sunlight of GOD’s nature, which, entering in, fill the spirit of man or woman. THE HIGH PRIEST’S FRONTLET In Exodus 28:36, the high priest stands before you vested in his full white robes, with breastplate of gold. On the frontlet of his forehead, the legend HOLINESS TO THE LORD is inscribed, so that wherever he goes to and fro, he bears upon his brow that sacred text. Suppose I should turn from him, and speaking to you say that I want from this evening until you meet CHRIST in glory that you should bear that frontlet upon your brow and have that holy legend inscribed upon you, it might be you would shrink back and say: "No, no, I will never be a hypocrite. I do trust in CHRIST and desire to be like Him. But I dare not arrogate to myself that sacred frontlet, that holy legend. I am not HOLINESS TO THE LORD." Then, my friend, you are putting away from you the privilege of this dispensation, of which Zechariah says that in this age there shall be so much Holy Spirit given to the men and women who believe in CHRIST that HOLINESS TO THE LORD shall be engraved upon their heads, that the common vessels in their homes shall have the same legend upon them, and be as holy as the vessels in the Lord’s house: "In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar." (Zechariah 14:20). I remember so well spending some winter days in the city of Boston. I shall never forget the blue sky and the crisp white snow, the absence of the rumbling of wheels, and everywhere the sweet music of the sleigh bells. The bells of all our life, the dinner bell, the rising bell, the bell summoning us to our daily work, the telephone bell asking us to hold conversation with another all the bells ringing in our lives are to have these words inscribed, so that our whole life shall have this as its keynote. What I am going to say can be very well noted under three words abolition, inclusion and elevation. FIRST ABOLITION I think Zechariah meant that in the age of the Holy Ghost in which we are living, there should be the abolition of the line between secular and sacred. So many people draw a line between these two. They say "business is business, and religion is religion," "a place for everything, and everything in its place." They live in two houses. Over their homes perhaps may be the words HOLINESS TO THE LORD, but they spend most of their time away from their homes, and they would hesitate to write those words over their pleasure resorts and places of business. Some people put on their religion and put it off with their Sunday clothes. They wear it with difficulty. Oh, this terrible, terrible habit of Christian people in drawing such straight lines of demarcation, living in water-tight compartments so that one is wholly religious and the other wholly secular. That cannot be right because of three things: First, Christianity is not a creed, not a formula, not a ritual, but a life. If it is a life begun by the Holy Spirit, a real life, the germ of the CHRIST life planted in our spirits and to rise up in the majesty of CHRIST’s likeness, you cannot divest that life from ordinary existence. - A flower’s life must always express itself in its fragrance and hue. - A bird’s life must always express itself through its song, its nest building and its care for its young. - An artist must always look at things artistically. And if a man is truly enjoying the life of GOD in his soul, that life must rise up in every word he speaks, in every look of his eyes, in every movement of his nature. I do not say that he will always be talking about GOD, but the divine life will express itself in his laughter and in every movement of his life. Then, secondly, we must remember that Christianity is the recognition of CHRIST’s kingship. That is, the true Christian is the absolute property of JESUS CHRIST. I shall never forget when I saw a slave for the first time. It was in a street of Tangiers, Morocco. My companion pointed to a woman advancing toward us. She was barefooted, but laden with heavy gold ornaments. He said: "That’s a slave." For the first time I was face to face with one who had no property in her own nature, but whose every quality was owned by her master. She was absolutely his, everything about her and every faculty she possessed. I looked up to the sky and said: "Oh, GOD, I thank Thee that if she is a slave, I am one also." My friend, have you ever looked into CHRIST’s face, and said, "Whose I am, and whom I serve! My Master, JESUS! Everything I have and everything I may acquire are all my Master’s." If so, you cannot give Him part of your life and keep back the rest. Your whole life must be under the mastership of the sweetest Master and King. Third, Christianity is a testimony to the world, the confession of the mastership of the Lord. The world seldom comes into our churches. If it does not, therefore, see you living on Christian principles in your business and pleasure and daily life, your testimony to the world is at an end. Therefore, for the world’s sake, I protest against this division of the secular from the sacred. I ask that wherever we are, always and everywhere, we shall bear upon our faces and upon our bodies, upon all our pleasures and business, upon all the bells that ring in our lives, these words: "Sacred to JESUS"; that is, set apart for our blessed Master and Lord. INCLUSION If that is true of you, I want you to take a step further that is a most important one, and that is expressed by the word "Inclusion." Horses were forbidden the ancient Jew. A horse is no more harmful than a mule. GOD made it a most useful animal, but because of its association with pride and show and war, GOD tabooed it for the Jews. But after centuries had passed and the people had been purified, elevated and taught, GOD said: "There is no reason why you should not have your horses now, but engrave upon their bells the words HOLINESS TO THE LORD." The ancient hermit said he could have no wife or child. No woman’s hand might be laid on his sick brow with gentle caress. No children’s voices might ring in his home. He must dedicate himself to GOD, and deny himself the comforts of home. He put away horses. Then came the Puritans, who said, "I must have no work of art in my home, nothing that will excite amusement." No horses, no horses. A young man once told me that since he had become consecrated he had given up manly games and his violin. If you cannot continue in such things because of evil associations, then give them up, not because they are wrong in themselves, but because of the associations. But if you can go into them and elevate your companions, if you can make them pay the price of your companionship - no swearing, no dirty talk, no gambling, do you not think it is a greater thing to join them, and as a grain of salt, as a beam of light, lift the whole of their conversation? Is not that what Zechariah meant when he said: "You may have your horses, but see to it that you engrave upon their bells, HOLINESS TO THE LORD." A young girl who wishes to consecrate her life to GOD, thinks she must give up her piano. But suppose she can use it to keep a brother at home nights instead of wandering off to his evil companions, isn’t that a higher use to put it to than to give it up absolutely? Keep the horses if you can, but write upon them HOLINESS TO THE LORD. But someone says, "Stop, sir. Don’t you think you are introducing a bad principle? Don’t you think a man might argue on your principle and say that he is going to the dance, or the billiard hall, or theater, and lift them up for CHRIST?" GUIDING PRINCIPLES In answer to that I would advise you to take these two texts as the guiding stars of your life: 1 Corinthians 6:12 : "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." Then 1 Corinthians 10:23 : "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s good." The first principle is this: "I will not be brought under the power of any." Doesn’t that touch your cigar? I am not now denouncing smoking, but are there not men listening to me who are absolutely under the power of the pipe? They cannot lay it down and pick it up as they please. They are really under its mastery. It is the same with the use of morphine and the like. And whenever you cannot lay a thing of that kind aside, are you not under its power? The other principle is equally true. "I will never do a thing which will hurt another." That comes home, young man, to your treatment of women. Always make it easy for a girl to do right, never make it hard for her. As to the theater, doesn’t that law come in there, too? You cannot go there without making the theater possible for others. Even though you and I might go without harm, we are making it possible for others to go who have not such a level head as we have. Then, too, we always must think of the actors and actresses. I dare not make sweeping charges, but statements have been made to me, which I can verify, which make me know that the theater is specially perilous to those whose profession it is. You say: "What about the dance?" I do not think you can write HOLINESS TO THE LORD over the waltz. If girls only knew the thoughts which fill many men’s hearts when they dance, I do not believe that pure girls would expose themselves to the close embrace of the waltz. It is only because they do not think, and have not had a high standard put before them. If you are a true child of GOD and have "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" written upon you, you will be very careful, first, how you dress, and then how you dispose of your body. Anyhow, you ought first ask the Holy Spirit how you may treat His temple. But I come back to this. Everything which is right, human and holy may be given unto GOD. I try to make it a rule of my life to pass no day in which I do not see one beautiful thing, read one beautiful thought, hear one sweet strain of music. I try to cultivate my love for beautiful things, and I think I can do that for JESUS. ELEVATION Let me close with a word about elevation. It is not a leveling-down policy, but a leveling up. It is not that the high priest should take off his holy plate and think no more of his Temple service than of harnessing his horse for a ride, but that he should mount his horse with the same sense of GOD as he bore with him unto the Holy Place. We need to strike the keynote, as a leader of music would if there were no organ, and everything will be accorded to that key. So Sunday strikes the keynote for the week, and your prayer time in the morning strikes the keynote for the day. But you ask, "How am I to get thus?" Look upon YOUR LIFE AS A CALLING OF GOD. There are three "callings" in First Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 1:1, called to be an apostle; in 1 Corinthians 1:2, called to be saints; in 1 Corinthians 7:20, called to be business men. A call to business life is as great a calling as to be a minister, but go to your life day by day for JESUS. In Revelation we are told that no one could buy or sell that had not the mark of the beast on the hand or forehead (Revelation 13:16-17). We are also told that the name of the Lamb shall be in the foreheads of His servants (Revelation 14:1). Everyone has the mark of the beast upon their foreheads, or the mark of CHRIST. We cannot see it, but the angels can; and on every brow in this audience there is inscribed in letters of light or letters of darkness, the words HOLINESS TO THE LORD or the mark of the beast. Let your life from this time forth be wholly for JESUS. He will not take anything from you that is for your good, but He will accept your whole being, and from this moment until you die it shall be your joy to live absolutely for CHRIST. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 47: 03.04. THE TRINITY OF TEMPTATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER FOUR THE TRINITY OF TEMPTATION When the Lord JESUS received the filling of the Holy Spirit at His baptism, He was immediately led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. The person who has been powerfully drawn toward GOD by the Holy Spirit will be, like the sweep of the pendulum, almost immediately exposed to strong temptation. It is almost necessary, I think, in order to root the tree deeper in the soil. When I was a boy my schoolmates would go often to a neighboring orchard when the fruit was ripe. You could always tell when the fruit was ripe, because the boys made for it. As long as the fruit of your life is immature and sour, the devil will not trouble you much; but just so soon as your fruit is ready, you may expect all the devils of hell to try to steal it. It may be considered rather an honor to have thieves break into your house, because it shows that you have a repute for having money - thieves never break into a poor man’s house. And if the devil comes about your house, it shows that you are becoming better off than you used to be. Count it all joy, therefore, when you are tempted. Now in dealing with temptation we must remember that a man may be tempted either of GOD (and we generally use the word "tried" when we speak of this) or he may be tempted of Satan. In Hebrews 11:17 we are told that GOD did "tempt" or "try" Abraham. GOD tries us that we may rise; Satan tries us that we may fall. GOD puts an occasion in our way to be a stepping stone up; Satan puts an occasion in our way to be a stumbling block, and cause us to fall. I am not now speaking about GOD’s side in trial, but about temptation to failure. I will take as my basic text a passage, which, if you understand, you will have the key to the mystery of the New Testament. It is found in Ephesians, the second chapter. In the first ten verses you have the seed plot of the main teachings of the Apostle Paul. He begins with our terrible state in sin through our connection with our first parent, Adam; for everyone is connected with Adam in his sin. He says: "You hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." Then he speaks of the trinity of evil. There are three trinities in the world: - The trinity in unity above us, the Father, Son, and Spirit - one GOD; - the trinity within us, spirit, soul and body one man; and - the trinity beneath us, the world, the flesh and the devil. In Ephesians 2:2-3 you will find: - "In time past ye walked according to the course of this world" there is the world; - "according to the prince of the power of the air" there is the devil; and - "in the lusts of our flesh" there you have the flesh. These three are present in every temptation that comes to man. WHAT IS THE WORLD? What is the world? In 1 John 2:16 we are told what is in the world: "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life." These were the lines along which CHRIST’s three temptations came. These the apostle shows are in the world, but he does not give a definition of the world. The world really is the appearance or semblance of things, a mirage! The Hindoo philosophers call it maia that which attracts, the glamour, the dream, that entices and puzzles the soul, promising much, but always disappointing. Are you not conscious when you are tempted that there is always a sort of bait held out to you of something you are to get, some pleasure or joy? As a matter of fact, you never get lasting pleasure when you do yield to the temptation. It is simply a mirage. Just as the child blows soap bubbles, which are radiant with a thousand hues, but which, when touched, sink into drops of soapy water: so the worldly spirit is always grasping after the semblance of things, grasping at the unreal. WHAT IS THE FLESH? As for the flesh, there is no better definition than that given in Romans 7:18, where the apostle says, "In me, that is, in my flesh." "Flesh" is "me-ism," - egotism. Sometimes in London, where they drop their h’s, I tell them that if they will drop the „h‟ and spell "flesh" backward, they will get the best definition I know of: "Self." Whenever you meet a man who makes self the pivot of his life, that man is living according to the flesh. What is the center letter of the word "sin"? "I"; and the center of egotism is "I." The fall was the putting "I" as the center of life, and redemption is putting man back to the center of love, which is "not I." GOD will finish the work in your soul, when you live, yet not you, but CHRIST lives in you. When I was in Germany recently, they gave me a beautiful card on which two words were printed "Ich" (I), and "Er" (He); and the "I" was crossed out by a stroke, leaving only "He." Myself crossed out, CHRIST the only pivot or center of my life. Self is the curse of our life before regeneration and after. Before conversion it is clothed in rags; after conversion it becomes respectable and puts on a white dress; but the devil does not care whether it is clothed in one or the other, so long as we have it inside us, dominating us. The epistle to the Galatians is the great epistle about the flesh, and how to deal with it. There we find two passages to which I call attention. One is Galatians 5:19, where the apostle enumerates the works of the unregenerate life: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and so on. But if you turn to Galatians 3:13, you will find there were a number of people who began by trusting JESUS for justification, and then tried to perfect themselves by their own efforts. They were perfectionists. So when I hear people who talk about their goodness, who tell us they are perfect, they are revolving about the pivot of the self-life as much as those who are unregenerate, though probably they are not aware of it. I believe GOD will never be satisfied until we have been lifted clean off the "I" pivot and placed upon the "Not I" pivot, until we no longer live for ourselves, but for JESUS CHRIST, who died for us. The temptation of Satan is to get us to live on the self-pivot, and in order to do that he holds before us the mirage of pleasure which will be ours if only we will make the self-life our objective. THE DEVIL And now a word about the devil. The nearer you live to CHRIST, the more certain you are there is a personal devil. Those who say he is not a real person, not only go in the face of the New Testament, but show they do not know the reality of JESUS CHRIST. In London, when a gang of thieves wants to get into a house with the most impunity, they advertise that they have left that section. So if the devil can get anyone to believe in his non-existence he is much more likely to achieve his designs. The devil does not trouble about those who are not specially spiritual. It is those who stand nearest to CHRIST who are most assailed. If you are a straggler on the edge of the battle you are likely enough to come off with a whole skin. The devil is evidently a real person, because JESUS said, "The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in Me." Mark also 2 Corinthians 11:3 : "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ"; and John 12:31 : "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out"; and Revelation 20:2 : "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." Of course, I do not think that the devil has the attributes of GOD. He does not trouble much about you and me, but reserves himself for CHRIST, Luther, Spurgeon, and men who are worth his steel; any little demon is strong enough to upset you and me. If you say that the devil tempts everybody you make him omnipresent and omniscient, which are attributes of GOD alone. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). I believe that behind every brothel and saloon there is a demon, that over the darkness of every dark continent, like China or Africa, and any stronghold of evil, there are myriads of demons, who have beneath them principalities and powers. Compare Daniel 10. In one sentence our Saviour gave the history of Satan. He said: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth" (John 8:44). There you have his origin. Probably he was an archangel, and having been created in the truth, he did not remain in it, but, as Jude says, lost his first estate, he was the vicegerent of GOD. JESUS CHRIST recognized that when He spoke of Satan as the prince of this world. When he was an unfallen archangel, I believe GOD made him the prince, perhaps of the sun and its attendant worlds. When he fell he dragged down with him other angels and this world, which has been groaning ever since. "For the creature was made subject to vanity, not of his own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation should be delivered” (Romans 8:20-21). I believe that cyclones, devastating tidal waves, and a great deal that is so puzzling in the present world are the result of the reaction of that original fall of Satan, its vicegerent and prince. Now, why should Satan tempt man to fall? What was the reason for the fall on Satan’s side? In Genesis 1:26, "God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let him have dominion." As soon as Satan heard that, it seems as though he thought to himself: "Have dominion! Man have dominion! It shall never be. I am lord here, fallen though I am. These are my palaces, my court, and man shall never rule over this world!" So he laid his plan to make man subject to himself, and the whole gist of the fall is that Satan should rule, should take from the brow of man the crown that the Creator put there. In Genesis 3:1-24 you get the story of the fall. There was the tree which was pleasant to the eyes, and a thing to be desired to make man wise. In that you have the world the appearance, the semblance, the beautiful mirage. Man wants to be wise, to be as GOD. Next there was the devil speaking through the serpent. And you have the flesh in what Eve saw, in Genesis 3:6 : "The woman saw that the tree was good for food." The world, the flesh, and the devil! In that moment Eve fell, Satan again became supreme. The threatened intrusion upon his dominion was brought to an end by man becoming his subject. When I was a young man I never could understand why Milton made Paradise Regained turn upon the temptation of CHRIST. It always seemed to me that I should have made the regaining of Paradise turn upon Calvary. But he could not have done otherwise. When Satan had made man his subject, GOD’s plan seemed thwarted; but GOD, in the person of His Son, became man and encountered Satan, not in the exercise of His Deity, but "He emptied Himself." He temporarily laid aside the use and exercise of those divine attributes, by which He could stamp Satan under His foot, and entered the arena as a man. When the holy, blessed CHRIST met Satan in the wilderness, the first temptation was repeated, only the conditions were worse. It was not in a garden, but in a wilderness. Adam was tempted in his innocence; CHRIST as the scion of a biased race. Again there was the question of food not a tree with its luscious fruit, but stones of the desert and the hunger in our Saviour’s body. Satan said to Eve: "You have all you want to eat. Now take that fruit to make you wise." But the tempter knew CHRIST had hunger, not for a luxury, but a necessity, and he said: "You have power. Use it. Feed yourself." "No," said CHRIST, "if I did I should have an existence independent of GOD. I depend upon my Father, and when my Father sees I want food He will send it." The moment CHRIST said that, He undid, as far as He was concerned, the coil the devil had woven around Adam and our race. CHRIST was also tempted by the world. There was the mirage, the semblance of the nations of the world, in a moment of time, and Satan said: "See how fair the empire is. You need not die, you need not bear the cross. All this is mine, and I can give it to you. Only worship me." CHRIST knew that if He worshipped him the semblance of the empire of the world would have fallen to dust. It would not have been His. The devil had lied. CHRIST could not rule men unless He died for them. So CHRIST withstood the temptation of the world, and said: "No, Satan, I will not take it at that price, but I will get it nevertheless. I will not have it as your gift, but my Father’s; not by conquering, but by dying a death of shame." There are two mountains in our Saviour’s life, the mount of temptation and the mount of ascension. On the mount of temptation CHRIST saw the kingdoms of the world, and the devil said: "I will give Thee these if Thou wilt worship me." But the Lord refused and went down that mountain poor, lonely, to suffering and to death; but at last through the cross and the grave He came out on the other side more than a conqueror, and said: "All power is given to me in heaven and upon earth. Go and preach." He refused the devil’s crown and got GOD’s crown; and one day we shall hear the anthem float over the redeemed world, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ." But it would not help us if JESUS had done this for Himself only. We must remember that on the cross JESUS CHRIST became the representative man, and again He met the world, the flesh, and the devil in the hour of His weakness. If He could overcome them then, what can He not do now He is strong in resurrection glory? He said distinctly in John 14:30 : "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me"; and again, "I have overcome the world." When our Saviour died He put his foot on the devil; He bruised the serpent’s head. When He rose as the representative man He was raised above the power of the devil, and got back the dominion that GOD gave Adam, and Adam lost. We see not yet all things put under man, but we see JESUS crowned with glory and honor (Hebrews 2:8-9). In the ascended Lord, man rose above the devil and resumed the honor and glory, the power and authority, with which GOD had endowed him in the first moments of his creation. When Satan saw that GOD was lifting our race, in the person of a perfect man, to sit in glory, he knew that the work of six thousand years was in vain, and that in spite of everything GOD’s purpose would stand, that man should have dominion and power. Now, here are two men. On the one hand there is the first Adam. By the first birth you and I were born of him, and are all children of a fallen man. The devil knows that, and as long as you are living in the old Adam he feels free to do as he will with us, because he has already subdued the father, and he knows he can subdue the child. By the second birth we are born into the second Adam, the royal CHRIST, and stand in Him, and He has made us kings and priests. The pity is that men do not use their royalty! This is one of the most wonderful subjects that a man can present to his fellows, the intention of GOD to give men royalty; the jealousy of the devil in trying to stop it. GOD refusing to have His plans frustrated, coming down as though the God-man should fight a battle with His right hand tied behind Him, and saying to Satan, "I will come down and overcome you with my left hand, without the use of my deity." In the wilderness He overcame him. All through His life in His weakness He met the devil and overcame him. On the cross He met him once more. Satan said to Him: "Spare Thyself." But the Lord answered: "Never. I refuse to do as you tell me. I am going to do the Father’s will, and if My Father leads Me to bear the sin of the world, I will bear it, though it bring midnight on My soul. I will do My Father’s will." When we believe thus, and take our stand in the risen Lord, Satan is powerless. It happened in Switzerland once that two travelers went to explore an extremely difficult part of the Alps. They took three guides. When they reached a steep cliff of ice they roped themselves together, first a guide, then a traveler, then a guide, then a traveler, and then a guide, and they began to climb up the cliff. As the first guide crawled up he cut in the ice little rests for the feet of those who followed, and the whole five of them crept carefully and anxiously up the side of the cliff. When they were midway, the last man lost his footing. As he swayed to and fro he dislodged the man above him. He tried to regain his footing, and could not, and pulled the third, and the third the fourth, and four of them were swinging slowly to and fro over the precipice. When the first guide perceived what was happening, he drove his ice-ax with all his might into the cliff above him, and held to it. As he stood firm, the man beneath had time to get his footing, and the man beneath, until the whole were saved because the first man stood. JESUS CHRIST has bound us to Him, but some of us have lost our footing; we cannot keep the notch. But if we are linked to CHRIST by faith, we shall keep our standing, in spite of temptations, and CHRIST will bring Satan under our feet. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 48: 03.05. THE RULE OF OUR THOUGHTS ======================================================================== CHAPTER FIVE THE RULE OF OUR THOUGHTS I have explained that you might expect to be tempted to the end of your life, that the nearer you live to GOD, the more you will be tempted. The presence of temptation in your life is not a proof of deterioration, but the contrary, for the more you know of GOD on the one hand the more you will know of Satan’s temptation, on the other hand. If you desire to be kept from yielding to temptation, you must be very careful of your thoughts, and it is about the necessity of guarding your thoughts that I am going to speak now. KEEP THY HEART CLEAN First, let us look at Proverbs 4:23, where the wise man says: "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." You keep your wealth, you keep your home, you keep your health, you keep your character, but above all these things keep your heart. Why? Because out of it are the issues of life. When Bunyan depicted the character of Ignorance, he made him say: "I think my heart is as good as anybody’s heart, and as for my thoughts, I take no notice of them." He shows at once that he does not know himself, and that he is exposed to every temptation that crosses his path. If you have never before noticed your thoughts you will find before I am done that the first suggestion of wrong comes through the doorway of the mind. Turn again to Proverbs 23:7, and read: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." The thoughts lay down the tram lines upon which presently the tram car makes its way. Just as the tram car will pass up and down the rails in a great city, so does the act follow along the track of the thought. I know there are men who say, "I must not do that act, but I may indulge the thought of doing it." There are those who dare not act impurely, but during the hours of darkness they allow their thoughts to wander where they will, and such men and women think they have escaped wrong; but let them understand that those thoughts are all noted by GOD, and they will have to account for them at the day of judgment. Let them also know that the thoughts they have entertained in their hearts will find an issue, and there will be some act in their life, perhaps ten years hence, as a result of these unholy thoughts. Sometimes it seems rather terrible that a life should be blasted by one act, and you may be disposed to pity the man and say that it is hard for him to be judged and crippled for the rest of his life by the passionate act of a single moment. But remember that an act is never alone. It really sums up trains of unholy thought in which the man has been indulging, and therefore you do not judge him for the one act, but for the process of which it is the result. The tree was eaten through before it crashed to the ground in the storm. THE WICKEDNESS OF MAN The Word of GOD tells us, in Genesis 6:15 : "God saw that the wickedness of man was very great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Away back in the days of Noah the trouble GOD had with man was in his thoughts. The whole trend of the Bible is to get our thinking right. As a contrast to that verse in Genesis, I quote Php 4:8 : "Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, think on these things.” Up to the doorway of your heart are always coming hundreds and thousands of thoughts, and you must be careful to reject the evil ones and let into your soul only those that are of good report. If these are the tenants of the inner life, you need have no fear about your character. I am prepared to say that if you think right, you need not take much care about your life. Butler in his Analogy says there are three steps in the formation of character - act, habit, character. The act makes the habit, the habit or the bundle of habits form the character. Thackeray amplified this saying thus: "Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap character; sow character, reap destiny." I illustrated this not long ago to an audience of children by showing a thread, and attached to it a piece of twine, then a rope, then a chain, and padlock. I tied the thread around a boy, and he broke it easily. But I gradually wound the twine and rope and chain about him to show the power of habit. The thread was the thought leading to the act, the rope was the habit, the chain was character, ending in the padlock of destiny. Our Lord announces the same truth in Mark 7:21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts." Then He names some of the sins adultery, fornication, murder, thefts, covetousness. They all begin in the evil thoughts. In Ephesians 2:13 we are told: "Among whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind." Desire is not in itself wrong. The affections and propensities of our nature are not wrong in themselves. GOD gave these to us to pull along the chariots of our lives. He put within us all manner of appetites and propensities which are His own beautiful gifts. The wrong comes in in two ways: if we desire too much of the right thing, and if we desire gratification in a wrong way. Whenever desire oversteps the bounds, or seeks ratification in a wrong way, it becomes lust. You cannot help the bad thoughts coming. As one of the Puritans said: "You cannot help the birds flying over your head, but you can keep them from building their nests in your hair." Some are part of us by heredity. Then the papers and books we read, the pictures which are exhibited in store windows and in art galleries, the conversations we overhear, all around us there are many things exciting and appealing to us, and we are having unholy desires constantly presented to our mind. But we must not fulfill them. We may have the temptations to lust presented to us, but there is a vast difference between that and having the lust gratified. The evil thought may come to your door and knock, and you may keep your door locked. You sin when you open your heart and let the thought in and gloat over it. Then desire becomes lust. In James 1:14-15 we read: "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts, and enticed. For when the lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Let me illustrate by the use of botany. You know that flowers have their sex, and the bees gathering honey in one flower carry the pollen to another, and the result is flower and fruit. Precisely in the same way the heart of man is always open, and bees of all kinds seem to bring the pollen of unholy thoughts; when these are sown in the desires of our nature, there is at once the result of which James speaks. As soon as you allow the evil thought to mingle with your nature, it bringeth forth the act of sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. I am not speaking now of the sinful state which we have inherited from Adam, but of the act of sin. Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth this child of sin, and its grandchild, which is death. There you have the parent, child and grandchild. Now we may say that bad thoughts fly about like microbes. Our system of surgery has been entirely transformed in Great Britain by the recent discovery of the influence of microbes. We are now taught that the air is filled with microbes. The surgeons always keep their instruments in a solution of carbolic acid, so that when an instrument makes an incision in the flesh it will not carry microbes with it. This is to prevent suppuration, which is only the multiplication of microbes in an open wound. What microbes are to the body, bad thoughts are to the soul. As you have to use antiseptics to check microbes, so you must live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, who is the antiseptic to bad thoughts. These thoughts come from Satan. "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11). We are not ignorant of his thoughts. Satan is always starting evil thoughts. To use a simile that anybody can understand, the soul is like a castle with a great gateway. Many people leave the gateway of their soul open, so that every vagrant, truant evil thought may come pouring in and do as it likes. At the gateway of your soul there are many thoughts apparently innocent, but really great traitors. If you keep your gateway unguarded, unsentinelled, these thoughts pour in and out, backwards and forwards, and presently blow up your whole soul with passion. Therefore, in dealing with our thoughts, two things are necessary: First, discernment; and second, keeping power. We read in Isaiah 28:6 : "In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate." The Lord of hosts shall be two things: first, a spirit of judgment, and secondly, strength. Are not these what we need? DISCERNMENT First, we want to be able to sift out bad thoughts from good thoughts; to know the traitor, however well he is dressed, and keep him out. We need discernment. Why? Because "the god of this world hath blinded the minds," that is, the thoughts, "of them that believe not," that is, the unregenerate (2 Corinthians 4:4). Man is blind. He sits at the gateway of his soul, hearing the tread of many feet, but unable to discern the bad from the good; blind, so that all thoughts are much the same, and he lets them all in, to his own undoing. Next, we find the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of GOD through ignorance (Ephesians 4:18). It is twilight to the soul, and even though the man tries to see he cannot, because in the dim twilight bad thoughts and good thoughts come in alike, and he does not distinguish one from the other. I lived years of my life ignorant of the true nature of my thoughts, because I was blind and lived in twilight. Those who live near to GOD are keen to detect these thoughts. The men of Israel once asked their fleeing foes to say "Shibboleth," and they said "Sibboleth" (Judges 12:6). They could not say "sh," and Israel caught them and slew the traitors. We need some test like that at the heart gate to catch the evil thoughts. If a thought cannot pronounce the name of CHRIST right, cast it out. Question it, "Can you say JESUS?" "He that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man" (1 Corinthians 2:15). I suppose one mark of the spiritual man is his quickness in discerning. For my part, I used not to see sin until it was against my face, but now I can see it coming two or three fields away. You get keener and subtler to discern. It is a mistake to wait until your enemy is face to face. Pray to be quick to discern. In Hebrews 5:14 is a verse that has helped me much: "Even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." By reason of use you get keener. I go with the savage through the wilds, and notice that he looks at that bent twig, at that grass brushed down across the path. He starts and says: "A man has been along here." I don’t see any trace, I can’t find any footmark; but in that snapped twig, in the impression on that grass the savage, by reason of use, has had his senses exercised to discern where man has gone. Now, most of us never use our spiritual sense. GOD has given us a nose to smell with, eyes to see with, hands to feel with, a tongue to taste with. We are made in three parts body, soul and spirit. The soul has senses equivalent to those of the body, and the spirit behind that has a third set of senses which an unregenerate man has not commenced to use. But if you are a spiritual man you will use these spiritual senses to discriminate the thoughts as they come to your heart. "By reason of use" you will have your senses exercised to discern both good and evil. I remember once going back from the United States across the ocean, and getting my lungs full of ozone. On reaching England I went to a watering place to stay with some dear friends. They said: "Isn’t this a lovely place?" I tried to think so, but as I went out on the door step I detected a very noxious smell. I said: "I am very sorry, but I am not at all sure that this place is as healthy as you think it." "Of course it is," they said; "it is swept by the wind from the North Sea." I inquired and found that within about a mile of their house there was what is called a sewage farm, and a whiff from those fields neutralized all the benefit of the sea breezes. My friends asked how I came to be so keen of scent, and I replied: "You have come from London where you live in a vitiated atmosphere, but I have come off the Atlantic and am used to pure air, so can detect a bad smell where you cannot." If you live in the midst of bad people, bad books and bad things, you lose your power of detecting bad thoughts when they come teeming about you like microbes. But if every day you spend an hour on GOD’s mountains or upon the broad sea of the Bible, and get some of GOD’s ozone into you, you will be able to detect things which are wrong, which other people, even Christians, pass without seeing as wrong. You have heard me speak about bad pictures in stores or art galleries, bad novels and certain sorts of talk, and I can imagine a professed Christian lady saying as she passes out: "Well, I call that being too particular. Why is it that he lays such stress upon the matter?" She thinks I am drawing too fine a line. Possibly that lady has lived in the midst of tittle-tattle and small talk, until her senses have become perfectly vitiated, so that she has lost the power of discernment. But I dare not touch these things, because I am learning to know when evil is in the air, and by the grace of GOD my senses are becoming quicker to discern good and evil. KEEPING POWER Suppose we see the importance of learning to discriminate between bad and good thoughts. But we find that sometimes for a whole day there will be knocking at the door of our heart, the gateway of our soul, bad thoughts which we know to be bad. They gather into a perfect crowd. We somehow do not seem to have the power to keep them out, and they force in, though we hate them and loathe them, and would do almost anything to be quit of them; and presently lead us to commit an act of sin. Many a good man understands that. At this point let us turn to 1 Peter 4:19, where the apostle says: "Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God," because they are true to GOD’s will, "commit the keeping of their soul to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator." "Commit." That is the Greek word used by CHRIST on the cross when He said: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." Just as JESUS commended His spirit to His Father, so do you, when you leave your room in the morning, commit the keeping of the gateway of your soul to Him. "As to a faithful Creator." Why call Him Creator here? Why not Redeemer, or Saviour? Because He made you; and is not the GOD who made you able to keep you? Is He who made you what you are, going to allow you unaided to drift before evil? He is a faithful Creator! He created you, and He is faithful to keep you, and He knows how to do it. The man who made the lock can unlock it. Reckon on His faithfulness. THE PEACE OF GOD I close with two texts that are like binary stars. Colossians 3:15 : "Let the peace of God rule," and the word means arbitrate. Leave it for the peace of GOD to say what you will or will not do. Group with that Php 4:7 : "The peace of God shall keep." The word there is sentinel. So that you have the peace of GOD ruling and sentinelling, keeping, governing. Think of the peace of GOD, armed like an angel of light, marching to and fro outside your heart, just keeping it! I was talking one day to some people about emptying their hearts, and I illustrated by a glass of water. I can empty it either by pouring the water upon the floor, or by filling the glass with quick silver, which is heavier than water, and by its weight will force the water out. The glass is just as empty of water when it is filled with quicksilver as if I simply poured the water out. It is impossible to empty your heart by turning out the sin, but you may empty it by filling it with JESUS. Ask then the Holy Spirit to prepossess and preoccupy you with the presence of JESUS, that the devil may have no foothold. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 49: 03.06. THE STRONG MAN ARMED ======================================================================== CHAPTER SIX THE STRONG MAN ARMED Luke 11:21-22 : "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." I want to tell you the story of a house of which I know something, for I have lived in one of the same pattern for many years. It consists of three stories. It is of magnificent appearance. Some say it was built as the palace of a king, there is so much splendor and embellishment, though some of the rooms are tawdry now. The lower story is most occupied. There is at the far end the kitchen, in which the inmate spends a considerable amount of time. Next to that is the drinking saloon. Next to that the narcotic room, which is filled with drugs of one kind and another. Next to that the recreation or amusement room. Behind that is the sleeping room, and behind that again a room which is generally closed and blinded, because things are done there in secret of which, the apostle says, it is a shame even to speak. Above this is another tier of rooms. The first on the right is called the room of archives, for there sits a scribe, always at work recording the past. Next to that is the library, or thought room, but the books that line the shelves of that library are mostly dummies. There is the outward appearance of a book, but within there is little or nothing but empty pages, or foolish or impure stories. Next comes the imagination room, in which a painter is always embellishing the walls with magnificent creations of his fancy, but as quickly as they are finished they are erased, and he begins his work again. Next to that is the room of friendship and love, which is surrounded by the portraits of men and women and little children. Beyond that the bullion room, where a machine is kept for turning out money day and night. I want for a moment to speak about the rooms on the third floor, which are not often used. The center one is magnificently appareled in satin and gold. It contains a throne, which I am afraid in many houses is covered with dust and stains. Indeed the whole room shows signs of neglect, and is filled with dust and cobwebs. On one side is the hall of judgment, in which great decisions are made. On the other side is the hall of conscience, surrounded by mirrors and glasses, and in these a man may see himself reflected at any angle and on every side. At the far end there is a room called the room of hope, which looks over a river to a city far away, apparently in cloudland a sort of observatory. On the other side is a chapel, a place prepared for worship, for high and holy service. It is said that this house was built by a great king for his own residence, and indeed his monogram is still to be seen, though in many cases it has been sadly spoiled and worn. But his prime minister or one of his chief servants, having a controversy with his master, threw off his authority, broke into this palace, and has appropriated it for himself. I need not tell you that I have been holding up a looking glass to yourself. You are the house, with the three stories of your nature, the lower one, the body; the one above that, the mind; and the one above that, the spirit. The body which touches the world, the mind or soul in which you think and resolve, and the spirit, which in too many is utterly neglected and given over to vacancy. There is the throne room which is meant for GOD; judgment, where you should come to decisions in consonance with His will; conscience, where you should see and know yourself; and the chapel, where you should worship. But in how many cases that house, of your nature, which was built for the home of your eternal GOD, that He might abide in your heart, has been wrested away from Him and handed over to His enemy, the powerful Satan, whom our Lord describes in this passage as "the strong man armed." Yes, Satan is stronger than Adam in his innocence, than Moses in his meekness, than Job in his patience, than Peter in his courage and fervor. The strongest and fairest of the children of men have fallen before the masterfulness of Satan. I want to show you this palace in three aspects. First, when it is in peace under its wrong owner. Then for a time he goes out and leaves it, but the true owner does not return. And third, the triumph of the true owner when he comes back and keeps it from all comers. IN PEACE First, I have to speak to you of the stage when the strong man armed keeps his palace, and his goods are at peace. The palace is at peace. It seems as though the rose had climbed up and hidden the walls beneath its rich and luxuriant foliage, and all over the palace, as over that in Tennyson’s poem, there is lethargy and sleep. The palace seems lulled in perfect repose. There are people here tonight who have been drawn here by their friends, and as they hear me preach about these things which touch GOD and eternity, as they hear my cry to repent and trust in CHRIST, they say: Why bring these things under our notice? We are happy as a bird. We have no fear, though we have none of your religion. Why do you force it upon us? Why don’t you leave us still amid the charm of this enjoyment of life which steeps our hearts and souls?" Why? Because that spirit of calm is the worst trait in your history. There are two kinds of peace. There is the peace of JESUS sleeping in the boat, resting upon His Father’s care, and there is the peace of Jonah, sleeping in the hold of the ship while the storm is raging around him. There is the peace of Peter, who sleeps between two soldiers on the eve of his execution, and the sleep of Saul, when Abishai stands over him with drawn spear. Your peace is the peace of despair; the peace of death, the peace of ruin, the peace of the garrison sleeping at their posts while the enemy is creeping up. It is the peace of a mother and child sleeping in their home while a stream of oil fire is rolling down the street, which will presently involve them in ruin. "He keepeth his goods in peace." His goods. He says of you, "That man is mine. I have him. I’ll drag him down to the place prepared for the devil and his angels." He watches and keeps the palace day and night with untiring watchfulness. He holds you fast, and you are at peace. But he is armed with a lie! Your soul is happy because things are so bad. It is the worst sign. My child is ill; I call the doctor. He goes up stairs with the mother. When he comes down I say: "Well, doctor?" "She’s very bad." "Is there any hope?" "Yes; one hope is that she suffers so. If the pain stops, telephone for me, and I’ll come at once. It will show the worst symptom has set in." An hour later my wife comes down stairs and says: "The worst is over." "How do you know?" I ask. "Well, ten minutes ago the child ceased to suffer, and is now easy." "Good GOD!" I say, "that is the worst symptom! Not to feel at all is the worst sign." My friend, the worst thing about you is that you have ceased to suffer. If only conscience pricked you; if only sometimes you felt uneasy; if only you started up at night and thought you would be lost; if only there came a dread of sin and the judgment seat of GOD! Then there would be some hope for you. But because you are past feeling, because GOD has given you up, you are of all men the most to be pitied. The strong man armed keeps his palace. When the babe stirs a bit because of the baying of those hounds, the strong man armed sits with his feet upon the cradle and keeps it rocking. When the soul stirs up and says, "Perhaps I will be lost," he says, "Hush; that man is an alarmist! There is no truth in that Bible. There is no heaven to seek, no hell to dread. Think of your money and the things which come under the observation of your senses, but don’t worry about those things." That’s the. lullaby with which the strong man hushes the soul back. Yet in spite of it, sometimes the soul wakes up and says: "I am not satisfied. I am not at rest. Is there not a GOD, a future? and I am not prepared for it. "Hush, hush," says the strong man, and again administers an opiate. "Go to the theater, spend your life in pleasure, but get away from that thought." I am talking to men and women who are at peace, not because they are justified, not because they are washed in the blood of CHRIST, but because their conscience has been crushed under the devil’s foot until sensibility has gone out of it, mortification has set in. THE STRONG MAN GOES OUT The second picture is a striking one. The Lord says that sometimes the strong man goes out. Mind you, he is not turned out, but he goes out. He goes out but CHRIST does not come in. You have seen men like that. They have reformed, but are not regenerated. The devil has driven a man so far that he is afraid he will wake up. The prodigal in a far country is beginning to get restive. The devil says: "If I don’t take care I will lose this man, so I will drop off for a time, and then I shall get him more safe than ever." Perhaps some men to whom I am speaking have fished for salmon, and they know what I mean by playing with the fish. Sometimes you get a heavy fish. If you begin to pull it in, you will lose it, and besides break your line. What do you do? You begin to play with it. If it swims off, you let the line run out as fast as it will. When it gets tired, you again draw in the line. After three or four hours that salmon will be so tired you can do pretty nearly what you want with it, and land it with your net. That is how the evil one is dealing with some men. You don’t feel his pull just now, but he has not let go. He is giving you a breathing space, but he will draw you presently to his net. The man says he is going to turn over a new leaf. - He "quits his meanness." - He gives up for a time his tyrannical behavior in his dealing with his family, and the wife blesses GOD that the unkind treatment has ceased. - He no longer frequents the saloon. - For a time he goes to church with his wife. - When a revivalist comes along he is moved by what he hears, and at the end of the meeting he steps up, shakes hands, says he likes the sermon, and gives every sign that he has become a religious man. - He goes regularly to church, and gives away a portion of his income. As our Lord says, his house is empty, swept and garnished. All the worst evils are swept out of his life. He has a pledge-card nicely framed and hung on the wall. He buys a large Bible too large to use, but good to look at. He invites the minister to tea. There is everything about that man to show that he has turned over a new leaf; but mind you, the only goodness which is going to stand in eternity is the goodness which he receives ready-made from the Son of GOD! Plenty of men sit stitching a robe of goodness which they hope will stand when they pass the judgment seat of GOD. But I want to tell you the only robe which will stand the scrutiny of the judgment throne is the one which JESUS CHRIST wove on the cross, and the one which He only gives when you are born again. If you have not got from CHRIST the robe of His righteousness, there is nothing that you can do for yourself which will be other than filthy rags when He comes in judgment. So here is the house. I think I see it before me now. Outwardly at least that man looks a clean man, and people say: "I warrant that man has made a change for the better. He looks a happier, better man." Yes, he is, outwardly,- but there is no indwelling CHRIST, hence the devil comes back. He looks in at the windows of the house. "Is CHRIST here?" He cannot see any trace of Him. He shouts through the keyhole, "Is CHRIST here?" and there is no answer, but the echo of his own voice. He goes around to the back door (for the devil is mortally afraid of CHRIST), and asks, "Is CHRIST here?" No. The house is empty. The only power in that man’s life is his own resolutions. The devil knows he can easily break them down; and he walks in, it may be after one month, or seven months, or seven years. Then he goes off and calls seven other devils worse than himself, and they enter in, and at the end that man’s state is worse than at the beginning. I stand here weighted with the burden of souls. In our churches we let people in too lightly. I lament to say that often too many have been admitted to membership because they have turned over a new leaf, because they are respectable. We do not go into the matter to be quite certain and accurate that they are saved. So men become members, and even officers of our churches, who have never known what it was to be born again, and who have no CHRIST tenanting their souls. I would like to single out each person in this place and say: "Hast thou been born again? Hast thou received JESUS to dwell in thy heart? Art thou believing for salvation in the finished work of CHRIST? Hast thou learned thine own righteousness is nothing but filthy rags, and the only thing which can make the soul safe here and hereafter is JESUS? JESUS on the throne, JESUS in the heart, JESUS in the life JESUS, the Saviour, the King, the Friend." If you do not know it, I beseech you, do not sleep tonight until you have built your house upon the rock which will stand forever. You say, "How may I get right? How may I be born again?" I deeply sympathize with you in your desire to be certain. My mother was a lovely Christian, and I remember to have said my prayers at her knee from the very earliest dawn of my boyhood. I suppose that for me the new birth was like the dawn of the morning; I never had any marked experience that I could look back upon. When I was about 14 years of age a new minister came to our church and insisted very much on the necessity of the new birth. I was in trouble, because I could not point to any time or place or cause. Then it was that I went to hear Mr. Spurgeon, and I heard him say that a man might not know his birthday, but be quite sure that he was living. That helped me, for I did not know my spiritual birthday, but I knew I was alive. It is not necessary that you should have any startling experience, but it is necessary that you should believe in JESUS CHRIST. Look at my hand. It has two sides to it, the back towards the light above us, and the palm towards the floor. You cannot take that hand without taking both sides of it. So the act by which you became the child of GOD and are saved, has two names to it. Angels call it "being born again"; men call it "trusting JESUS." If you trust JESUS you are born again, and if you are born again you will trust JESUS. You cannot tell which comes first any more than you can tell which spoke in a wheel moves first, for they move together. If right now you will look to JESUS CHRIST who died for you; or if you cannot see Him, you will look in the direction in which He stands and from which His voice comes; if you choose to believe; if you hand over your soul’s salvation for Him to see to for you, that’s saving faith. If you have that faith, whether you have any marked experience or not does not matter, but you are as much saved as those presently walking the golden streets of Heaven. THE STRONG MAN CAST OUT Once more I want you to see this palace for the third time under new auspices. I hear marching music! I hear the voice of the angel escort! A stronger than the strong man is on His way. - Stronger because He met Satan in the wilderness and overcame him; - Stronger, because all through His life He met the demons and cast them out; - Stronger, because in the hour of His weakness on the cross, He took a man from the very jaws of hell and carried him to Paradise; - Stronger, because He went up to heaven triumphant over the powers of hell. JESUS comes! He comes to you tonight and, mark, He comes to that door and summons you to surrender. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man will open the door, I will come in." The strong man is there and CHRIST is there. Tonight is going to decide your life. Satan is holding you; never before was he holding you so nervously and tenaciously as he is doing now. But he shall not permanently hold you against our Lord. I tell you, man, you are going to get free. Those oaths are coming out of your lips. Those dirty thoughts are going to cease out of your heart. You will never again want to go to that house of ill fame. You are going to be delivered absolutely, utterly from the passions which have held unholy riot in your soul. GOD knows the banqueting room and worship hall have sometimes been filled with carousing scenes which made all heaven shudder. All that is to be ended now. I speak with prophetic voice. I hear CHRIST’s footfall as He comes to set you free, to cleanse and purify your soul, so you will hate the things which now you think you cannot live without, and will love the things which now you care nothing for. Tonight you shall be translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of GOD’s love. So JESUS CHRIST waits. But listen, He says, "He that is not with Me is against Me." Satan is in occupation, and JESUS waits without. JESUS must have a sign from you that you want Him. That is all. He will do the fighting, the saving, but you must indicate that you desire Him. I was told the other day a very interesting thing about one of the ancestors of the family with whom I was stopping. She was only in a swoon, but they thought she was dead, and were preparing to carry her forth for interment. But one that was standing by saw the quivering of an eyelid. Immediately they removed her from the coffin, laid her upon the bed, and went to work to revive her, and presently she came back to consciousness, and lived for some ten years longer, a hearty, robust life. Saved by the quivering of an eye-lid, that showed she was not entirely gone! Oh, man, JESUS waits and Satan waits. This is the hour of your choice. JESUS only asks thee not to resist and refuse, but to choose; and though thy choice tonight be as slight as the quivering of an eye-lid, let CHRIST see it. Look to Him! It is all He wants, and He will come into your heart. When CHRIST comes, and He comes now, He will drive before Him passion, and lust, and unclean desire. He will take away the love of drink, the love of sin. He will cleanse and keep your heart. Do not try to make the heart clean for Him. He was born in a stable, and He can make even a stable a palace. I close with a favorite story of mine. Augustine was swept as by a mighty current between two women, his mother, Monica, a saintly woman, and another woman, who had fascinated him almost to damnation. His life hovered between these two just as your life hovers between CHRIST and Satan. Sometimes Monica attracted him heavenward, and then the evil influence of this woman dragged him to the very pit of the abyss. The conflict was long and terrible and Augustine was like a chip upon the tide, swept backward and forward. One afternoon, he states in his memorable confessions, he and his friend were in the garden together, and he thought he heard voices as of children calling over the garden wall, saying: "Take and read!" He thought it meant he was to take up the New Testament, which Monica had left on the garden seat. He picked it up and read in Romans, thirteenth chapter, about casting off the works of darkness and putting on the works of light. Instantly he arose. He had made his decision. He had counted the cost. He told his friend, and they went and told Monica, and Monica was glad. The next day he went down the main street of Carthage. As he did so, he met the woman who had been the fascination of his soul for evil. As he met her she said: "Augustine, it is I!" He said, "It is not I," and passed her and was saved. He became as you know, Augustine, the author of The Golden City. I know in my soul that I am talking to Augustines here; men who know better, but are doing worse; men who have sweet wives and the memory of holy mothers, and when they go home and take their little children upon their knees, it is impossible to describe the rush of holy love that comes. I tell you, your heart is between Satan and CHRIST - Satan, who will ruin it, and CHRIST, who wants to inhabit it. This is the moment of your choice. If you will quit sin and give yourself to GOD you shall yet be "Augustine," the father of a multitude of children of GOD. There is a wonderful destiny awaiting you. You must call in JESUS CHRIST, and if you will, He will come in and keep you. When I was a pastor at Leicester, there was a strike. The work people smashed property and ruined homes in their riot. One day they threatened to come into a house which I knew, where there was a big brother riveting shoes in the attic upstairs, and a little fellow downstairs. The little fellow feared they were going to break the house open. He went to the stairs and called his big brother: "Tom, Tom, they are going to smash this door open! Make haste and come down." He was a strong, well-built man, and he came down, put his big body against the door, and said: "Now, youngster, you go on with your game. All the rioters in Leicester can’t break this door open when brother Tom stands by it." The devil often wants to come back to this house of mine, and I am afraid of him, but when he comes along and swears he will take me by force, I go to the foot of the ascension ladder, and I cry: "CHRIST! CHRIST! Stronger than the strong man, make haste and come down. The devil is going to get me!" And He seems to come like the lightning flash, and puts Himself against the door of my heart, and all hell can’t break the door open! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 50: 03.07. GOD'S RUBBISH HEAP ======================================================================== CHAPTER SEVEN GOD’S RUBBISH HEAP "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?" (Isaiah 45:9). The word "potsherd" arrests one. I have in my mind’s eye a garden I know full well, and at the end of it in a corner there is quite a heap of rubbish. There are the cinders from the fire by which the hothouse is warmed, and often remnants of decayed vegetable matter, and often pieces of broken pottery, or china. I can see a bit of broken flower pot emerging from the dark cinders. That is a potsherd, a sherd or shred of pottery which is useless. It is fit only to be thrown away. It is waste. And GOD says that those Israelites who complained about His delivering them by Cyrus were risking being thrown away upon His rubbish heap. Isaiah seems in fancy to have heard a potsherd talking to a potsherd, one piece of pottery antagonizing another; and he says it is better for a piece of pottery to argue with another piece than for either of them to antagonize the potter. I am afraid lest some of you may be on GOD’s rubbish heap, and I forget everything else in my desire to save your life from being thrown aside as a waste, because if it is thrown aside as waste in this world there is the dread of the waste forever. I dare not hold out to people the hope of a second chance. The whole drift of the Bible is against it. What an awful thing it would be for a man to mislead his fellowmen, who would say to him one day, when he meets them coming back from the Judgment throne as waste product. "Why didn’t you tell us that destiny was irrevocable?" JERUSALEM’S RUBBISH HEAP "If thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Gehenna, into the fire that never shall be quenched." (Mark 9:43). Now, what was Gehenna? It is a Hebrew word, the Valley of Hinnons. Just outside of Jerusalem there was a deep ravine which had been used for idolatry, and the good king Josiah resolved that it should be used for a refuse heap of Jerusalem. They did not have the system of drainage that we have, but made use of fire, and for the most part they took their refuse out of Jerusalem, and trundled it over to the Valley of Gehenna, to the fires which were always kept burning. Gehenna was the rubbish heap of Jerusalem, and CHRIST says that what Gehenna was to Jerusalem, another place is to the universe, and that the man who refused to lose hand or foot or eye that made him offend, was in danger of being flung away by GOD as a waste product. Notice Mark 9:44, "Where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched." That is GOD’s rubbish heap. I am told that you have in the mountains a number of people who are contemptuously called "white trash." I know there is a good deal of soul-trash about. Maybe if you don’t take care, you will become soul-trash, which GOD cannot do anything with, and will have to cast out, to be trodden under foot. GOD gives every man a chance. He gives him long enough to reveal himself. We say: "He hates nothing that He has made." But after having given man, woman or child a chance of revealing their inner nature and making their final choice, GOD may be compelled to cast a certain number away, because they will not realize the purpose for which they were created. There is always waste going on. For every acorn that bears an oak are there hundreds of acorns that bear no seed that fructifies. Many professing Christians will never be counted worthy to obtain that world, but will force GOD to throw them aside. Darwin taught us that out of myriads born into the natural world, only a few survive "the survival of the fittest." Now in his sense the word "fit" meant the strongest, the most vigorous; but in the Bible sense the word fit does not mean strong or intellectual, but a certain moral quality about which I wish to speak now. WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE TEST? What is it that proves a man to be a waste product? What is the ultimate thing which compels GOD to fling a man or a woman away, like Judas, who went to his own place? Is it creed? Supposing a man holds an orthodox creed, does that prove that he will escape the rubbish heap? I don’t think so for a moment. It is not our intellectual standing or opinions which determine our destiny. I say deliberately to you who have been brought up in orthodox views, who attend an evangelical ministry, if that be all, the most orthodox creed on earth cannot save you from being flung away like a potsherd. Will one passionate sin fling a man on the rubbish heap? There are sins of passion and sins of will, and I think we ought to make a distinction. David’s sin with Uriah’s wife was one of passion, not of final choice, determination and purpose. He was overcome by a gust. Of course I believe that the tree had become somewhat rotten before the trial came, or it would not have gone down in the storm. But, evidently, from CHRIST’s treatment of Peter, and of the woman who washed His feet with tears, one momentary outbreak of passion, though it may injure a man as far as his fellow Christians are concerned, is not enough to determine his irrevocable destiny if with bitter tears it is put away. Will the absence of religious emotion determine our destiny? There are men who are destitute of emotion. They don’t remember having wept a tear. Whenever people become full of excitement, they remain calm and cool, and rather despise those who are swept off their feet by storms of feeling. They have visited churches where a revival has been in full blast, and have come away feeling that it was the antipodes to anything they were conscious of. They are cool, calculating, resolute, determined men, and they are altogether destitute of emotion. I want to say to any man like that, that the absence of emotion is not a crucial test of character. A man may be without emotion, and unable to appreciate some who are more inclined to be influenced by feeling and religious sentiment. But this is not sufficient to cast a man aside from GOD. What then? It is not creed, it is not one passionate sin, it is not, so far as I can see, emotional sentiment that determines a man’s future but everything depends upon the man’s will. You are not what you believe. You are not what you feel. You are not what you do in a single act. You are what you WILL. You cannot always control your emotion, but you can control your will; and if you are lost, it will not be because your creed is imperfect, or because you are devoid of emotion, but because your will and GOD’s will are in collision; because GOD wants one thing and you will not have it. He wants you to let Him have His will in you. It is not the willing of your will on GOD, but it is your being prepared to accept GOD’s will. Hence JESUS said, "How often would I" and the Greek is a very strong word for the will "How often would I gather you as a hen gathers her chicks, but" and the same Greek word is used again "ye would not!" If any man is a lost soul, let him understand that it is because he said No to GOD. Why are you not a Christian? Why have you not accepted His mercy? You say: "I have my objections to Christianity. I am not quite sure that the Bible is true. I am inclined to think there is a good deal in what Ingersoll used to say. I rather doubt the inspiration of the Bible. I have seen a good deal in church people that makes me think they are hypocrites." Not one of these is the true reason why you are not a Christian. But GOD wants something from you that you won’t give, and it is your WILL that is at the root of your apparent infidelity. That is, there is some habit of your life to which you cling. There is some way of making money which you don’t want to give up. Somewhere in your life there is something which has been fighting the will of GOD for years. The strength of your will is so strong in its antagonism to GOD, that if you don’t take care you will become a waste product, because GOD can do nothing for you. THE POTTER AND THE CLAY The whole conception of that passage is in the potter. The potter is the same everywhere. He takes a piece of clay, and sits before his wheel with his foot upon the treadle, desiring to make a vessel for beauty or for use, for a palace or a kitchen. Here is the clay. The treadle causes the wheel to revolve horizontally. He takes the plastic clay, puts it on the wheel, and as it revolves, with his two hands he begins to make the vessel, shaping it upwards to the lip. But suddenly he comes upon a fault, a bubble, something gritty. He comes back and back to it, but it won’t yield to his touch. He takes all the clay off, and kneads it again into a plastic lump. A second time he begins to build up his conception, and again comes to that flaw; and though he comes back to it two or three times, it won’t yield. What is the man to do? I ask you what would you do? You are anxious to make something, but the clay won’t permit you to make it. You are willing with your skill and power to bring the clay to the required shape, but there is something in it that resists you. You take other clay. Ah! this is better! And the first lot is cast away as useless. GOD called the Jews to be His chosen people and the missionaries of the world. But He had to put them aside and take the Gentiles instead. Similarly you may be on the very verge of missing the grandest chance of being used for the divinest purposes, because you won’t yield yourselves to the will of GOD, but cling to your own. I took up a young fellow once and hoped to make a man of him. He bade fair to be a fine man. When he was about eighteen years he fell. I helped him to regain his feet, and said: "Young fellow, that is between GOD, you and me. I give you another chance." He fell a second time, and again I picked him up. I hardly knew what to do about it. I had put money into his education, and it seemed a pity to lose him, so I said: "I will give you another chance." He went on for a while, and then he fell a third time. I said: "I must give you up. I don’t say I won’t forgive you; of course I will; but I cannot afford to squander more of my time and strength on you." Are you enjoying evil habits? Are any living in sin? Are you refusing to confess your sin? GOD by His Spirit strives with you. He says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." In the night, when the house is still, He says, "Don’t do this evil thing that I hate." You reply, "I must do it." The voice of GOD says, "Let me mould you. Let me make you good. Give up your sin." You say, "I can’t"; but you mean, "I won’t." What are you going to do now? Heaven and hell are waiting to learn your decision. GOD wants to make a saint of you, the devil wants to ruin you. Woe to him that striveth with his Maker! Woe to the man who shoots arrows at the sun! Woe to the man who raises his voice against GOD! Woe to the man who frustrates and neutralizes GOD’s purpose! I see a pierced Hand reaching down and resting upon you. I hear a gentle Voice pleading. It seems as though the Spirit of GOD is bent on making one last effort to impress His will upon you, a will that means only your good. Up to this minute you have refused to take the impression. You say GOD is too hard on you, His dealings are unjust. That woman asks why she was married to a cruel husband; that man asks why GOD let him marry so vain a woman. Some boy asks why GOD let him be born into a family which opposes his being a Christian. In one form or another you fight against GOD. But yield, yield! I don’t tell you to wait for feeling. I don’t ask you to feel resigned. You cannot begin by feelings. But I say, yield! choose! throw up your arms in surrender, and say, "My GOD, have your way, and do your will, I will say yes." Towards the end of the Bible it says they shall say "Amen Hallelujah" (Revelation 19:4). You may depend upon it, that this is in heaven. There are things in our life to which we can’t say "Hallelujah" now, but we can say "Amen," and keep on saying it. We get to the beginning of "Hallelujah" sometimes, but it is rare. Ah, we shall sing it out some day, "Amen! Hallelujah!" Meanwhile let us learn to live always and everywhere saying Yes to GOD. Then, instead of being bits of broken pottery we shall be vessels meet for the Master’s use, and prepared for every good work. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 51: 03.08. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THIS DISPENSATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER EIGHT THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THIS DISPENSATION GOD made the world in ages. There was the age of creation; the age that culminated in the deluge; the age of Israel; and we are living in the age which commenced on the day of Pentecost, and will close with the second advent of our Lord. Just as JESUS was born on a definite day which we celebrate as Christmas day, and came into new relations with the world which will never be dissolved, so also on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came into new relations with men. Just as we date the chronology of the world from the advent of our Lord, so we should date the history of the church from the advent of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, there is a precise parallel, which you will see in a moment. Our Lord was in the world before His birth, but at His birth He took a human body. The Holy Spirit was in the world before the day of Pentecost, but at Pentecost He took on a body. He is now tenanting that body, which is composed of all believers in every age and every clime. As JESUS CHRIST was literally in the world, so I believe the Holy Spirit is literally present in the church of CHRIST, and in every gathering of that church. I do not think you can locate the Spirit of GOD. I do not think you can say there is more of Him here than there. I believe He is as much in this church today as in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, only our eyes are holden and we have lost the power to see Him. Our Lord distinctly taught in John 14:20 : "In that day (the day of Pentecost), ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." Three things are matters of common knowledge that JESUS is GOD, that our standing is in Him, and that His life, begun in us now, is to have fruition in the future. In the present age the Holy Ghost reveals JESUS, and JESUS reveals the Father, and I believe there is a further stage in the Christian experience in which the Father reveals Himself. JESUS indicates that at the day of Pentecost a new epoch began. There are thousands of Christians living on this side of Pentecost, as if that great event had never occurred. They are living on the same plan as the early disciples before they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Historically and chronologically they are on this side, experimentally they are on the other side of Pentecost. This wonderful age in which we live, therefore, is pre-eminently the age of the Holy Spirit. It is also the age of the formation of the church of CHRIST. It is the age in which the Spirit of GOD and the church bear a double witness to CHRIST. And the Spirit of GOD is leading the church out into missions. I need spend no time in showing that the Spirit of GOD was at work all through the Old Testament. There are three departments in His work His work in creation (Genesis 1:13); His work in inspiration (2 Peter 1:21); and His work in quickening elect souls, as when He clothed Himself with Gideon (Judges 6:34), and moved in and through him to the accomplishment of His purposes. I asked a man once whether there was more electricity in the world today, or in the time of Frederick the Great, or in the Garden of Eden. The man looked very wise, and said of course there was more today than ever before. I said to him. ’There always was as much as there is now. The only difference is that certain persons have discovered the laws by which electricity can be applied." Now I hope you will understand me when I say that is a precise illustration of what the blessed JESUS has done for us all. The Holy Spirit was in the world before the birth of CHRIST, but CHRIST, in His earthly life, revealed the laws of His operation, so that anybody and everybody in the true church may now avail himself of the power of the Holy Spirit, which previously was reserved for an Isaiah or a Daniel, or some other favored person. This was anticipated by Joel, who said that in the last days GOD would pour out His spirit upon all flesh. Perhaps you have been in Switzerland, and witnessed what I have seen. I have gone out on the veranda of the hotel at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, and looked at the range of mountains that rose before me. At first all is gray and damp and chilly. But as I look, it seems as if GOD’s angel has been stepping from one summit to another, lighting fires all along his path. Beneath, the mist still hangs over the valley, the clouds roll and tumble in endless confusion. As I wait and watch, the sun rises. The mists roll up and disappear. By the time the sun reaches the meridian, his rays have poured into every nook and crevice in the valley. So I think the Holy Ghost before Pentecost struck with living flame only the great mountain peaks among men. That summit was Moses; that, Samson; that, David; that, Jeremiah. But at the day of Pentecost, He who had been given only to the spiritual aristocrats of the race, became the common property of the democracy. "I will pour out of My spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit" (Acts 2:17-18). MEN SHOULD ACCEPT THIS POWER What folly it would be for a man to say he was not going to avail himself of the uses of electricity, but would go on in the same old way of past centuries! But did you ever think, my friend, that if you are content to live your life without the power which is within your reach, and which GOD sent to enable you to live better, yon are making the same mistake? You say you want to live like CHRIST and follow in His steps, and yet you are refusing to make use of the power which He has supplied. You say you always thought the power of the Holy Ghost was a spasmodic thing that came where people could stand the strain of a whole night in prayer or some other emotional experience. You have thought that you must leave the baptism of the Holy Spirit for people who were differently constituted from yourself. I thought that once. But I found this text in Romans 8:2 : "The law of the Spirit of Life." We know enough about Edison to know that he is not a man who works himself up to a high pitch of nervous excitement before he completes a discovery. He simply obeys certain laws. The law of the Spirit of life is for anybody and everybody who will obey. If a man is clean and pure in heart and lives near GOD, he can always count on the operation of the Spirit of GOD. In your home you touch a spring or turn a key and the whole room is filled with light. Just as surely you can be filled with the light of the Spirit of life if you will obey the law. CHRIST’S BAPTISM When our Saviour was on earth, He lived for thirty years in Nazareth, and He was taught the laws of the Spirit. He waited until the moment came for Him to be endued and anointed with the Spirit. He went to the Jordan and was baptized. In His baptism - He identified Himself with the sins of man. He rose from the water as an obedient child of GOD, and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and rested upon Him. He went to the wilderness and was tempted. He came back, and stood in the synagogue, and said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, and He hath anointed Me to preach." The blessed Saviour would not begin to help a dying, broken-hearted world until He was sure He had the power of the Spirit of GOD. Before He left this world He said: "I will pray the Father and He will send you another Comforter." When JESUS CHRIST received the Spirit, He received Him for His church, and for you and me. He gave Him to His church, to be its permanent possession during the present age; and He waits to give each individual member of that church his or her share in Pentecost, on the one condition of applying for it by faith. As you took forgiveness from the hand of the dying CHRIST, take your share of the Pentecostal gift from the hand of the living CHRIST. Don’t think that blessed gift is only for elect men and for special work. I want you to understand the fullness of the Spirit is for every believer, to make you the men and women you want to be. The failure of your life that you complain of is that you are trying to attain the ideal without the power which alone makes the ideal possible. The blessing of the day of Pentecost is always described as being "filled" with the Holy Spirit. GOD’s will for believers is that they should be filled, women as well as men. As full as the tree is of sap when it rises from the roots and fills the furthermost branches, so we are to be filled with the Spirit until Christian fruitfulness is as natural to us as the flower and fruit to the tree. We may be as full of the Spirit as the tree is of sap, as the body is of life, as the mind is full of thought, as the heart is full of love, as the cold, dull iron is filled with the white flame of the furnace. When we are living in the power of the Spirit our old sins will have no part in us because we are filled with something better. This is the true idea of becoming holy. Some people say that you must give up this and that and the other, until the soul is bewildered. Let the love of GOD come in, let the purity of CHRIST fill you, and then the evil thought, the unholy word which have been the curse of your life, will naturally drop off. Just as the sap in the tree forces off the dead leaves in the spring, so if we are filled with the Spirit of GOD, the things which have cursed our lives will drop off naturally. It is GOD’s ideal. REGENERATING AND FILLING You have known the Holy Ghost regenerating and quickening and blessing you. But have you known Him infilling you with His mighty presence and power? I am prepared to admit that this should be the experience of the young convert, and might if he were properly instructed. I remember reading the story of a young fellow named Joseph, who belonged to one of your American cities. He was of a wild and evil disposition, the trial and torment of the local ministers, who gave orders that he must not be admitted to their churches on GOD’s day. A camp meeting was held nearby. The third day Joseph was powerfully convicted of sin, and went forward and knelt at the penitents’ form. An old lady, who was watching him, also went forward and knelt at his side. After several hours of agonizing prayer Joseph came into the full light of GOD. The lady asked him to call at her house on his way home that she might give him a tract called "Counsel to Young Converts." By mistake, however, she gave him a tract on the filling of the Holy Ghost. Joseph read it. He saw that the attitude of heart by which he received pardon was the attitude by which he could now receive all that CHRIST had further to bestow. He immediately entered into a joyous consciousness of the risen CHRIST; because when the soul is filled with the Holy Ghost, it is conscious, not of Him, but of CHRIST, whose face He reveals. If you, friend, are unsaved and unregenerate up to this moment, in the name of JESUS I bid you look to Him! - Not to the Cross, but to Him who hung there! - Not to the grave, but to Him who passed through it, and rose again! - Not to the Bible, but to Him of whom it testifies! - Not to the Holy Spirit, but to Him whom He glorifies! The moment you do so in faith, you are saved! The Spirit of GOD came suddenly upon the church at Pentecost. He came suddenly upon the church at Samaria. He came suddenly upon Cornelius in Acts 10:1-48. I believe, therefore, that the soul may suddenly receive and apprehend the great power of the Holy Spirit. You can be filled a drop at a time, just as you can fill a well with water a drop at a time, or by turning a stream into it. FIVE TESTS There are just five tests by which you may know that you have received this infilling. Let me give them to you. A LIVING CHRIST I. Is the Lord JESUS CHRIST a living reality to you? (John 16:13-14). How do you look at JESUS CHRIST? A great many Christians look at CHRIST away back on the Cross nineteen hundred years ago, but they have no perception of CHRIST as a living presence with them day by day. When a man is filled with the Holy Spirit he does not talk much about the Spirit, but about CHRIST, because the whole aim of the Holy Spirit is to shed light upon JESUS. The people who talk about the Holy Ghost as if He were their Lord make a profound mistake. The Spirit does not glorify Himself or reveal Himself, but reveals JESUS; and hence the person who is most filled with the Spirit talks most about JESUS CHRIST as a living personality in his experience. A striking episode took place in the life of Dr. Dale, of Birmingham, England, one Eastertide. As he was preparing his Easter sermon, it seemed as if JESUS glided into his study. His presence was so manifest to his heart that he said: "JESUS is really alive! JESUS is really here! My people shall know that JESUS is really here!" Ever since then, at Carr’s Lane Chapel they sing an Easter hymn every Sabbath morning to remind them that CHRIST is really present. Have you had an experience like that? Business man in your counting house, mother in your home, young man in your study, have you said to yourself: "JESUS is here! JESUS is alive!" You may know it; and if you do not, you are not filled with the Holy Ghost. ASSURANCE 2. Have you assurance that you are a child of GOD? There are many in our churches who dare not say with Paul, "I KNOW whom I have believed." They are dishonoring GOD by not believing His Word. If you are filled with His Spirit, He will bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of GOD (Romans 8:16). You may be a Christian without knowing it. If I save a person from drowning, the doctor may come and say, "Yes, that life is saved," but the person may be unconscious of it for two hours or more. So you may be a Christian, and the consciousness of your salvation may not come for a day or a month or a year. But directly you receive the Spirit of GOD, you will know you are saved. Even though you have no emotional enjoyment, you know you are saved. There is a deeper consciousness which the presence or absence of emotion does not affect. When I come to my house at night, my little child comes running to meet me, knowing that I have candy for her in my pocket. To test her affection, I leave the candy and come home without it. She meets me just the same and I say: "My child, I have no candy for you." She replies: “Father, I don’t come for the candy, I come for you.” I drop the candy to see if the child really cares for me, and so GOD drops the happy feelings to see if we really care for Him, for Himself. But apart from feelings, there is a clear consciousness of GOD as our Father. VICTORY OVER KNOWN SIN 3. Have you victory over known sin? (Galatians 5:16-22). “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the fast of the flesh." I do not ask if you are sinless - you cannot be that in this life. A girl dusted a room in the early winter morning and did her best. At noon her mistress called her in and asked: “Did you dust this room today?” “Yes, ma’am.” “Well, look at all the dust!” “Well, ma’am, the light was dim this morning, and it looks different in the sunlight!” So I am not asking if you are free from sin up to GOD’s standard, which includes sins of omission as well as sins of commission; but are you kept from known sin up to the light GOD has given you? If you are being constantly overcome you are not filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like an antiseptic to impure thoughts, and unclean desires, and things which are selfish and worldly and abominable. I wish you to understand that the Christian life does not consist in avoiding this or that, but in being so saturated with something better that you have no desire for these sinful things. Some have only enough religion to make them miserable. The child which has had a good meal does not want the bones over which the dogs are fighting in the street. When you are perfectly satisfied and filled, you are delivered from the opposite. If you are full of the Spirit, you are delivered from the power of sin. You will be kept full of JESUS and holy desires,, and the epidemic of sin will have no fascination over you. Christian man, you say you can’t do without whiskey? Young fellow, you say you can’t get rid of that bad habit? Young girl, you say you can’t get the better of jealousy and gossip? Tell me, would GOD give us an ideal and leave us to wallow in the marsh of our own helplessness and impurity? No! JESUS CHRIST is not a theory, but a living power in one’s life. You can be delivered from the claims of sin. POWER IN WITNESS-BEARING 4. Have you power in witness-bearing? (Acts 1:8). Can you speak to others for GOD? If you are with a man who swears, can you stop him? Do you feel it an effort or natural? If you feel it an effort, you have not got what I am talking about. If you have, you will find it natural and easy. I believe it is just the overflowing of our hearts which does people good. The forced, mechanical effort of our mind does not amount to much. It is not difficult for the bird to sing, for the child to laugh, and it should not he difficult for you to speak for JESUS. If you are living in CHRIST, and CHRIST lives in you, the living waters ought to spring up and overflow. 5. Have you the spirit of holy love (Acts 2:45-47)? This I need not dwell on. Is JESUS real to you? Have you assurance of sonship? Do you have the victory over your flesh? Are you able to bear witness as the early disciples did? Are you filled with the spirit of love? If not, there are three steps necessary confession, surrender and faith. CONFESSION Before GOD can come into your soul there will have to be a setting right of things which are not as they should be. I have gone through it all myself. There were things in my heart years ago that choked out all of GOD’s fullness. As I knelt before GOD, there was one thing in my life about which GOD seemed to say: "As long as that thing is permitted in your life, I cannot give you the fulness of the Spirit’s indwelling." It was an awful fight, because I liked it, and thought I could not live without it. But, do you know, as I look back at that thing now, I think what a fool I was to nearly lose all for that which I now hate; for the minute you give up a wrong thing, you begin to hate it. Perhaps it is the habit of excessive smoking which some of you men have. It may be some of you women use morphine. Perhaps in your business you are doing things which are not strictly right. If you are doing anything which your conscience condemns, you cannot have GOD’s best. If you cannot give it up yourself, then say to GOD: "I am not willing to give it up, but I am willing to be made willing." SURRENDER Then comes Surrender. You must be prepared to take the second step, and say: "I yield myself wholly to Thee, my Lord and Saviour. I place myself on the altar. I abandon myself entirely and absolutely to Thy will and service." FAITH Then follows Faith. Galatians 3:14 tells us that we may receive the promise of the Holy Spirit by faith, just as we receive forgiveness, or any other spiritual gift. You may not have the immediate gush of blessed emotion, but you must go on reckoning that you have received, because you have fulfilled GOD’s conditions. Dare to start on your way home, sure that you have received, if you have complied with GOD’s conditions. Then seek the filling again and again, whenever the power of the Spirit waxes low in your soul. There are five steps which you must take. They are as follows: 1. There is such a blessing as the filling of the Holy Spirit. 2. It is for me. JESUS obtained it when He ascended on high, and received gifts for men, even for the rebellious. 3. I have not got it. 4. I am willing to make any sacrifice that is necessary to receive it. 5. I open my heart now to receive it. Take those steps, and go forth to live a real life. Don’t talk about the filling. Live it! Go forth to shine, and speak, and love, and suffer (if need be), in the power of the Holy Spirit. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 52: 03.09. THE GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED ======================================================================== CHAPTER NINE THE GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED There is nothing arbitrary or capricious in GOD’s dealings with the soul. If one man has more of GOD than another, it is simply because he has learned the holy art of taking more of GOD into his life. On the same stream one man may get more water power to drive his engine than another, not because there is any arbitrariness in the water, but because the one man has learned how to utilize the water power better than the other. The same mighty power of GOD is flowing by every one of us, and if you would have the most power in your own life and work, you have simply to comply most absolutely with the conditions on which GOD gives Himself to you. I am thankful to say that those conditions are not conditions of emotion, but that, irrespective of your emotional temperament, you may come into intimate and powerful relationship with the eternal GOD, who works according to law. All you have to do is to bring yourself into such an attitude towards GOD that you may receive from Him everything that He has to give the human soul. Most men think that they must receive GOD’s gifts through some man’s ministry. They are living on GOD at second or third hand. There is no reason why you should not live at first-hand. The Lord had said that His disciples must forgive seven times a day if necessary. The disciples replied: "You are expecting too much; but if it ought to be done you must give us much more faith." CHRIST said: "You make a great mistake; you do not need more faith. Use the faith you have, though it be no larger than the smallest seed. ‘If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.’ " (Luke 17:5-6). It is not the quantity of faith, but the quality, which is important. A grain of mustard seed and a pellet of dust may appear at a distance to be much the same, but the difference between the two is immense, because the one has no life burning at the heart of it, whilst the other contains life as GOD has kindled it. The one thing that you need is to have faith, as small as you like, but faith which has in it the principle of life, namely, faith with GOD in it. That is enough to remove mountains of difficulty, and to uproot sycamine trees and plant them in the sea. That will be sufficient. The one thing that shows whether or not your faith is of the right quality is whether it is directed towards the right object, which is JESUS CHRIST. If your faith be infinitesimal, if it be full of changeful emotion, if it be groping in the dark, if it be unable to see closely the face of CHRIST, if for long months you have no conscious enjoyment of the presence of CHRIST, yet, if your faith is reaching out its trembling hands towards CHRIST, that movement proves your faith to be the faith that binds you to CHRIST, and you are a child of GOD. People say that it is presumptuous to say that you are saved. But is it presumptuous to say that GOD is true? And if GOD says that the soul which believes in CHRIST has eternal life, is it not presumptuous on your part to say that you have not, and refuse to say you have if you believe? That would make GOD a liar. If you want to affirm that GOD is true, then dare to say: "I am a sinful lost man by nature, but I simply trust in JESUS CHRIST. Therefore I dare to say that I have the eternal life that GOD has promised." The object of faith, therefore, is not the Bible, but the CHRIST of whom the Bible speaks; not the creed, but the CHRIST of whom the creed is true; not the Cross, but the CHRIST who died on it and lives forevermore. If today, with much ignorance and imperfection, you are holding to the living CHRIST, the faith that you have towards Him will save you, and I would rather have a little faith in the right object than have any amount of faith in the wrong object. If a man holds with one hand a life buoy, it will save him; whereas he might hold a block of iron with both hands and he would drown. I have met a good many people in the world who talk about their great faith, and they have had great faith in their great faith; but it is a better thing to have a little faith in CHRIST than to have a great faith in your great faith. A great many are always looking at their faith until they can see nothing else, like a girl when she is first in love she is always looking at her love and wondering whether it is good enough for her lover, and the more she thinks about it the less she thinks she has. The only way to make her love grow is not to think about it, but to think about the person she loves. The man who is always muffling up his throat will catch cold. The man who is always wondering whether he is ill or not will make himself ill. And the man who is always worrying about his faith will have no faith left to worry about. The only hope for the soul is to look at CHRIST! But CHRIST says, Faith as a grain of mustard seed can move mountains and trees. What did He mean? The mustard seed grows to a height of some twenty feet, almost a tree. There lies the tiny seed, saying: "I cannot. I am sure I can never produce a growth of twenty feet." Ah, wait! Thou wilt say something else presently. Away there is rich, deep soil saying to itself: "O that I had some means by which to give vent to my slumbering strength, but I have no opportunity of pouring it forth.” Ah! if we could only bring these two together: this tiny seed that sighs its inability, and that soil that is conscious of all ability. If only that seed may abide in that soil, and that soil may pour itself through the tiny aperture of that seed, it will bear much fruit, it will realize its furthest possibilities. Your faith is like the tiny grain. You think you will never be able to produce a holy and useful life. But the great GOD is there, nearer than words can tell, and if only your soul can come into living union with the eternal GOD, there is nothing that He will not be able to effect by your instrumentality. There are five processes. First, there must be contact; second, solitude; third, death; fourth, reception; and fifth, individuality. CONTACT First, there must be contact. As long as that seed is isolated from the soil in the barn, on the shelf, or in the sack it abides by itself alone. Only when it is brought into contact with the soil can there be any fruit. And as long as your life is apart from GOD, as long as you are trying to justify yourself, to sanctify yourself, or to work for GOD, the true fruit of your life is impossible. I do not say you are not a good man, or that you are not trying to do good, but you have not learned yet that apart from GOD you can do nothing; that all the fussy activity of your life running hither and thither, putting out startling advertisements of sermons, preaching brilliant essays, organizing your church shuts GOD out and amounts to nothing. It fills the newspapers, it attracts the attention of men; but it is of wood, hay or stubble, for the only thing which is permanent in a man’s life is that of GOD which goes into it. As long as you are apart from GOD, though trying to serve GOD in a strange anomaly, you are missing the true power of your life. There must be more than ever contact between your soul and GOD a perpetual and unbroken contact, the life hidden with CHRIST in GOD, as the seed is hidden in the soil. Get out of sight! This perpetual publicity, this living for the eye of man, this trying to please men, there is too much of you in it all. Be buried in the soil, and there will be some chance that you will do work which will live. SOLITUDE Second, there must be solitude. The little seed falls in to the earth to be wholly isolated from its companions, lying there month after month beneath the envelope of frost and snow. In silence and solitude it waits. This comes to a man very often in a sick chamber, or when people turn against him. How many a man or woman has felt this sense of loneliness with GOD! Sometimes the church has turned from its pastor, and acquaintance or friend has looked shyly upon the soul which has given itself up to GOD. The little seed drops alone into its tiny grave, and lies in contact with the soil; and so the soul full often, being stripped of every human help and comfort, is brought face to face for the first time in its life with GOD in CHRIST, and the one deep thought of the soul is that henceforth GOD shall fill its vision, and be its Alpha and Omega. When GOD is all in all, there is the promise of marvelous results. DEATH Third, there must be death. Every tree grows out of a grave, and every stalk of wheat springs from a grave. When you walk over the autumn fields you are walking over a graveyard. Beneath your feet hundreds of tiny grains lie entombed. It might seem as if the grain has sacrificed its power to bless men with bread by lying there in a lonely grave of isolation and seclusion, while the very heart of it is being torn out of it by the insidious work of death and corruption. Ah, that is so often the necessary step and condition of the coming harvest! Sometimes GOD takes a man into the chamber of death where he sees his little child or beloved wife fading from him. Sometimes He strips a man of his reliance upon his rhetorical eloquence, upon his brilliant gifts, or upon all those habits and associations and reinforcements in his own life upon which he had been accustomed to rely, and he has to die to all. The story is told of Tauler, the great preacher, that before the days of Luther he filled the cathedral at Strasburg with an enthusiastic audience. Across the hills there came Nicholas, a simple Swiss, who was deeply versed in the Word of GOD. He said to him: "I want to confess to you." While listening to the confession of the peasant, Tauler found himself confessing - confessing that after all his life had been a failure. Through the peasant he heard the voice of GOD saying to him: "Tauler, great preacher, thou must die; thou must die before thou canst truly bear fruit." He tore himself away and went alone for a year into his monastery cell, and there GOD stripped him of his reliance upon his eloquence and brilliance, and upon his force and power as a man. At the end of twelve months he came out of that cell and stood again in his pulpit. The church was crowded with the elite of the city. But half way through the sermon he broke utterly down, and the congregation dispersed, saying: "Ah, our great preacher is spoiled." A week after he began to speak to a few humble people that gathered still in the church, and to pour out the sermons which are still blessing hundreds and thousands of readers. In the early part of our life we feel strong, and say that we will prevail by our thinking, our learning, our eloquence, that we are going to carry the world before us; but there comes a time in life when we find that all that doesn’t really count, and we bow down before GOD, saying: "Lord GOD, I have done with it." That moment we lay hold upon resources of divine power that begin to flood our lives. The minister may no longer produce brilliant sermons, but he gives messages he no longer works for GOD, but GOD works through him. That is death to self. RECEPTIVITY The fourth stage is very beautiful receptivity. Away down in its little grave, as the spring comes, there is a gentle knock at the door of the little seed, which has torn its waterproof coat. It is the knock of Mother Nature, which is GOD. She says: "May I come in?" The seed, from within, cries; "I have nothing to give thee. I am broken, helpless, torn, and at the end of myself." But Mother Nature says, "May I come in?" ’Thou canst if thou wilt." The door is opened, and Mother Nature pours a tiny, trickling stream of her wonderful energy into the perforated, lacerated, broken mustard seed; and the pulse of life is felt within, forcing down the rootlet into the soil, and forcing up a green spire which makes its way through the heavy clay that conceals it, until at last the little green shoot raises its head above the surface of the field, and looks around and says: "Perhaps I can after all! If Mother Nature goes on pouring her energy into me, there is nothing that I can’t do." So the root gets deeper, and the spire grows higher. It is not the seed; it is Mother Nature in the seed. It is not you, but GOD in you. It is no longer the fussy, active, restless running hither and thither, imitating this man or that, and searching for all the brilliant things that other people have said and then linking them together into one patchwork and holding up before your people, like Joseph’s coat of many colors; but it is GOD who speaks through you. GOD is working in you to will and to do His good pleasure, and you working out all the good works that GOD works in, and energizing, according to the working of Him that energizeth within you mightily. If you apprehend it, this truth may revolutionize your life as it did mine; because there will never more be anything impossible to you. A mountain in front of you does not matter if GOD works through you; it is moved into the sea. There is simply nothing impossible to the man who has learned the art of being a channel for GOD. INDIVIDUALITY The fifth point is individuality. The mustard seed produces mustard growth; the grain of wheat, wheat growth; the acorn, oak growth. - George Müller lets GOD into his soul, and Ashley Down is covered with orphan houses. - Spurgeon lets GOD into his soul, and you have the Tabernacle, and volumes of sermons, and the orphan house, and Pastors’ College. - Moody lets GOD into his soul, and Northfield and Chicago, books distributed through the world, hundreds and thousands of souls won for GOD, are the result of a life that towers over the continents. CO-OPERATION WITH CHRIST Did you ever notice that there is scarcely a miracle that JESUS did apart from somebody’s faith? CHRIST on earth always needed the seed of somebody’s faith through which to produce the growth of miracle. You think the eleventh of John is the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, but I am not sure. I think it is the story of the resurrection of Martha. The Lord JESUS comes to Bethany and finds Lazarus is dead. He must have sympathizing faith through which to work, as a pivot for Him to work on. The disciples are no good, they are too panic stricken. Mary is at home in the house. So He sets to work on Martha, and is going to discover her nature. Faith lives on promises, so CHRIST put in the promise: "Your brother shall rise again." "Oh, yes," says Martha, "of course he will rise at the last day!" That is what we are always doing we think that wonderful things happen before we are born and after we are dead; that heaven touches the earth at the horizon, but is so far above us where we stand; But CHRIST says to Martha: "Talk about the last day! Wait for the last day! I AM the resurrection!" Martha had to think about that for a time. After a while they got to the grave. CHRIST must have sympathizing faith to work with, and so He said: "Martha, didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" I suppose she answered Him with a gleam of returning faith, and as soon as He saw that He was able to use her, working with her as His collaborator, so to speak, and Lazarus came forth. Think no more about your faith, but about CHRIST. Be quiet before GOD. Open your whole soul to Him that He may sweep through your life, and work through you. Everything in life depends on whether we work for GOD, or allow GOD to work through us. Yield then your members as instruments of righteousness unto GOD. Keep your will adjusted with GOD’s will, and your heart open to Him, and expect GOD to work through you for the removal of mountains or sycamine trees. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 53: 03.10. LIFE, A POEM ======================================================================== CHAPTER TEN LIFE, A POEM Man has but one life to live, and each must be desirous that that life should tell to the very uttermost for GOD and for humanity. In Ephesians 2:10 we find words which will help us as long as we live: "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." The word "created" in the Greek is "poem." We are GOD’s poems. I suppose that each life is a definite thought of GOD. He has incarnated one original idea in each of us. As no poet repeats himself, but puts a distinct thought in each ode or poem, so GOD never repeats Himself in any human life. He breaks the mold as soon as He completes His work. Let us remember, therefore, to be original. I lost ten of the best years of my life by trying to imitate other people. Although we may all derive help from the study of biography and from friendship, yet we must always be going back to GOD to know what He means for us, and then ask Him to work out in our lives His thought to the very highest possibility. Are you prepared to accept this, and to yield yourself to GOD day by day that He may accomplish through you the full purpose of His will, and give a listening world His poem of power or purity or love? This epistle to the Ephesians is the epistle of "In-ness." That is, it is the epistle in which from first to last Paul uses the little preposition "in," and tells us what we are in CHRIST JESUS. Just as this whole creation slept in the mind of GOD to be elaborated step by step to its consummation, so the whole church of JESUS CHRIST lay in the mind of GOD before the mountains were brought forth or ever He had formed the earth. And you and I were appointed to a definite place in that wonderful body. What that place was will not be made fully clear to us until we stand before GOD in the eternal light, but it is comforting to know that there was a definite place in the purpose of GOD for you and me. Doesn’t that give a new meaning and dignity to your life, that it is the working out of the conception of GOD, and that every day you must try so to walk as to realize the purpose which was in the mind of GOD when He created you in CHRIST JESUS? As one looks out upon men and women and things, life seems so full of commonplaces and little anxieties, worries, troubles and misfortunes that one is apt to get into the way of supposing it does not matter very much how he lives. But if we remember that there is an eternal purpose in CHRIST in our regeneration, we shall always try to act worthily of our high calling in CHRIST JESUS. The greatest thing you can do in this world is to live a saintly, holy, lovely life. All the small things of your life, the worries, anxieties, the troubles, your location and environment, the lines you are compelled to follow all these have been contrived by GOD to give you the best opportunity possible to become what He wants you to be. GOD could have made you anything He liked. He could have made that woman a queen; He could have made that man a millionaire or a prince. But out of all the myriad opportunities of this world GOD Almighty chose for you just that position in which you find yourself today because He knew that was the one place in which you could come nearest His ideal. It may be there is some awful sorrow in your life. It may be someone is wearing you away by constant, tiresome worry and trial. But always bear in mind that nothing is so small as not to have been contrived by GOD to make you as much His ideal as it is possible. Now face your life. You have been fretting, murmuring, envying and longing to be free; overlooking the beautiful things because of two or three miserable ones. You have not heeded what would elevate and comfort you because you are so oppressed with what hurts you. That is not the true way to live: but every day to learn your lesson, and every day to bring your will to the will of GOD, that your will and His may coincide. GOD’S PERMISSION But someone says, "I am quite prepared to admit that my present position is in general the result of GOD’s choice, but not that the troubles and worries that come to my life from other people are GOD’s choice. I draw a distinction between what GOD directly appoints and what comes to me through the intervention of other men and women." I used to make that distinction once, but could find no rest while I did. Besides, I saw that you and I are enveloped in the care of GOD. Supposing a man out yonder shoots a poisoned arrow at me, in some newspaper article, or caustic remark, and it comes winging its way toward me. GOD Almighty might ward that arrow off by the shield of His protection. But supposing He lowers the shield and lets it reach my heart, has it not become His will for me? I therefore go through the world daring to believe that not one thing, however minute, occurs to me without being GOD’s chisel chipping away a little more of myself and producing a more perfect likeness to the conception which was in His mind for me. PARABLE OF THE BLACKBERRY BUSH Last summer I was in Luther’s country, and I took a trip through the pine forests. I do love the pine forests of Germany, so absolutely quiet, with their colonnades of trees like the colonnades of a temple. About noon I was extremely tired and exhausted, and coming out from the forest to the fringe of it I found a blackberry bush full of the choicest, richest, most enjoyable blackberries I think I never tasted blackberries that were so luscious. Within ten minutes I had rifled that bush of all its produce. I was quite ashamed of myself, and said: "I am sorry to have treated you in this way." But the bush said: "You need not be sorry, I have been waiting for you to come for the last three or four months. I was created for this. It is very lonely here, and I have kept vigil all through the winter storms and the long, dark nights until the spring came, when I began to prepare this banquet for you. I have had such pride in getting ready the basket of fruit that you have enjoyed. Now that you are satisfied, my year’s work has received its crown." I thanked the bush, and said: "Good-by. If I come again next year will you have another feast ready for me?" "Yes," said the bush. And I answered: "You remind me of many a lonely saint of GOD, who through the long months of pain and suffering is preparing a basket of fruit, of which, if no earthly saint partakes, the Master Himself will eat." That is what I mean by being just where GOD wants us to be; willing to stay at the stake without being bound because GOD has put us there, to keep standing quietly at our post amid pain and suffering, preparing baskets of fruit of which JESUS and our fellow believers may partake. Providing the fruits of a holy life in this world is fulfilling CHRIST’s purpose for your life. WALK IN THEM! "Created in Jesus Christ, unto good works, which God before prepared THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM." You have not got to create your path, but to find it - not to cut your way through the tangled undergrowth, but to discover the path which your heavenly Father has prepared for you from the moment you first gave yourself to JESUS to the moment when you will be welcomed home. Never forget that you have been created for a prepared path. GOD, who knew exactly what was in the path, created you for the path and the path for you, and your life is simply the discovery of GOD’s prepared path for that day. It may lie over greensward or down the steep incline; it may be lonely and solitary or through the busy populace; but your path, beloved friend, has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world, by the wisdom and love of GOD. There are two things, therefore, which are necessary for all of us. The first is to know the path, and the second is strength to walk in it. I want to speak a little on those two. GUIDANCE First, how may I know which is my prepared path, either for a day or for my life? Hebrews 8:11 gives you a never-to-be-forgotten challenge, which (in point of fact) is repeated four times in the Bible and when the Bible says one thing four times you may depend upon it - it is well worth your notice: "They shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” Preceding the account of the new covenant, you have GOD’s word to Moses: ’’See that thou make all things according to the pattern shown thee on the mount." Be still before GOD. In that silence your own restlessness, your own energy, the activity of your flesh will die down. You will put aside a good deal of what you originate, and you will learn to see GOD’s plan and pattern, which will probably be a very different thing to that of your own invention. Be in prayer, open your heart to GOD, and presently the pattern of the tabernacle, with every letter and tassel and hanging, will appear before you, and then you will go down into the vales beneath to produce what GOD hath revealed. And remember when GOD commands He provides the stuff. He never gave any plans to Moses for which provision was not made. If Moses had put in one thing extra he would have had to have a collection for it; but as long as he worked on GOD’s pattern, GOD was responsible for the provision of the material. Let me just indicate how you may know the path of GOD’s will. When I was crossing the Irish channel one dark, starless night I stood on the deck by the captain and asked him: "How do you know Holyhead harbor on so dark a night as this?" He said: "You see those three lights? Those three must line up behind each other as one, and when we see them so united we know the exact position of the harbor mouth." When we want to know GOD’s will there are three things which always concur: - The inward impulse: GOD in the heart, impelling you forward; - The Word of GOD: GOD in His Book, corroborating whatever He says in the heart; - The trend of circumstances: GOD in circumstances, which are always indicative of His will. Never start until these three things agree. You may have an inward impulse to be a minister, young man, but you have that invalid mother to support. Therefore the trend of circumstances and the inward impulse do not tally, and you must wait. If you do not know what to do next, stand still until you do. If GOD has not indicated the path beyond a certain point, remain quiet until He does. Throw the responsibility back on GOD. There is a remarkable illustration in Acts 12:12 of the way in which GOD leaves us to the action of our judgment, when our judgment is enough. Peter was in prison. He could not emerge, and the angel therefore came to him and led him out, the gate opening of its own accord. You will always find that the gates will open of their own accord if you are in the company of GOD’s angels. The angel then took Peter through two streets, because he was so dazed he thought he was dreaming. But when the night air had revived him the angel left him. "And when he had considered the thing he came to the house" of John Mark. You see the angel was there when he was dazed, but when he woke up the angel said: "Now, Peter, you have your senses. You can find your own way without me, and so I will leave you." GOD will lead you by your own judgment, and when judgment is enough, don’t expect a miracle, for GOD uses His miracles sparingly. GOD’S STUPID CHILDREN The more stupid you are to understand the more you must rely on GOD. I think stupid people really get on the best with GOD if they are content to be stupid and not seem wise. Thomas was so dull he lived a week behind the other apostles; but you know how eager JESUS was to explain to Thomas the mystery of His resurrection, and came specially to help him. If I had in my family three or four children who were really bright and one who was stupid and obtuse in his intellect, and I told the children that on a Saturday afternoon I would go with them to the woods to gather the spring flowers if they would meet me at a certain place - perhaps I might find the little fellow’s face still dull and cloudy because he could not understand my meaning. Would I let him miss the treat when he needed it so much more than the others? Am I going to punish him for his stupidity, which may in some part be attributable to me? No, I take him on my knee and explain it to him again. If still he does not understand, I say to him: "Wait right here, and after dinner I will take you with me." So the stupid child gets more of my kind and loving help than the others who have gone on and are ready to meet me at the appointed place. If you are one of GOD’s stupid children who cannot catch His meaning, stand still until GOD takes you by the hand and says: "Come along with Me." GOD is bound to make you know. When you have asked GOD to guide your judgment, and have thought it well out and acted as you thought the wisest, seeking His will and moving forward, suppose you find yourself in some great difficulty? That does not prove that you have made a mistake, or that you are not in GOD’s path. It simply proves that any other path would have been impassable. There is a way under the difficulty, or around or above it, and presently it will be made passable. Whenever you decide on a course, trusting GOD and asking Him to block you if you are wrong, go on; for if it were not His path for you He would have told you. Dare to go on. KEEPING When you know what your path is, you must learn to appropriate the power which is within your reach to walk in it. For these "good works" there is a sufficiency in JESUS CHRIST, in whom we were created. For every good work there is a counterpart of grace in CHRIST. The pain, the sorrow, the worry are all pre-determined, and the grace for them all is in CHRIST. And further, the special form of trial was intended to compel you to take from CHRIST what otherwise you would have missed. - Blind men were permitted to come to CHRIST to show that there was eye-salve in Him; - Deaf and dumb men were permitted to come to elicit hearing and speech; - Dead men were brought to CHRIST for all the world to know the life that was in CHRIST. As I understand it, even sin can bring out qualities in GOD which otherwise would never have been realized. Up to now you have probably been looking at some trial in your life with a great deal of anxiety, and you have been trying to cope with it and have been mastered by it, perpetually beaten down to the ground. That is only because JESUS wants to show you what He can do. In Ireland a friend of mine once went to call on what we call a decayed Irish nobleman; that is, he had seen better days. He had a title, and was nominally the owner of a large tract of country. My friend passed in the gateway and proceeded up to the old ancestral house, but on reaching it he found there was only a housekeeper there. It was a lovely place, but she said that her master, the nobleman, might be found at the gate lodge which he had passed. My friend found that he was stricken with a strange disease, which led him to think that he had no money at all, and in order to economize he deserted his magnificent home, which he could well keep up, and live in the lodge. It was a queer thing to do, wasn’t it? But it is what you have been doing all your life. GOD meant you to live a royal life, and He put into JESUS CHRIST everything to enable you to live that life. You have seen the plan, and you have not dared to realize it because you thought you had not capital enough, whereas in JESUS CHRIST GOD has put the fullness of His possession. - "Blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ" Ephesians 1:13. - "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" Colossians 2:9. - "His divine power hath given unto us all things," (2 Peter 1:13). If ever GOD puts me forward to new responsibility I always go back to Him on an honorable understanding that He will give me more of His help. You probably understand intellectually what I am saying, but have you never learned the art of TAKING from CHRIST? If I were to say to you, "Stop praying; you have prayed enough; give up praying and take," would you understand what I meant? You have been praying to GOD as though you had to wring it from Him with the greatest difficulty. When you have prayed for a thing, take it! At the end of your prayer, stop still and take! "Believe that ye receive, and ye shall have" (Mark 11:24) . When you have definitely and reverently believed on a promise go away and reckon that, whether you feel it or not, you have received. All these things will be taught you one by one if you will only present yourself to GOD. - Give Him your mind, that He may think into you His thoughts. - Give Him your heart, that no love may be there but His own and such love as He permits. - Give Him your hands, your body, the whole of your life, that through it He may fulfill His own will. Then keep looking up to Him and receive from Him that which you need. That is, as far as I know, the secret of living well. May GOD teach you further and help you to give up all to Him! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 54: 04.00. BIBLE READINGS ON THE PSAMS ======================================================================== Bible Readings on the Psalms by Meyer, Frederick Brotherton Chapters Chapter 1 - Introduction: The Psalms Chapter 2 - Psalms 1 - 10 Chapter 3 - Psalms 11 - 20 Chapter 4 - Psalms 21 - 30 Chapter 5 - Psalms 31 - 40 Chapter 6 - Psalms 41 - 50 Chapter 7 - Psalms 51 - 60 Chapter 8 - Psalms 61 - 70 Chapter 9 - Psalms 71 - 80 Chapter 10 - Psalms 81 - 90 Chapter 11 - Psalms 91 - 100 Chapter 12 - Psalms 101 - 110 Chapter 13 - Psalms 111 - 120 Chapter 14 - Psalms 121 - 130 Chapter 15 - Psalms 131 - 140 Chapter 16 - Psalms 141 - 150 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 55: 04.01. CHAPTER 1 ======================================================================== THE PSALMS THE Jewish Psalms have furnished the bridal hymns, the battle songs, the pilgrim marches, the penitential prayers, and the pub­lic praises of every nation in Christendom, since Christendom was born. They have rolled through the din of every great European battlefield; they have pealed through the scream of the storm in every ocean highway of the world. Drake’s sailors sang them when they clave the virgin waters of the Pacific; Frobisher’s, when they dashed against the barriers of Arctic ice and night. They floated over the waters on that day of days when England held her freedom against Pope and Spaniard, and won the naval supremacy of the world. They crossed the ocean with the Mayflower pil­grims; were sung round Cromwell’s camp fires, and his Iron­sides charged to their music; whilst they have filled the peaceful homes of England with the voice of supplication and the breath of praise. In palace halls, by happy hearths, in squalid rooms, in pauper wards, in prison cells, in crowded sanctuaries, in lonely wilderness-everywhere they have uttered our moan of contrition and our song of triumph; our tearful complaints, and our wrestling, conquering, prayer." * * Rev. Baldwin Brown About one-third of the Psalms are anonymous. Seventy-three bear the name of David, "the sweet Psalmist of Israel." Twenty-­four are attributed to the minstrels of his reign, and to subsequent singers; some of whom may have lived in the glorious period of Ezra’s restoration. Two are attributed to Solomon; and one to Moses, "the man of God." The inscriptions of the Psalms have given rise to much dis­cussion. Some of them indicate the musical accompaniment, which had been carefully selected-whether with flutes, as the 5th; or with stringed instruments, as the 6th. Others express the intentions of the Psalms-to TEACH; to BRING TO REMEMBRANCE; to GIVE THANKS. Others again commemorate the cir­cumstances under which the Psalms they head were penned; as for instance the 56th, which is entitled, "The silent dove in far-­off lands," and commemorates the time when David was an exile in the land of the Philistines. The Hebrew Title for this precious collection of Sacred Hymns is PRAISES; and rightly so, for the most prominent feature in them is Praise. The rendering of this word into Greek gives us our title PSALMS. There are FIVE BOOKS embraced in this collection:- THE FIRST, including 1-41; ending with the doxology and a double Amen. THE SECOND, including 42-72; ending in the same way, and with the further addition that: "The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended." THE THIRD, including 73-89; ending with a somewhat different doxology and a double Amen. THE FOURTH, including 90-106; ending with doxology, amen, and hallelujah. THE FIFTH, including 107-150; ending with repeated hallelujahs. There are three ways in which the Psalms may be studied. We may look at them, first, as recording the inner heart-history of those who wrote them, and especially of David. We cannot understand his life merely by reading the historical books; but when we compare the outer with the inner, and listen to his own musings on the varied episodes of his changeful career, we are able to form an altogether new and realistic conception of that rich and many-chorded nature. It was good that he should be afflicted: that he should extract from the wine-press of his sorrows a cordial to cheer all weary and aching hearts till time shall be no more. Next, we should study the Psalter in its bearing on our blessed Lord. He said Himself, "It is written in the Psalms concerning Me" (Luke 24:44); and He expressed some of his deepest emotions in words borrowed from that marvellous vocabulary. There are some Psalms that are entirely Messianic, for they can have no useful reference but to the Lord Jesus; others have a primary reference to some figure or event in Hebrew story, from which, however, they soon pass on, to find a richer and wider fulfilment in Him to whose person and work all the rays of Scripture con­verge. It is the Spirit of Christ which breathes throughout the Psalter; and we cannot be surprised if it often rises into tones and expressions of thought which may be uttered by human lips, but certainly emanate from a higher than mortal source. In this sense David’s Son is also David’s Root. Lastly, we may study the Psalms for ourselves, nourishing our spirits with their rich expressions of experimental religion. Few men have reached such heights of joy, or touched such depths of penitential grief, as David. Nor is there a note in the entire gamut of the experiences of the religious life, which does not speak beneath his marvellous touch. When language fails us, these Psalms will often express our deepest selves; our yearnings for God; our contrition for sin; our inexpressible joy. They are like some marble staircase, trodden by myriads of feet, yet unworn and clear-cut still, up which we too may pass from the blessedness of the initial verse, to the ringing hallelujahs that peal out their inspired anthems in the closing sentence of this Golden Book of the inner life. May He, who is expressly said to have been their Author (2 Samuel 23:2; Acts 1:16; Acts 4:25; Hebrews 3:7-8), give us his own divine and blessed help as we seek to open up their sacred and blessed treasures! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 56: 04.02. CHAPTER 2 ======================================================================== Psalms 1:1-6 "BLESSED IS THE MAN!" This Psalm, like a sign-post, points the way to blessedness. The opening word may be read, "Oh, the blessedness!" In this exclamation is embodied the experience of a life, ratified and Healed by the Holy Spirit. The Psalter begins with the same message as the Sermon on the Mount. Religious life is the blessed life; and blessedness is more than happiness. Beneath the lintel of this benediction we pass into the temple of praise. BLESSEDNESS IS TO BE OBTAINED IN TWO WAYS.-(I) NEGATIVELY.-Avoid the company of the irreligious. (Psalms 1:1) You must mix with them in daily business; but do not choose their society. When let go from necessary engagements, make for the people of God (Acts 4:23). (II) POSITIVELY.-We cannot live on negations; and if we withdraw ourselves from the society of evil men, we must enter the circle of prophets and kings, psalmists and historians, who Are ever waiting to greet us with their holiest, noblest thoughts, within the circle of sacred Scripture. 2. It is not enough to read the Bible as a duty-we must come to it with delight. And this is possible on these conditions: give yourself up to it; eschew light and foolish literature, which days the appetite; ever open the Book in happy fellowship with its Author. Nor is it enough to read it cursorily and forget it: we must meditate, until, by the process of spiritual digestion, it is assimilated (James 1:25). Better one verse really masticated than a whole chapter bolted. THE REWARDS OF THE BLESSED MAN (Psalms 1:3).- He shall be under Divine culture, planted (Psalms 92:13); within reach of perennial supplies, planted by rivers (John 7:38-39); prepared against any demand or emergency-fruit in season; unfading beauty and freshness, a spiritual evergreen; and prosperity even in this world, because his life is ordered by discretion and obedience to Divine principles. Joseph realized this picture (Genesis 39:3-4). THE CONTRAST TO THE BLESSED MAN (Psalms 1:4) .-It might be rendered, Not so the ungodly, not so. As to their career, all that has been said of the righteous is to be reversed. They go from bad to worse in their choice of company; beginning with the ungodly, and ending with the scornful; and from walking, they pass to standing and sitting, which give the idea of permanence and of settled enjoyment. As to their nature, they are as chaff, which is like wheat, and yet utterly worthless. As to their doom, they shall be forgotten on earth, leaving no trace, taking no root; and in the other world they shall be forever excluded from the festal hosts of the redeemed (Matthew 13:30; Revelation 21:27). THE COMFORTS OF THE BLESSED MAN.-God knows his way, though dark and difficult. Nothing is hidden from Him who bottles our tears (Psalms 56:8); and He will not let us be over­-pressed. And, though the ungodly may appear to prosper at the expense of the righteous, it shall be only for a moment: ultimately the way of the ungodly shall perish (see Psalms 37:1-40). Wherefore, rest in the Lord. Your blessedness is better than the ill-gotten gains of the ungodly, and will last longer. Psalms 2:1-12 "THOU ART MY SON!" This is one of the sublimest of the Psalms. Its mould is highly dramatic. Attempts have been made to connect it with David or Solomon; but its scope is too vast and majestic to be limited to any earthly monarch. The Psalm can only find its complete fulfillment in Him to whom its glowing passages are referred in Acts 4:25; Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; Hebrews 5:5; Revelation 2:27. A natural division is suggested by the structure of the Psalm into four stanzas of three verses each. THE DETERMINED HATE OF THE PEOPLE (Psalms 2:1-3).-The word rage has the idea of the tumultuous concourse of vast crowds of people, swarming with Oriental gesticulations and cries into a central meeting-place, aroused to a frenzy of excitement. Imagine is the same word translated meditate (Psalms 1:2); whilst the godly meditates on God’s law, the ungodly meditates a project which is vain, and shall come utterly to nought. Pilate and Herod and the Jewish rulers are for once at peace among themselves in their common hostility to the Messiah (Luke 23:12-13). Let us not effect worldly alliances, for the drift of the great ones of the earth is against our Lord. Compare Psalms 2:3 with Hosea 11:4 and Matthew 11:30. THE DIVINE TRANQUILITY (Psalms 2:4-6).-The scene shifts to heaven; there God is depicted as undismayed-a strong man laughs at the ineffectual efforts of tiny children to throw him down. Yet I have set, i.e., anointed.-"Messiah" and "Christ" alike mean anointed. Our Lord was anointed with the Holy Ghost (Isaiah 11:2-3; Isaiah 61:1; Acts 10:38; Luke 4:18; John 3:34). He is God’s own King; MY King; as Solomon was David’s (1 Kings 1:37-38, etc.). MESSIAH’S MANIFESTO (Psalms 2:7-9).-Standing forth, He produces and recites one of the eternal decrees. Before time was, He was the only-begotten of the Father (John 17:5): but his sonship was declared at his Resurrection; then He was born first from among the dead and sealed (Acts 13:30-37; Romans 1:4; Colossians 1:18). The world is his heritage; but the gift is conditional on prayer. For this He pleads through the ages; and, if we are truly at one with Him, we too shall ask. The pastoral staff for the sheep; the "iron rod" for those who oppose. OVERTURES AND COUNSELS OF PEACE (Psalms 2:12).-Kiss, the expression of homage (1 Samuel 10:1). The word "adore" is literally to the mouth. To "perish in the way" reminds of Psalms 1:6. Notice the change in R.V.; "his wrath will soon be kindled" (James 5:9; Revelation 6:17). Oh the blessedness! closes this Psalm as it began the first. Psalms 3:1-8 "I WILL NOT BE AFRAID!" AN ENUMERATION OF TROUBLE (Psalms 3:1-2).-Though God knows all, it relieves the over-charged heart to make a full statement of anxieties and troubles. The foes were many. They quoted his sin as a reason for supposing that God had withdrawn his aid (2 Samuel 16:7-8). The word help is salvation; but salvation belongeth unto God (Psalms 3:8; Psalms 35:3). AN EXPRESSION OF UNFALTERING TRUST (Psalms 3:3-4).-God our shield (Genesis 15:1) is for i.e., around us. Would that we found our glory in Him only (Jeremiah 9:23-24). It is a good thing to use the voice in prayer, as our Lord did. Words keep the heart awake (Hebrews 5:7). David looked to God as dwelling between the cheru­bim of the ark, the symbol of propitiation; and he thus ap­proached Him, as sinners must ever do, through the Lamb of God, the Priest of man. AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MERCY (Psalms 3:5-6).-It was the perfection of trust to be able to sleep under such circumstances, and to be devoid of fear when environed by such mighty hosts. But it is gloriously possible. So Jesus slept (Mark 4:38), and Peter (Acts 12:6). Let us be sure that we are where God would have us to be: then let us resign ourselves to his care; and, even though pursued by the results of our own mistakes and sins, we shall find that He will save us in them, if not from them. AN URGENT ENTREATY (Psalms 3:7-8) .-For the third time the idea of salvation is introduced. The writer’s foes are looked upon as wild beasts, who, when their jawbone is broken and their teeth dashed out, may roam around, but are powerless to hurt. David speaks as if he felt that this work were already done, and his foes’ rage futile. And he turns from them to the great mass of his people, led wrong by wily conspirators, and pleads that God’s -best blessings may rest on them. So does our Lord inter­cede for us. Psalms 4:1-8 "HEAR ME WHEN I CALL!" A PRAYER (Psalms 4:1).-We must be sure that our cause is a righteous one before we can ask God to vindicate it; and we do well to go back to God’s deliverances from former straits. Build supplication on recollection. AN EXPOSTULATION (Psalms 4:2-3).-Vanity refers back to Psalms 2:1 -"a vain thing"; leasing is Old English for lying. Absalom’s rebellion is a type of all those plots against Christ and His saints which begin in falsehood, and end in confusion. The Hebrew word translated godly means one who loves. Dost thou love God first, and afterwards His saints? Then know that God hath set thee apart (i.e., separated) for Himself. Seek his praise alone. Be content to let the world go by. Thou canst not fail; his cause and thine are one (Lamentations 3:53) . LOVING COUNSEL (Psalms 4:4-5).-The Apostle gives a very remarkable application of Psalms 4:4 in Ephesians 4:26. If men communed with each other less, and with God and their own heart more, allow­ing the heat of passion to cool in the silences of the night, they would discover the futility of fuming and fretting against the Lord’s people and cause. To all of us the injunction, Be still, is most appropriate. It is only in standing water that silt settles, and in quiet nights that the dew distils. In the night, when the eye is closed to all the world besides, let it be opened to self­-examination. Sacrifice here is the whole burnt offering, and corresponds to entire surrender, out of which trust naturally springs. A WISE DEDUCTION AND RESOLVE (Psalms 4:6-8).-How true is this of the "many" everywhere who know not God!-But all is vain when God’s face is hidden. How rich is the soul on which its light rests! (Numbers 6:24-26). Absalom, and his conspirators, with all that David had left them, had not as much true bliss as the fugitive monarch enjoyed. In the hour of his sin he had asked to hear joy and gladness (Psalms 51:3); and this was the reply. The saint has no need to envy the prosperous worldling (John 4:13-14). May the Holy Spirit "put gladness in our hearts" to-day (Galatians 5:22) . Both, Psalms 4:8, means, "I shall go to sleep as soon as I lie down." God alone is enough for any soul. He suffices for heaven: why not for earth? In our solitude, let us turn to make all in all of Him (Ezekiel 34:25). Psalms 5:1-12 "IN THE MORNING." THE ADDRESS AND MANNER OF PRAYER (Psalms 5:1-3).-Uttered words are inadequate to convey the deep thought which meditates. This Iatter word will stand for the groanings which cannot be uttered, but which the Spirit understands (Romans 8:26-27). Distinguished from either of these, there is urgent ejaculation for aid, described as the voice of a cry. As soon as we awake at early dawn, let us speak to God. Let Him be the first to hear our voice. And let us direct, i.e., set in order, our prayer. The same Hebrew word is used in Genesis 22:9; Leviticus 1:7; Leviticus 24:8. We are not to pray without method (Ecclesiastes 5:1). And, having prayed, we must look out for the answer (Habakkuk 2:1). We miss many answers, because we get tired of waiting on the quays for the returning ships. CONTRASTED CHARACTERS (Psalms 5:4-7).- There are here seven expres­sions for the ungodly. Evil may not even sojourn as a wayfaring man (2 John 1:10). Leasing is Old English for lying. Not in the spirit of boasting, but of humble gratitude, does David turn to himself (1 Corinthians 15:10). The Jew in prayer looked towards the temple (Daniel 6:10). The tabernacle was spoken of as Jehovah’s temple (1 Samuel 1:9; 1 Samuel 3:3); so that David may have written these words as they stand, or they may have been revised by Ezra. THE PRAYER (Psalms 5:8-12).-We may appeal to God’s righteousness to vindicate his righteous ones. Because He is what He is, we may count on Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). The Psalms 5:8 is thus parallel to the Psalms 5:4. This terrible description of the ungodly is almost entirely concerned with the sins of the tongue. It is largely quoted in Romans 3:1-31. Wicked men are like sepulchres, which look fair without, but are full of corruption within and exhale pesti­lential exhalations. And as by their words they sin against God and mislead the righteous, so by their words they shall be con­demned and fall. David here, as God’s mouthpiece, pronounces their inevitable doom. Here again (Psalms 5:11) we meet the oft-repeated word, trust. And with trust goes joy, as brother and twin sister; and with both goes love. How happy their lot-defended, blessed, and encom­passed with the Divine favor! (Deuteronomy 33:23) . Psalms 6:1-10 "THE LORD HATH HEARD!" The first of the Penitential Psalms; the other six being Psalms 32:1-11, Psalms 38:1-22, Psalms 51:1-19, Psalms 102:1-28, Psalms 130:1-8, Psalms 143:1-12. Sheminith is evidently a musical term, signifying the octave. The earlier verses of this Psalm are a wail; but it ends in a song. It is like a day of rain which clears at evening. The Psalm is full of beautiful ejaculatory cries. THE ELEMENTS OF THE PSALMIST’S SORROW (Psalms 6:1-7).-There was the pressure of Divine displeasure on account of sin (Psalms 6:1-2), combined with soul-anguish (Psalms 6:3-4), perhaps accompanied with sickness, bringing nigh unto death (Psalms 6:4-5), whilst enemies add their hate (Psalms 6:6-7). In Psalms 6:5 David considers the grave as disabling us from that active service of praise which is the peculiar privilege of the living (Isaiah 38:19). He clearly foresaw the Resurrection; but perhaps not so clearly the state of the departed, which is brought to light in the Gospel. How touching is the plea, so suitable for sufferers!-for I am weak. How expressive the broken sentence, How long? which was often on Calvin’s lips! And that prayer, O Lord, heal me! may well be on our lips continually. THE CERTAINTY OF THE PSALMIST’S DELIVERENCE (Psalms 6:8-10).-The prayer is no sooner uttered than answered. The consciousness of having been heard steals over the weary soul like a glint of light on to a bed in the hospital ward. David knows that the petition is granted, though it has not yet come to hand (1 John 5:15). Weeping has a voice for the ear of God. He can interpret sighs and tears (Psalms 6:8). In the Revised Version, which we do well to com­pare with the authorized, the words of Psalms 6:10, which read like an imprecation, stand in the future tense-they shall be ashamed und turn back. When God returns (Psalms 6:4), our enemies turn back (Psalms 6:10). Psalms 7:1-17 "IN THEE DO I PUT MY TRUST!" Shiggaion is thought by some to refer to the erratic and ir­regular metre. The expressions of this Psalm should be carefully compared with the narrative of events in 1 Samuel 24:1-22; 1 Samuel 25:1-44; 1 Samuel 26:1-25. Cash may be a covert allusion to Saul, who was a Benjamite. Or it may refer to some "black-visaged" member of his tribe, who was one of David’s chief calumniators. PRAYER (Psalms 7:1-2).-If David desired deliverance from his foes, how much more do we need deliverance from our arch-enemy! (1 Peter 5:8-9). PROTESTATION (Psalms 7:3-5).-So far from being guilty of the offence charged on him, David, on two occasions, spared Saul’s life (1 Samuel 24:1-22; 1 Samuel 26:1-25). Mine honor is probably only another name for the soul (Genesis 49:6). AN APPEAL (Psalms 7:6-9).-By a bold metaphor, he attributes the success of his foes to some temporary abdication on God’s part of his throne, and entreats Him to reassume his throne, and give his decisions, as Eastern judges are wont to do, in the midst of the people standing around. When we do right and suffer for it, we have a strong argument with God; we standing still, keeping silence, and leaving Him to vindicate (1 Peter 2:20-23) . What a noble prayer is Psalms 7:9! PREDICTION (Psalms 7:10-16).-Evil recoils like a boomerang on those who set it in motion. Ralph the Rover perished at the Inchcape Rock. The huntsman at eventide falls into the pit prepared in the morning for his prey, covered by the branches and reeds and earth. Psalms 8:1-9 "HOW EXCELLENT IS THY NAME!" Was Gittith a tune or instrument brought from Gath? (1 Samuel 27:2). This exquisite ode, which can only reach its fulfilment in the person of the Son of Man-to whom it is referred in the New Testament (Hebrews 2:6-9) -was evidently composed at night. It probably dates from the early shepherd days, when wild creatures crept around the fold, and night-birds screamed, reminding the sweet singer of the animal world, as constituting the human kingdom. THE INSCRIPTION (Psalms 8:1).-Jehovah our Lord (Adonai) (see Psalms 110:1. Our Lord Jesus is here. THE ASCRIPTION (Psalms 8:1-2).-His name excellent on earth; his glory the crown on the brow of the sky. And so mighty that his strength communicated to babes is more than enough to vanquish and silence His foes (1 Corinthians 1:25). See also Christ’s own quota­tion (Matthew 21:16). Oh, let us who are but babes rejoice that we are so weak and helpless: this is the very way of acquiring God’s strength (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). THE COMPARISON (Psalms 8:3-4).-At first sight there is a great descent from the vastness of the works of God in the heavens to frail man (enoush), the son of Adam (ben-h’-adam), whose very name implies that he is of the dust (Adam, earthy). How should so great a God visit him? We often confound size and greatness, and forget that the King loves his little babe more than all the splendour and extent of his ancestral palace. The age of the telescope was the age of the microscope. There are as many worlds of wonder which are too minute for our vision as there are which are too great for our understanding. THE COMPENSATION (Psalms 8:5-8).-Yet, notwithstanding his apparent insignificance, man in his original creation was only a little lower than the angels; and he was invested with the vicegerency of the lower orders of creation (Genesis 1:26). Some traces of this power still exist in the power of the human eye and voice over the ani­mals. But sin rolled this crown into the dust. We have to win au­thority with effort, and retain it with difficulty. We see not yet all things put under us. But this lost power has been re-acquired by Jesus, as man (Matthew 28:18). And in his kingdom it shall be restored to man (Isaiah 11:6-9). And from the redeemed creation shall arise the words with which this Psalm begins and ends (Romans 8:19-22). Psalms 9:1-20 "WITH MY WHOLE HEART!" Muth-labben probably refers to the tune to which these words were set. The Chaldee version adds "concerning the death of the champion who went out between the camps," referring the Psalm to the death of Goliath of Gath, whose fate aroused the Psalmist’s muse in the review of after-years to a very triumphant pitch. This is the first of the ACROSTIC or ALPHABETICAL psalms, of which there are nine (Psalms 9:1-20; Psalms 10:1-18, Psalms 25:1-22; Psalms 34:1-22; Psalms 37:1-40; Psalms 111:1-10; Psalms 112:1-10; Psalms 119:1-176; Psalms 145:1-21.) Psalms 119:1-176 is the most remarkable specimen of this acrostic style of composition. Proverbs 31:1-31, and Lamentations 1:1-22; Lamentations 2:3-4 present the same acrostic character. In the Septuagint this Psalm refers to the death of the Divine Son, and recites his victory over death and the grave, and all our foes. THERE IS A PREDOMINANT NOTE OF PRAISE (Psalms 9:1-5, Psalms 9:11-12, Psalms 9:14).-­Let us not praise with a divided, but with a whole heart. And we must incite praise by recounting all God’s works. Let memory heap fuel on the altar of praise. The Lord has indeed rebuked our arch-enemy (compare Psalms 9:6 and Zechariah 3:1-2), and his strongholds are now wastes, come to a perpetual end (2 Corinthians 10:4; Colossians 2:15). What a contrast between our dead foes, and our ever-living King! (Psalms 9:7). THERE IS AN ASSERTION OF TRUST (Psalms 9:7-12, Psalms 9:18).-"Refuge" is high tower (R.V.). The oppressed, the humble, the needy, and the poor have strong encouragement. Calamity drives them to God, and makes them familiar with the secrets of his character. The more we know of God the more we can trust Him. Doubt is born of ignorance. Leave God to vindicate you: He will not forget (Psalms 9:12). THERE IS A PETITION FOR FURTHER HELP (Psalms 9:13, Psalms 9:19-20).-What a contrast between the gates of death (Psalms 9:13) and the gates of the holy city! (Psalms 9:14). What a striking example of Psalms 9:15 is given in the story of Haman! (Esther 7:10). He who lifts the righteous hurls down the wicked. It is a sin to forget God (Psalms 9:17; Isaiah 51:13). There is a striking emphasis in the two closing verses; the Hebrew for men might be rendered weak, mortal man (enoush). Psalms 10:1-18 "THOU HAST SEEN! THOU HAST HEARD!" This Psalm is full of sorrowful complaint, and befits God’s people in all seasons of distress. THE MALICE OF THE FOE IS POWERFULLY DESCRIBED (Psalms 10:1-11).­The treatment which the unjust oppressor deals out to his prey is set forth in many rich and striking images. Now it is the serpent with venom under his tongue (Psalms 10:7); now, the bandit secreted in ambush (Psalms 10:8); now, the lion in his den, and again the hunter snaring the unsuspecting prey (Psalms 10:9). And all the while God seems to stand afar off and hide his eyes from the tribulation caused to his own; so much so that all the thoughts of the wicked, that there is no God, seem abundantly confirmed (Psalms 10:4, Psalms 10:11). THE PRAYER OF THE OPPRESSED (Psalms 10:12-15).-God is asked to lift up his hand from rest in the folds of his robe. He is the helper of the helpless and hapless, who commit themselves to Him. Let us commit ourselves to Him that judgeth righteously (1 Peter 2:23). It is supposed that the suppliant entreats that the oppressor’s boast (Psalms 10:11) may be answered in another way than he thinks, in the complete extirpation of every vestige of his sin. THE BOAST OF FAITH (Psalms 10:16-18).-What in Psalms 9:19 was a prayer is here taken as an accomplished fact. Forget not the humble (Psalms 10:12) is here recalled: Thou hast heard the desire of the humble (Psalms 10:17). The preparation of the heart in prayer is His work; and so of course He is able to hear and answer. When we abide in Jesus, and the Holy Ghost flows through our hearts as sap through the vine, we are taught how to pray; and whatsoever we ask we receive. True prayer begins with God, and returns to Him again. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 57: 04.02. CHAPTER 2 - THE BENDING OF THE TWIG ======================================================================== II THE BENDING OF THE TWIG FREDERICK BROTHERTON MEYER was born at Lavender Terrace, Wandsworth Road, London, April 8, 1847. His paternal grandfather, a wealthy city of London merchant, was of German origin. His father married into a noted Quaker family, his mother being one of ten children born to Henry and Anne Sturt, who were closely identified with the many philanthropic enterprises in which the Friends of that day benevolently engaged. Thus was young Meyer well and worthily born. Of course, all of us are aware that birth and ancestry ­something we, ourselves, did not achieve---can scarcely be cited as meritorious achievement; that mere family never made a man great, or notable even; that deeds, not pedigrees, are the passports to enduring fame. Yet, good birth is a thing one seldom hears disparaged, except by those who cannot claim it, and there is a quite important sense in which a proper moral and philosophical respect for ancestry elevates the character and improves the heart. Lord Macaulay declared that people who took no pride in the achievements of their ancestors were, more than likely, destined to accom­plish nothing worthy of being remembered by their descendants. And, of course, there is Oliver Wendell Holmes, who, in his quaint way, remarks: "Other things being equal, give me the man with a grand­father." In these regards, few, if any, of the religious leaders of his time had a richer patrimony than F. B. Meyer, and he gratefully acknowledged his indebted­ness to the end of his days. The environment of Meyer’s early days was of the happiest, care-free sort. In after years, he recalled it as being as sunny as possible---a stretch of sunlit years untouched by shadow, towards which he turned as one might into a quiet picture-gallery for refreshment and beguilement. There were long summer days, spent on Clapham Common, the gorse covering it from side to side, and the bracken growing high enough to hide his slight, childish figure that delighted to throw itself in wild abandonment into its midst. There were halcyon days of almost interminable length---so it seemed to his childish fancy---spent in sailing boats across mimic seas, or engaging in games of cricket, as exciting as any that ever drew throngs to Kenning­ton Oval or Lord’s, to watch the historic struggles between England and Australia. Then there were long drives through Streatham and Dulwich, in a day when those suburbs of London were uninvaded by the modem terrace or the intersecting railroads. There was the deep shade of the spreading chestnuts, his father’s home with its long garden and paddock, and, more treasured in his memory than aught else, the house at the end of Long Walk, on Clapham Common, in which his maternal grandparents resided, and in which Lord Macaulay wrote his History of England. Henry Sturt, his grandfather on the distaff side of the house, was a native of Hassocks, in Sussex. He came to London while yet a boy, and early exhibited unusual business promise, which duly ripened into marked commercial capacity and organizing ability. By steady application, he gradually rose to be the head of the noted Wood Street house of Sturt and Sharp. A strong man who knew his own mind, he created for himself a position of wide influence and honor in the business world of the British capital. The maiden name of his grandmother was Anne Barnard. She was born at Stockwell (now, like Clap­ham, Streatham, and Dulwich, part of Greater London) in 1793. She was a Quakeress, and, as a girl, wor­shipped at the Friends’ Meeting at Wandsworth. She was a connection of the well-known Quaker family of Coventry, a member of which was Elizabeth Fry’s companion at the prison-gates, as she prosecuted her Christly labors among discharged female prisoners. Anne, herself, was a member of the Committee---com­posed of eleven Quakeresses and one clergyman’s wife---which banded itself together in the humanitarian enterprise of ministering to the unfortunate women immured in Newgate Prison. During her girlhood years, she developed literary tastes and entered the writing circles of the day. She wrote respectable verse, and during a three months’ stay in Edinburgh visited Sir Walter Scott. The Wizard of Abbotsford com­mended her poetry, and enjoined her to continue. This was in 1818, and two years later she accepted Henry Sturt’s offer of marriage. The wedding was celebrated in Lambeth Parish Church, in 1820, and led to the disowning of Anne by the Society of Friends. The following letter of dismissal was sent her by the West­minster Monthly Meeting: Ann Sturt, late Barnard, a Member of this Meeting, having been married contrary to the Rules of our Society to a person not of our Religious Profession, notwithstanding she had been previously advised against it, both privately and by appointment of this Meeting, which having been considered, we think it incumbent to express our disunity with her Conduct, and do hereby disown the said Ann Sturt as a Member of our Religious Society. Nevertheless we feel desirous that, at a future time, it may appear suitable for her to be restored into Membership with us. Signed in and on behalf of the Meeting, JOHN BELL, Clerk Despite this disownment, Henry Sturt and his wife continued to worship at Wandsworth Meeting for a number of years. After a time, their boys---there were ten children born of this happy marriage---grew impa­tient of the monotony of a Quaker Meeting, and the family joined Clapham Congregational Church, of which Rev. James Hall was pastor; but to the end of her long life; Anne Barnard Sturt remained a true Quakeress at heart. She was not only a woman of great spirituality, but of great strength of intellect [writes Dr. Meyer]. Few could write sweeter poetry than hers, and every event in the history of the great family of children and grandchildren seemed to awake some response from her lyric muse. It was no small privilege for the young lad to be allowed to sit for long hours beside her, as she poured into his heart the noble thoughts which were ever welling up within her soul, and which, especially in the early morning, would be so fresh and vigorous. Besides all this, she had a special faculty of making other people’s troubles her own, and of living in their lives; never thinking of self, but ever eager to say or do something to alleviate anxiety, and promote their comfort. In her heart there was a true spark of the enthusiasm of humanity. Anne Sturt died in 1872, and after her death, a volume of reminiscences and literary remains was privately circulated by her family. One of the poems included in this work related especially to Dr. Meyer, and ran as follows: Lines Written When Recovering from a Severe Illness and Watching My Little Grandchild, Freddy Meyer, Moving Softly About My Sick-Bed December 19, 1856 My Freddy, when I look on thee, So pure, so guileless, and so gay, With sunny smile and eye of blue, Clear as the blushing dawn of day--- I think how lovely is the trust Which God to man has largely given; So beauteous is the fallen dust, With yet within a spark from heaven. And must the world’s seductive tread Break such a holy calm as this? Must ought surround thy peaceful bed But dreams of purity and bliss? Shall any sounds but peace and love E’er hang upon that truthful tongue, And where now broods the halcyon dove Be bitter words and thoughts of wrong? God keep thee, Freddy, in the world, For thou some rugged steps must tread; Thy Savior’s banner wide unfurled, What cause have we for doubt or dread? The world is strong, but stronger He To whom we now commit our charge; May His good angels compass thee With love immeasurably large. One of the most noted of the boy’s uncles, who periodically assembled in the house on Clapham Com­mon, was Joseph Brotherton---from whom the boy had his second baptismal name---Member of Parlia­ment for the Borough of Salford. He was an altogether worthy man, and did much to bring about the amend­ment of the iniquitous Factory Acts. The people of Salford erected a monument to his memory. It is stated that he made but a single speech in the House of Commons, which contained one passage, so frequently impressed upon young Meyer by his relatives, that he grew weary of its oft repetition. It ran as follows: "My riches consist not in the abundance of my possessions, but the fewness of my wants." Brother­ton was a member of a religious sect who called them­selves Bible Christians (not, however, to be confused with the Methodist body of the same name). Founded about a century ago, their original leader was in earlier life a clergyman pioneer of the Liberal School of the Church of England and a tutor in one of the theological colleges of that Church. They have a dis­tinctive belief regarding the Holy Spirit, believing the Holy Spirit to be an effluxion from God not a person. The home life amid which young Frederick Meyer spent his early years was of the finest imaginable character. His parents were possessed of ample means and every legitimate wish of the boy and his sisters was lovingly gratified. God was feared, the Sabbath Day reverenced, and an environment that was lovely and of good report maintained day after day. Sheltered from all pernicious influences, small wonder that the children grew in grace, and in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord. Meyer looked back to those days with the liveliest satisfaction, and spoke of them, always, in loving gratitude. It is pleasant [he says], in looking back over the years, to be unable to recall one moment’s mis- understanding with those beloved parents, who are now in the presence of the King. One long pathway of unclouded sunshine stretches away from the shore of the present over the ocean expanse of the past. It is impossible to be thankful enough to my gentle, loving mother for the careful drilling in Scripture which was her habit with us all. To this is owing a famil­iarity with the Bible which has been of inestimable value as the basis of after study. It was her regular practice to gather us around her on each Lord’s Day morning for the searching of Bible references, and for reading books bearing directly on Scripture. And how can we who shared in them ever forget the happy hours each Sunday afternoon, when we gathered around the piano and sang hymn after hymn; our childish voices gathering strength as they were led and supported by that noble bass voice of my father, which was like an organ in the richness of its tones! It was not what they said, for they spoke very little directly to us, but what they were, and what they expected us to be, that seemed insensibly to form and mould our characters. Especially was Dr. Meyer grateful for the Sundays that fell to his lot. Sixty or seventy years ago, the Sabbath Day was the dreariest and darkest day of the week for children of a Nonconformist household. To say that many of us, whose fortune it was to be reared in one, dreaded the approach of Sunday, is to put it mildly indeed. Saturday to Monday was a positive nightmare---a literal bugaboo. But young Meyer’s parents made it a red-letter day for their children. The breakfast-hour was eight o’clock. No one was ever late for family worship, and there was no hurry or bustle. The clean linen on the table, the starched print dresses of the maids as they sat in a row, Bible in hand, while the husband and father led in prayer; the bread and butter that seemed fresher and sweeter than on other days; the texts said round the table after the eldest child had said grace---in all these respects the day seemed to begin right. And the talk at the meal was always rather different, as though ordinary topics were by common consent tabooed; yet there was seldom what might be termed directly religious conversation, demanding an unnatural silence among the children. The early dinner at one-thirty precisely, the joy of which was that the father was there and the family complete; the early tea, with its hour of singing first, and its repetition of hymns after; the light supper after church, to share in which was the coveted mark of growing older. It was Sunday, and there was a fitness and freshness in everything being different from the ordinary week-day. At the Sunday dinner of these childish days [Dr. Meyer says] we always had a sirloin of beef and roast potatoes. Through a long course of years, without a single variation, that was so. Even now, when I eat sirloin of beef, especially the undercut, I have a kind of Sunday feeling. I remember that my father always had to turn the joint upside down, and that it was an exciting moment to us all lest he should splash a drop of gravy over the clean cloth. If a drop did go over, my mother hastened, with a palliating excuse, and applied salt---for what reason I have not the remotest idea; but it served as a temporary expedient, and covered the mishap. These things may appear trivial, but they were always associated with Sunday, and that made them memorable. Frederick Meyer’s parents were among the leading Baptists of their generation, and, together with the elder children, drove in their carriage to Bloomsbury, where they attended the ministry of Dr. William Brock. At that time Dr. Brock was in the zenith of his fame, and Bloomsbury Chapel was crowded. One corner-seat in the area was occupied by Sir Morton Peto, the other by Mr. and Mrs. Meyer and their children. As the boy looked at the crowded galleries and listened eagerly to the prayers and sermons, he resolved that he also would someday be a minister. It was Dr. Brock’s custom after the service to come down from the pulpit and shake hands with the congregation. Once he said to young Meyer, "Someday you will stand at the end of the aisle and shake hands with the people as I am doing now." At the end of the service not a word was spoken by anyone until the carriage reached St. Martin’s Church. Echoes of Dr. Brock’s magnificent voice were still ringing in the children’s ears. But after awhile the father broke the silence by saying it was the grandest sermon he had ever heard, and he encouraged his little ones to repeat what they could remember of it. Often the flood of reminiscences lasted till they reached Vauxhall. On Sunday evenings, in the days when the children were not yet old enough to attend church a second time, the boy would conduct a service of worship in father’s dining-room, having, by way of a congregation, his sisters and an old servant. It would appear as though the future minister of the Gospel must have early developed that gift which, in after days, was his in such large measure, and that he used so effectively for more than fifty years-the ability to reach the hearts and play upon the emotions of his hearers. He was never satisfied with his Sabbath evening dis­course in his parents’ dining-room, unless he had succeeded in making his eldest sister shed tears. She was rather given at that time to lachrymose tendencies, and if the expected climax did not follow the sermon, the youthful preacher felt that it had missed its purpose. Weekdays and Sundays, the months and years of Frederick Meyer’s childhood, flew by, almost un­counted in their flight. They left behind them, however, a flood of happy memories which enabled him to "have roses in December". He regarded it as being very wonderful that Providence had ordained that happy time, which sufficed to touch the lines of early life into lasting and living beauty. I believe [he declares] that a man can bear any losses, any sorrow or disappointment, if he has in the background of his mind the beautiful picture of a Christian home. My whole life is embosomed in lovely associations con­nected with my childhood at Clapham. Then came school-life. Young Meyer’s earliest educa­tion was received at a school conducted by a relative of the family, Mr. Samuel Wilkins. To reach it the boy had to make "the daily trudge along the inter­minable Acre Lane". When he was about nine years of age, one of his sisters lapsed into delicate health, and the family removed to Brighton, the father making the daily journey to London. After a year or two of tuition under "Mr. Peto and his son, in the house which, with its observatory, was so prominent an object on entering Brighton station", Frederick was enrolled a scholar in Brighton College. It was possible, therefore, for him to sleep at home, and so combine the helpful influences of the family circle with the esprit de corps and stimulus of a great public school. At first, the tenderly nurtured lad shrank from association with so many strong, boisterous spirits. Gradually, however, he grew accustomed to the daily routine, and, on the whole, was happy There is one incident of those days which Dr. Meyer relates that serves to throw a flood of light on the sort of lad he was, and of the difficulties he was compelled to encounter and surmount; When I was a boy, about eleven or twelve [he writes], there were some big bullies at my school, who made my life a misery for me. I was a little fellow, not very strong, and I dared not complain of their ill-usage. One day, when they were torturing me more than usual, I begged very hard to be released, and they said, "Well, we will let you go on condition you bring us some foreign stamps tomorrow. If you don’t we’ll spiflicate you." I promised---at such a moment I would readily have promised anything---but I had not the faintest idea where to get them, or even what foreign stamps were. It was a great many years ago, remember; and in those days collections were scarcely heard of. I, at any rate, knew nothing about them, and felt as helpless as the miller’s daughter in the fairy tale who had to spin gold out of straw. I could think of no resource but prayer. I just prayed as hard as I could. All night the boy could scarcely sleep a wink for thinking of the vague but awful fate threatening him if the stamps were not forthcoming. He was quite pre­pared for being half killed, if not wholly, for school bullying was a dreadful thing in those days. The morning came, but no stamps had dropped upon his sleepless pillow; there were none on the breakfast table; no miracle had happened. His heart went down into his boots, and he dared not speak of his fears. At last [he writes], it was time to start for school. Just on the threshold my reluctant footsteps turned back. "Father," I faltered, "do you know anything about foreign stamps?" "Very odd that you should ask me," he replied. "In my business till now I seldom came across any, but just today I happen to have some in my pocket. There you are!" I did not wait to be pressed. I darted off to school with them. There outside the gate stood my tormentors, waiting to "spiflicate" me. Great was their surprise when I ran up to them, both hands out, full of the precious envelopes, and, strange to say, their ill-treatment ceased from that hour, and I had no further trouble of the sort. Of all the providences of my life, that is the one that made the first and strongest impression upon me, showing me how true God’s promise is, "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are speaking I will hear." Such incidents were exceptional, however, and young Frederick’s experiences at Brighton College left him a lifelong defender of the public-school systems of education. The lad may get knocked about a bit in the burly-burly of school, but, on the whole, came out the better for the experience. How can we overestimate the influence of our public schools in enlarging the mind, in rubbing off ugly corners [he says], in giving a sense of independence and self­-reliance to the youth of England? Even now, as I write, I recall the excitement of the great cricket matches; the frays with roughs and other schoolboys, with whom we had perpetual feud, culminating in the uproarious pro­ceedings of the Fifth of November; the paperchases over the downs; the athletic sports, and the prodigious training that preceded them; the postage-stamp fever; the fossil furor; the expeditions with choice spirits over the rocks and along the cliffs when the tide was down; the opening of the chapel and the daily service. Oh, happy, happy days, whose traces will linger ever as the ripple marks of ocean wave upon the soft marl, which is now stamped with them forever! When the lad was about fifteen years of age, his father suffered some severe business reverses. This necessitated the family leaving their beautiful home in Brighton, and returning to London. The father decided to wind up his business, and pay all his credi­tors. It subsequently transpired that, with a little more enterprise and patience, he might have tided over this difficult period, but his high sense of honor led him to shrink from the idea of becoming insolvent. The result of these losses was, of course, that the adolescent years of his son and daughters were spent in less luxury than they were permitted to enjoy in early childhood. But although luxury and wealth were gone, comfort and modest competency remained. This, Dr. Meyer afterward came to regard as being one of the most important factors in his whole life. It brought out all the lad’s self-restraint, in order to save need­less expense; it took from him the temptation to expect from others, a deference due rather to wealth than worth; it brought about his going to live, for more than a year, with his beloved relatives, Dr. and Mrs. George Gladstone, at Clapham, and gave him the opportunity of meeting the cultivated circle which gathered about this charming home. The beloved Baldwin Brown was, for some months, an occupant of the same house. A tremendous con­troversy raged, at the time, about Brown’s book, The Fatherhood of God. Many of the views for which he was considered to be a heretic are now incorporated in the common faith of all churches. The boy had a pas­sionate admiration for Baldwin Brown, which, in after life, he never lost. He recalled his slight, spare figure, beautiful face, and exquisitely modulated voice, and from Baldwin Brown learned to take a broad and gener­ous view in theological matters, and never to forget the rule of Christian charity. Dr. Gladstone possessed a wide knowledge of the scientific world, and by his own researches into the chemistry of light, brought many distinguished visitors to the house, who opened up for the growing boy new and wider thoughts of the great world outside. There were visits to the meetings of the British Association; evenings at the concerts of the Sacred Harmonic Society; talks about books, experiments, fossils, and applied science. Such influences were invaluable and combined to awaken the interest of the boy’s expanding mind in things true and beautiful, and left but little foothold for the false and ugly potentialities of human existence. But, amid all this boyish life [he wrote later], there was rising up within the heart, like a fountain from un­known depths, the steady resolve, as yet hardly realized, and never breathed that the life was to be inspired by the one absorbing purpose of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Among my mother’s papers I found recently some early attempts at sermons, and each Sunday night my pro­clivities found expression in the little service at which the servants attended. The hands that reached down out of heaven, molding men, had already commenced to form a vessel, which in after days He was going in marvelous condescension to use. The boy completed his early education at the school of Mr. C. P. Mason, of Denmark Hill. At the age of sixteen, he was faced with the momentous duty of deciding the course he proposed to follow in coming years. There was only one answer for the fateful question: the lad confided in his father his earnest desire to become a minister of the Gospel. Dr. Brock was brought into consultation. This eminent preacher had had not a little to do with giving the first direction toward the formation of the earliest life-purpose of the little boy who sat on the book-box of the great corner pew in Bloomsbury Chapel. It was decided that he should preach a sermon before Dr. Brock. This was a tremendous ordeal for a mere lad, no matter how promising his gifts or how eager his desire to measure up to the occasion. Dr. Meyer declares that he never forgot the nervousness which overwhelmed him as he stood at the book-board. His knees trembled, his hands shook, and he felt as if he must sink into the earth. The verdict on the sermon was favorable, but Dr. Brock wisely counseled that the boy go into business for two or three years before proceeding to the ministry. He accordingly entered the firm of Allan Murray, tea merchants, Billiter Square. Thus more than two years were passed in a city counting-house, tasting tea, learning book-keeping, and in acquiring habits of punctuality, exact attention to detail, and a knowledge of the workaday life of young men. Time and again, in subsequent days, Dr. Meyer expressed the wish that every theological student could have a similar education in business, for in this way he would learn the real needs and temptations of young men, and be able to exercise a much more effective interest. "By all means", he would say, "let them graduate in the college of city life, and study atten­tively the great books of human nature. It is impos­sible to preach to young men unless you know young men, and possess some knowledge of the peril and temptation of their daily life." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 58: 04.03. CHAPTER 3 ======================================================================== Psalms 11:1-7 "THE RIGHTEOUS LORD." When John Welsh and his fellow-captives were summoned from their prison on the Firth of Forth, to appear before the court, they sang this Psalm as they walked by night under guard to their trial. It is worth reading in the rugged Scotch version. The Psalm is a debate between fear and faith, and probably dates from the time when David was being persecuted by Saul. THE COUNSELS OF EXPEDIENCY.-(Psalms 11:1) Timid friends, anxious for his safety, urged him, not simply to flee to the literal moun­tains, which he did, but to desert the cause of God, and to re­nounce his faith-which he never did. Birds escape the dangers of the plains by winging their flight to the caves or woods of the hills. Such counsels of expediency were frequently given to Nehemiah (Nehemiah 6:1-19). And the enemy has ever sought to dislodge the faithful servants of God by fear (Job 2:9-10; Luke 13:31). Luther’s diaries abound in similar references. And there is much force in the reasons alleged. The bow is already being bent; the darkness is in favor of evil stratagems (Psalms 11:2, R.V.); and the foundations of social order are undermined. Righteousness can­not avail: why should it not be relinquished? THE ANSWERS OF FAITH (Psalms 11:4-7).-The revolutions of earth cannot shake His throne. He permits the Evil One some license that the righteous may be tested (Job 1:1-22; Job 2:1-13; Luke 22:31-32). And when the limit is reached which His love apportions to His people’s trials, then their persecutors will first be entangled in snares, from which they shall not escape, and then overwhelmed as Sodom was. But in the meantime, whilst in the midst of per­secution and sorrow, let the righteous remember that the eye of God not only beholds their patience, but exchanges glances of tenderness with his suffering ones (Exodus 3:7). Psalms 12:1-8 "HELP, LORD!" The opening words suggest that this Psalm is an appeal for help in bad and evil days. There are days when sin seems ram­pant, sweeping all before it. The great and godly men one by one are taken away, and the ungodly reign supreme. But when there is no help in man, let us turn to God with the cry which broke from Peter’s lips when sinking in the waves. It is a very convenient cry, both from its brevity and its comprehensiveness. Help, Lord! (see Micah 7:2). THE NEED OF HELP (Psalms 12:1-2, Psalms 12:4).-Deceit is specially the sin of Orientals. A double heart is literally a heart and a heart; and such practise deceit on neighbors whom they should love. On the contrary, we are bidden to put away lying, and speak truth to our neighbors (Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9). Oh for perfect trans­parency of heart and life! THE CERTAINTY OF HELP (Psalms 12:3-4).-The very prayer begotten in the heart carries the assurance of an answer. Besides, the world is so made that daring wickedness rarely goes un­punished. Let us never act as if we thought our lips were our own; for they too have been bought with the price of those dear parched lips which cried, I thirst. THE ARISING OF HELP (Psalms 12:5).-God hears sighs. One sigh will make Him arise, as the sighs of Stephen made Jesus stand (Acts 7:56). THE BLESSED PROMISE OF HELP (Psalms 12:6-7).-There is no mixture of error in the words of God; all dross has been removed: they may therefore be trusted to the uttermost. Bind the words of God to your heart, and go fearlessly forth into the midst of vile and wicked men: you shall be kept and preserved for evermore (Isaiah 54:17) . Psalms 13:1-6 "HOW LONG, O LORD?" This Psalm evidently dates from the time of the Sauline perse­cutions. Four times the afflicted Psalmist cries, How long? The Psalm begins in the deepest dejection, but it clears as it proceeds; and the soul, lark-like, rises above the lower current of east wind, till it revels in the heaven of God’s love. Pray on, troubled believer: it is marvelous how certainly prayer proves to be a ladder from the deepest dungeon into the most radiant day. DEPRESSION (Psalms 13:1-2).-Saul’s persecutions probably lasted for night or nine years; and no hope of termination appeared (1 Samuel 27:1). David was as a man who spends five hundred days passing through a forest: the tangled over-growth hides the sun; and he begins to despair of ever emerging. Some say that this Psalm is the cry of the Church (Revelation 6:10). SUPPLICATION (Psalms 13:3-4).-How wise to hand over all worries and anxieties to God. If, instead of carrying them in our own heart, we made them all instantly known to Him, we should live more blessed and peaceful lives (Php 4:6-7). He had bemoaned four evils: he now entreats three blessings (Psalms 13:3). Oh for the enlightened eyes! (Ephesians 1:18). The holy soul is as eager for God’s honor, as for its own vindication (Psalms 13:4). ASSURANCE (Psalms 13:5-6).-It is very delightful when we can sing, though not out of the wood, because so certain of the coming deliverance. Faith praises for the victory, before the fight has even reached its worst. After lying for some time in the Bishop of London’s coalhouse, Mr. John Philpot was rebuked for singing hymns in prison, and he answered: "I have so much joy that I cannot lament; but day and night I never was so merry before." Psalms 14:1-7 "THE FOOL HATH SAID-’NO GOD!’" The creed, character, and doom of the Atheist are here depicted; and the Psalm is so important as to be repeated (Psalms 53:1-6), with slight alterations, which show this rendering more suitable for public use. The Hebrew word translated fool (naval) denotes one of withered intellect. THE ROOT OF ATHEISM.-It begins not in the head, but in the heart (Romans 1:21). Men do not like God; they try to ignore Him, and end by blatantly denying Him. The surest way of dealing with such is to treat them as rebels and sinners. THE EFFECT OF ATHEISM ON THE CHARACTER (Psalms 14:1-6).-Corrup­tion as of a grave; abominable works; darkened understanding; filthiness of heart and life; persecution and shaming of the godly; but finally "great fear." What a terrible catalogue of crimes! These verses are largely quoted by the Apostle (Romans 3:10-12) as true of all men; because the seeds of this awful crop are by nature latent in us all, awaiting favorable conditions of germina­tion. God comes as a seeker ("the Father seeketh": John 4:23), eagerly looking for those who abjure the ways of sin, and call upon Him; and these are picked out by Him as his choice jewels, for his own. The word because in ver. 6 would be better rendered but. The enemy may come up against the camp of the righteous, but God is in the midst of them; they cannot be moved (Psalms 46:1, Psalms 46:5). THE BEST ANSWER TO ATHEISM (Psalms 14:7).-The Church of God, of whom the Jewish people was a type, is too much in captivity to the world and the devil. Let us daily ask that our salvation may speedily come, the advent of which shall bring discomfiture to our foes, and long, glad rejoicings to us (Hebrews 9:28; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10). Psalms 15:1-5 WALKING WITH GOD. This Psalm was probably composed with Psalms 24:1-10-which it closely resembles-to celebrate the bringing of the Ark to Mount Zion. The first words are almost a repetition of the awe-struck question of the stricken men of Bethshemesh (1 Samuel 6:20). And the rest of the Psalm gives a description of those who may dwell with God. If we would have fellowship with God, and dwell in his house all the days of our earthly life, let us see that this character is ours, by the grace of the Holy Spirit! THE CHALLENGE OF THE SOLOIST (Psalms 15:1). THE ANSWER OF THE CHOIR (Psalms 15:2-5).-The answer is given, first, positively (Psalms 15:2), and then, negatively (Psalms 15:3); so also, in the-two following verses. It is very needful that we watch our walk, and work, and talk, if we would have fellowship with God. Those who would walk with God must be like God. We must abhor slander, evil, and reproach. When stories reach us, let them stop with us. Let us act as nonconductors. We must also mind what company we keep; withdrawing from the companionship of the vile, but drawing close to and honoring all who fear God, as children of the same Father, and therefore brethren and sisters in the same family, whatever their rank or sect. Usury, which is a very different thing to the taking of interest; and bribes-are equally inconsistent with the vision of God. If only we are heedful of all these matters, we shall not only be able to dwell in the royal palace, as priest and kings, but we shall remain steadfast and unmoveable amid the changes and convulsions around. Here is the secret of permanence and rest (Psalms 15:5). Psalms 16:1-11 "MY HEART IS GLAD." Michtam is derived by some from a word meaning golden. And, indeed, that epithet may be truly applied, not only to this Psalm, but to Psalms 56:1-13, Psalms 57:1-11, Psalms 58:1-11, Psalms 59:1-17, Psalms 60:1-12. Others explain it as a secret; i.e., a song which leads the holy soul into those deep things of God which are hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed to babes, by that Spirit who searches them, and loves to make them known to those for whom they are prepared (1 Corinthians 2:10-14). This, then, is the song of the golden secret. The key to the Psalm is given by the Apostle Peter, when, quot­ing from it, he says: "David speaketh concerning Him" (Acts 2:25). And in the following verses he goes on to show that the Psalm could not be true in all its wealth of meaning of David, but of David’s Lord (Acts 2:31). And the Apostle Paul makes a very remarkable reference to this Psalm, expressly ascribing it to God’s authorship through the Psalmist, and affirm­ing that it spoke of Him through whom all who believe are justified (Acts 13:35-38). But, of course, in a lower sense, each one of us who are one with Jesus may appropriate these golden words. Psalms 16:1. The believer turns from all creature confidence to his God, as his only hope and all-sufficient help. Trust in Him cannot be misplaced. It is an argument which God cannot withstand. Psalms 16:2. The rendering of R.V. is very beautiful "I have no good beyond Thee." Satisfied with God; wanting nothing in wealth or comfort outside Him. Psalms 16:3. The soul that loves God loves the people of God. Psalms 16:4-6. Contrasted lots.-The R.V. brings out the sense. Those who exchange the Lord for another god shall have "sorrows multiplied"; those who live in God’s favor shall have "a goodly heritage." Fleeing idolatry in every form, the Lord is our por­tion; He will maintain our lot, assert our cause. The measuring lines are outstretched so as to divide off for us a liberal patri­mony; they fall in pleasant places, and our allotment is one facing the sun, and including abundance of water. Oh to be as Levi, whose only portion was God Himself! (Numbers 18:20; Lamentations 3:24). Psalms 16:7. Reins mean inmost thoughts (Psalms 7:9). God often speaks in the quiet heart through the language of thoughts. Psalms 16:8. The one object of life is to do his will and please Him; and He is ever at the right hand to help-nearer than our accusers (compare Psalms 109:6, Psalms 109:31). Psalms 16:9. My glory interpreted by Peter of "the tongue" (Acts 2:26). Speech is man’s glory: therewith he blesses God and teaches his brother. Psalms 16:10-11. Thus the Lord Jesus might have softly sung to Himself as He descended into the lowest depths of his humiliation. Hell here is sheol; not the place of torment, but of disembodied spirits. Thine Holy One, i.e., one whom Thou favorest. The path of life is the upward path to life. God is at our right hand, and our lot is pleasant here; and ere long we shall be at his right hand, amid everlasting pleasures. Psalms 17:1-15 "l SHALL BE SATISFIED!" This prayer dates from the SauIine persecutions. In the earlier verses David protests his innocence, and then proceeds to plead for deliverance from his foes, ending with glad anticipations of his vision of God’s face. It may have been composed for use at eventide; two at least of its verses point in that direction (Psalms 17:3 and Psalms 17:15). PROTESTATIONS OF INTEGRITY (Psalms 17:1-5).-What a comfort to appeal from the accusations of men to the judgment-bar of God! Even if there have been unwise things in the behavior, yet God judges the motive and heart. The Hebrew word "tried" is "melted" (tzaraph); as gold is tried in the furnace and found to have no dross. But we can have no hope of preserving our integrity and keeping from the paths of the transgressor unless we avail our­selves of the Word of God to test and direct our goings. Use the Royal Guide-book if you would keep on the King’s highway. It is beautiful to notice how David follows up his assertion of buying kept in God’s ways with the cry that he may still be kept there. PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE (Psalms 17:6-14).-How safe we are! As the apple of the eye: the pupil of the eye is defended by eyelash, lid, brow, bony socket, the swiftly-uplifted hand (comp. Zechariah 2:8). Thy wings: the eaglet is gathered under the wing of the parent bird (Deuteronomy 32:11; Exodus 19:4). The R.V. gives a better sense of Psalms 17:13-14 : "by thy sword," "by thy hand." What a striking contrast there is between Psalms 17:14 and Psalms 16:5, Psalms 16:11. GLAD ANTICIPATION (Psalms 17:15).-They are filled with this world-I with Thee: they look for the things of this life-I with the eternal and unseen: they satisfied with children-I with thy likeness (1 Corinthians 15:49; Php 3:21). We shall never be perfectly satisfied with anything less than the beatific vision. Most of that rapturous vision is veiled from sight; but when it shall be unveiled, it will be approved. Psalms 18:1-50 MY ROCK AND MY FORTRESS. There is another form of this Psalm on record-that in 2 Samuel 22:1-51. It recapitulates the deliverances of the past, and sets them to music. The Psalms 18:2 and Psalms 18:49 are quoted in New Testament as the words of the Lord Jesus (Hebrews 2:13; Romans 15:9). A GOOD RESOLVE (Psalms 18:1-3).-How beautiful is this array of metaphors; as if no single one were forcible enough to set forth the many-sided glory of God. And Faith puts its hand, my, on all that God is, and claims it for its own. Can we not also say: "I LOVE Thee"? Not indeed as we would, yet we can take John 21:17 : "Thou knowest." David’s word is a very intense one. THE STORY OF THE PAST (Psalms 18:4-19).-It is good to recall God’s gracious dealings. David does it in highly poetical language, borrowed from the scenes of the Red Sea and Sinai. And yet there was so much of God’s gracious help in his life, that he was warranted in comparing it with the deliverance from Egypt. We, too, have our Red Seas. And God will do for us as much as for David. In our distress let us also cry. "Far up within the bejewelled walls, and through the gates of pearl, the cry of the sufferer will be heard." My cry came before Him. The voice is thin and solitary, but the answer shakes creation. THE CLAIM OF THE RIGHTEOUS (Psalms 18:20-27).-The righteousness of which David boasted was not his own; for he was willing to admit that he was not free from impurity: but it rather indicates purity of motive and integrity of heart as contrasted with hypocrisy and wickedness. Compare Psalms 18:26 with Leviticus 26:21-24. Our moral character gives its shape to our thoughts of God. JOYFUL ANTICIPATION (Psalms 18:28-45).-God’s way is perfect, and He maketh our way perfect. Walls and troops cannot oppose us, when God’s way lies through them, and we are on the line of his purpose. Swift and sure-footed in slippery places (Psalms 18:33). Strong in battle (Psalms 18:34). Oh, the gentleness of God! (Psalms 18:35). It has done more for us than severity. Instead of the word "gentleness" the Prayer-­book version translates, "Thy loving correction." THE CLOSING HALLELUJAH (Psalms 18:46-50).- We must stint our words when we thank our fellows, lest we be extravagant. But mortal lips need never refrain themselves for fear of saying too much to God. Psalms 19:1-14 THE WITNESS OF THE HEAVENS. The Psalm of the Two Books: the Book of nature, and the written Word. If Psalms 8:1-9 were written at night, this must have been penned by day. In the 1st verse God is called EL, the Strong One; in verses Psalms 19:7-9, Psalms 19:14, the Hebrew name JEHOVAH is translated LORD; as if his glory as Creator were the stepping-stone to loftier conceptions of Him in redemption. From both sources comes the sense of sin. NATURE.-There is the blue tapestry of the azure, and the ex­panse of the firmament, woven by God. What a picture of the sacred silence of the dawn! "No speech, nor language; their voice cannot be heard" (R.V.). There is also the universality of their wit­ness-bearing. "Line" is the compass or territory through which they speak; some translate it "chord"; but there is no tongue in which the works of God do not speak. Does not the picture of the dawn, in which the sun comes forth radiant as a bridegroom, strong as an athlete, make us think of the resurrection? And is not Jesus our Sun, from the heat of which no loving heart need be hid? (Malachi 4:2). REVELATION.-Six synonyms-the law; the testimony; the statutes; the commandment; the fear; the judgments-are used of the Word of God; and twelve qualities are ascribed to it. How truly might our blessed Lord have appropriated Psalms 19:10! The man who, as David, lives a simple natural life, is he who best appreciates the Bible. CONFESSION AND PRAYER (Psalms 19:12-14).-"Errors"; the same word is used Leviticus 4:2, Leviticus 4:13. "Errors" will, if not checked, lead on to presumptuous and deliberate sins. The "dominion" which the Psalmist feared is expressly referred to in Romans 6:14. What a claim we have on God when we can say, "Thy servant!" For the seventh time David repeats the covenant name "Jehovah," with two last, loving epithets, "Rock" and "Redeemer" (R.V.). Psalms 20:1-9 "THE LORD ANSWER THEE!" This Psalm may have been written on such an occasion as that of 2 Samuel 10:1-19. It may be used especially when the armies of our King are going forth to war. THE PRAYER OF THE SOLDIERS (Psalms 20:1-4) .-Ready drawn up for the fight, the soldiers pray for their king, who was wont on the eve of battle to bring sacrifices and offerings for success. (Psalms 20:1) The Lord hear thee! literally, The Lord shall answer thee! The "name" of God is his character: and the God of Jacob will not reject or forsake any worms as weak as the patriarch was once. THE RESOLVE (Psalms 20:5).-As the banners wave in the breeze it is expressly said that God is the object of trust. The Lord is our banner (Exodus 17:15); and we succeed so far as we set forward in his name and for his glory. THE VOICE OF THE KING (Psalms 20:6).-The devotion of the soldiers seems to their leader an omen for good. God’s holiness is a guaran­tee of his faithfulness. The Hebrew for strength (gevooreoth, "powers) is plural, implying the infinitude of God’s resources. THE FINAL CHORUS OF THE HOST (Psalms 20:7-9).-As they look across the field to the embattled array, they contrast the chariots and cavalry of the foe with their slender equipment. But, lo! as they gaze, their enemies are scattered; and with the brief ejaculation, "Save!" they hurl themselves headlong in pursuit. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 59: 04.04. CHAPTER 4 ======================================================================== Psalms 21:1-13 STRENGTH AND SALVATION. This is evidently a companion Psalm to the former. The blessings there asked are here gladly acknowledged to have been granted: and bright anticipations are entertained for the future. How much of it is only true of our King! Let us read it over with an especial reference to Him, as He rides forth on his white horse (Revelation 19:11-16). Psalms 21:2. His heart’s desire.-The heart’s desire finds its expression by the lips: and so the answer comes. There is no contrast implied between unspoken desire and oral prayer: both ascend together. Psalms 21:3. Thou preventest him (goest before him).-God’s help antici­pates our needs. It precedes us. Psalms 21:4. He asked life of Thee.-Our true life can be measured only by eternal ages. Psalms 21:5. Honour and majesty-Similar terms are used of our Lord in Hebrews 2:9-"crowned with glory and honour." Psalms 21:6. Most blessed for ever.-Blessedly true of our beloved dead (Revelation 20:6). Psalms 21:7. Trusteth-shall not be moved.-Trust is the secret of per­manence. Psalms 21:8-12. All thine enemies.-Our foes, and the foes of Jesus, must perish. Not one of them shall escape. In the garden of Olivet, Christ’s gentle I am He overthrew the soldiers (John 18:6). How will it be when the wrath of the Lamb flames forth?-who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:16). Fear them not! "they are not able to perform." The dog may snarl, but is muzzled. Psalms 21:13. Be Thou exalted, 0 Lord!-Every loyal heart must join in that devout wish. But we may ask whether we have exalted Him to the place of power in the inner kingdom. God has exalted Him to be Prince and Saviour; and we shall not have peace until we have done the same (Acts 5:31). Psalms 22:1-31 THE PSALM OF THE CROSS. The Hebrew inscription to this exquisite ode, which demands as many pages as we can give it lines, is "the hind of the morning." The "hind" stands for one persecuted to death, and is also an em­blem of loveliness (Song of Solomon 2:7, Song of Solomon 2:9). The cruel persecutors are designated as "bulls, lions, and dogs." Perhaps the addition "of the morning" (marg.) refers to the dawn of brighter and hotter days. There is a remarkable exchange in the latter part of the Psalm (Psalms 22:22-31) of triumph for complaint. Of course, our blessed Lord is in every syllable. Indeed, it reads more as a history than a proph­ecy. It seems as if the Divine Sufferer recited it to Himself during the agonies of his crucifixion, for it begins with "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" and it ends, according to some, in the original, with "It is finished!" "It is the photograph of our Lord’s saddest hours: the record of his dying words; the lachry­matory of his last tears; the memorial of his expiring joys." If we have here the sufferings of Christ, we shall certainly have also the glory that should follow. Psalms 22:1-8. COMPLAINTS THAT HE IS FORSAKEN AND UNHEARD, AL­THOUGH HE HAD TRUSTED FOR DELIVERANCE. Psalms 22:9-21. EXPOSTULATIONS ON THE GROUND OF PAST FAVOR AND OF THE EXTREMITY OF HIS SUFFERINGS. Psalms 22:22-31. EJACULATIONS OF PRAISE, AS THE CLOUD BEGINS TO ROLL AWAY. Ah, Psalm that was balm to the pierced heart of Jesus, how precious art thou to those who drink his cup! Psalms 22:1. My God, my God!-Uttered by our Lord after the darkness had lasted for three long hours. His God still, though hidden. God was as near and tender as ever; but the human consciousness of the Sin-bearer, made a curse for us, had lost the sensible enjoyment of his presence. Psalms 22:2. Thou hearest not.-This is rendered in R.V. answerest not. God’s silence is no reason for our silence; but on the contrary, an incentive to more importunity (Matthew 15:22-23). Psalms 22:3. Thou art Holy.-Though prayer is not immediately answered, there is no imputation on the character of God. The praises of the saints are the throne of the Eternal. Psalms 22:4-5. They trusted.-The thrice repetition is very significant. Is this the prominent feature in our character that our children will recall, and on which they will base their pleas? Psalms 22:7-10. They laugh me to scorn.-His very enemies had remarked how he rolled himself upon God (Psalms 22:8, marg.), and used it as a jeer; but the Sufferer turns it into a prayer. From his birth he had been God’s nursling, and could he be now deserted? Psalms 22:11. Be not far from me.-Trouble sometimes seems nearer than God. But this is only to the eye of sense. Faith descries the De­liverer coming across the waves, and saying, It is I. Psalms 22:14. All my bones are out of joint.-What a vivid picture of the anguish of the cross! The gaping crowds; the strength and viru­lence of their abuse; the bones wrenched from one another; the broken heart; the fevered lips; the pierced hands and feet; the parted garments; the thrusting of Jehovah’s sword against his fellow (Psalms 22:20; Zechariah 13:7). Psalms 22:20. My Darling.-We learn from the parallelism that this re­presents his soul. The Hebrew is my only one. Psalms 22:21. Thou hast heard me.-In the limits of one verse prayer begins to change to praise. He who had said, "Thou hearest not" (Psalms 22:2), confesses that all the while God had been hearing and helping him. The dog, the lion, the wild oxen (R.V.), are emblems of the hatred of man, from which God had rescued his servant. Psalms 22:22. I will declare thy name.- John 17:26; Hebrews 2:12. Psalms 22:24. He hath not despised.-Man may despise (Psalms 22:6), but God can­not. Man may abhor a worm (Psalms 22:6), but God uses such to thresh mountains. And though his face may seem hidden (Psalms 22:1-2) it is not really so. Psalms 22:25-26. My praise shall be of Thee.-Of Thee, i.e.; originating from Thee, shall be my praise. Praise shall be the ultimate per­quisite of all who seek God. And all who feed on the words of Jesus must have everlasting life (John 6:51). Psalms 22:27-31. All the ends of the world.-There is surely here a fore­cast of the effects of the death of the cross, first on the Jews (Psalms 22:23), but also in these verses on the Gentiles. The ends of the earth converted; the usurper dethroned (Psalms 22:28); the resurrection ac­complished (Psalms 22:29); and the seeing of a spiritual seed to satisfy the travail of the Redeemer’s soul. Psalms 23:1-6 THE SHEPHERD PSALM. A Sabbath restfulness breathes through this Psalm. It is the favorite of the children; but the oldest and holiest must confess that it touches an experience which lies still in front of them. There is no strife, no fear, no denunciation of the wicked, no effort at self-vindication: the waters, which fretted and chafed in their earlier course, flow in placid repose through the rich pasture lands, and beneath the arms of the spreading trees; and if for a moment there is the suggestion of the dark valley of deathshadow, it is instantly dismissed by the thought that He will he there, whose face makes light in the darkest night. Jehovah is represented successively as the true Shepherd and Guide and Host of his people. And we are taught to think much less of ourselves in our relations with Him, and more of Him as being responsible for us. After all, it is not so much a question of what we are to Jesus, as of what He is to us. The flock does not keep the Shepherd, but the Shepherd the flock. Look away from self, and trust Him to keep and lead and feed. All that we should care for, is not knowingly to resist any of his gracious promptings and teachings. The Psalm was probably written when the sun of David’s life was westering. The experience of age is grafted on the memories of youth. Psalms 23:1. The Lord is my Shepherd.-The thought of God as the Shepherd of his saints is familiar to Scripture students from Genesis 48:15 to Revelation 7:17, especially John 10:1-42. Let God see to your wants. There is nothing you really need for which you may not count on Him. Psalms 23:2. He leadeth me.-"Pastures of tender grass and waters of rest." Psalms 23:3. He restoreth my soul.-When the soul has spent itself unduly, He recruits it. When diseased, He heals it. When penitent, He puts it back whence it fell. It is only as we look back on life that we see how absolutely right were paths that seemed most wrong. But his name and character are implicated in doing the best for us. Psalms 23:4. The valley of the shadow.-This is not death only, but any dark ravine through which we have to pass. But God seems nearest then. It is no longer He, but Thou. Club to defend; crook to chasten and guide. Psalms 23:5. Thou preparest.-Every day is that table spread with food for body and spirit, but we need the purged eye to see, and the believing hand to appropriate. And we must be prepared to break through a ring of enemies to feed, and to get the daily anointing of the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:27). Psalms 23:6. The house of the Lord.-God’s house is his Presence-Him­self. There let us live. And his twin-angels shall follow us. We must not look behind, dreading the pursuit of the evil past. The rear is well protected. Watch-dogs behind; the Shepherd before. Psalms 24:1-10 THE KING OF GLORY. Psalms 22:1-31 tells of the Cross; Psalms 23:1-6 of the Crook; Psalms 24:1-10 of the Crown. This great choral hymn was evidently composed to celebrate the removal of the Ark from the house of Obed-edom to Mount Zion (2 Samuel 6:1-23). There must have been a great procession by which it was conducted, with music and song, to its resting­place (1 Chronicles 15:2-27). This Psalm was without doubt composed for a choir. The first two verses might have been sung by the entire festal crowd; the third by a single voice; the fourth and fifth by the choir; and the sixth by all. What a sublime challenge on the part of the approaching host is contained in Psalms 24:7, answered by a company already within the gates (Psalms 24:8); to which again the vast shout of the multitudes gives reply. Surely this ode was rightly employed when used by Handel to represent the return of the ascending Saviour to his home. It never reached its perfect accomplishment till the Victor over hell and the grave arose on high. Psalms 24:1-2. The earth is the Lord’s.-These words were chosen by Albert the Good to be placed as a motto over the Royal Ex­change. The earth and men are God’s by right of creation and redemption. The devil is a usurper, and shall be thrust out. Psalms 24:3-4. The Hill of the Lord.-The Almighty is also the All-Holy. We are his: but we cannot approach Him unless we observe cer­tain conditions, which He will secure in us by the power of the Holy Spirit, if we are only willing that He should. Psalms 24:5. From Jehovah-from Elohim.-Ah, what a blessing is this! (Genesis 15:6; Genesis 49:25). Psalms 24:6. Them that seek thy face.-We must evidently insert the name of God before Jacob, as the margin suggests. Psalms 24:7. Lift up your heads!-The doors are everlasting, grey with hoar antiquity, and destined to stand for ever. The connection between Psalms 15:1-5 and Psalms 24:1-10 has already been pointed out. This Psalm is accomplished in us when Jesus enters our hearts as our King to reign; and it will have its full realization when the earth and its populations welcome Him as its Lord. Psalms 25:1-22 "THE SECRET OF THE LORD." An acrostic or alphabetical Psalm. The verses begin with the let­ters of the Hebrew alphabet; probably to aid the memory: so also Psalms 9:1-20; Psalms 10:1-18; Psalms 25:1-22; Psalms 34:1-22; Psalms 37:1-40; Psalms 111:1-20; Psalms 112:1-10; Psalms 119:1-176; Psalms 145:1-21. It contains many similar expressions, which might be connected by slight Bible markings. Such are wait (Psalms 3:1-8, Psalms 5:1-12, Psalms 21:1-13); ashamed (Psalms 2:1-12, Psalms 3:1-8, Psalms 20:1-9); teach (Psalms 4:1-8, Psalms 5:1-12, Psalms 8:1-9, Psalms 9:1-20, Psalms 12:1-8). Psalms 25:1. Unto Thee, 0 Lord!-Lift up your soul, that its darkness may be penetrated by his light, its maladies healed by his saving health. Psalms 25:4-5. Lead me! ... and teach me!-If you utter this prayer in all sincerity, wait for the answer: be sure that it will come, and if you are not yet told what to do, wait till you know cer­tainly. "Wait all the day." Psalms 25:8-9. Therefore will He teach.-God’s holiness is no barrier, but an encouragement to repentant sinners (compare Matthew 9:13 and Luke 15:1). Not the meek only, but sinners may claim his teaching. Do not be careful as to your lessons, but as to acquiring them. God will set them; we must get them by heart. Psalms 25:11. For thy Name’s sake! How much the Old Testament writers count on God’s Name! It is his character, his troth, Himself (Joshua 7:9; Isaiah 63:14, Isaiah 63:16; Ezekiel 36:22-23). Psalms 25:13. His soul shall dwell.-In the darkest, saddest hour we may find a home in the goodness of God. Psalms 25:14. The secret of the Lord.-What secrets God has to tell his own! (Genesis 18:17; John 13:31; John 15:15; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10). Psalms 25:15. Mine eyes are toward the Lord.-Do not look down at your feet, but up to his face. Psalms 25:20. Oh, keep my soul!-When we are unable to keep ourselves for God, let us trust Him to keep us for Himself. He is able to do this; and it is best to transfer the entire responsibility to Him (2 Timothy 1:12). We cannot be "ashamed" (Isaiah 45:17; Isaiah 49:23; Isaiah 50:7). Psalms 26:1-12 "JUDGE ME, 0 LORD." In some respects this Psalm is similar to the previous one: only, instead of entreaties for forgiveness, there are protestations of innocence. It may have been composed during Absalom’s rebellion, and is a strenuous protest against the dissembling and hypocrisy on which that revolt had been built. In these avowals of conscious rectitude, we must ever bear in mind that David did not mean to express absolute sinlessness, but his innocence of those specific charges with which he had been assailed. Psalms 26:1. I shall not slide.-If therefore be omitted, we get the sense that he had not slidden from his attitude of faith. Let us trust God to keep us trusting. Psalms 26:2. Examine, and prove.-These words are all borrowed from the smelting furnace, and point to the purity which fire gives. If the Baptism of Fire avail not, we must pass through the Fires of Purification (Numbers 31:23; Malachi 3:1-3). Psalms 26:3. I have walked in thy truth (Zechariah 10:12). Psalms 26:4-5. I have not sat.-Human society without God is an empty bubble, and cannot satisfy (Psalms 1:1). Psalms 26:6-7. In innocency. -We must use the laver, if we would min­ister at the altar. It is more important to be clean than to be clever. We must wash before we publish and tell. Psalms 26:8. I have loved ... thy house.-Hatred of evil men (Psalms 26:5) is one side of the coin; love to God’s house the other. Seek either; and the other will be yours. Psalms 26:11. Mine integrity.-Can we also assert our integrity-that is, our whole-heartedness? (Job 2:3, Job 2:9; Job 27:5). Is our eye single? our heart open toward God? Are our motives pure? If so, though we still need "grace to help," yet we are on an even table-land, in which there is no pitfall or cause of stumbling, and from which the glad song of praise shall ascend as sweet incense to God. Psalms 27:1-14 "SEEK YE MY FACE!" This Psalm probably dates from the time when the exiled king, surrounded by unscrupulous foes, looked from the regions beyond the Jordan to the beloved city, where the Ark of God abode. It would almost seem as if his one thought was-not to resume his throne, but to revisit the sanctuary of God. "One thing have I desired." The "one thing" people are irresistable (Php 3:13). I. ASSURANCE (Psalms 27:1-6).-How many-sided is God! He is "light," "salvation," and "strength." The trusting soul lives behind a triple door. We may shrink from uttering the desire to dwell evermore in Jehovah’s house. And yet there is a sense in which even busy people can do this, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. God’s presence is God’s house. Abide in Him! You are "in Him" unless you consciously go out. How beautiful is God’s world! How much more beautiful Himself! If you behold that beauty, it will be transferred to your own face, though you wist it not (Psalms 90:17; Psalms 110:3). Temple (Psalms 27:4) is here applied to the tent which David erected on Mount Zion (2 Samuel 6:17). The believer who hides in God is as safe as the young Joash (2 Chronicles 22:12). II. SUPPLICATION (Psalms 27:7-14) .-The triumphant trust of the Psalm suddenly changes to a tone of sadness, as if a cloud had for a moment passed over the soul. Did the writer for a moment look from his Saviour to the wind and waves? How true to life are these changing strains! What a comfort to know that our ex­periences do not alter our standing! Sometimes God seems to hide his face, only to lead the soul to a pitch of trust which otherwise it had never dared to adopt (Mark 7:28). Here is the heart-echo. God’s words come back to Him as a prayer. The dearest may forsake, but the Lord gathers (Isaiah 40:11). Psalms 27:11. Teach me! ... lead me!-Again we have the even path of Psalms 26:12. Psalms 27:12. Mine enemies.-We may apply this to the wicked spirits of the heavenly places who assail us, if we have no earthly foes who hate us for the truth’s sake. It is an unlikely thing, however, that we should escape hatred, if we are living very near to Christ (John 15:19-20). Psalms 27:13. Unless I had believed to see.-Look up! and look on! Psalms 27:14. Wait on the Lord!-It is so much easier to act, or lie down and die, or run to friends, than to wait. But waiting is the true posture. He that waits for God shall not be long without the God for whom he waits. How delightful are the me and my of this exquisite Psalm!-the pronouns of personal appropriation. Psalms 28:1-9 "UNTO THEE WILL I CRY!" This Psalm also probably belongs to the time of Absalom’s rebellion. Psalms 28:2-3 closely resemble Psalms 26:8-9. Psalms 28:1-2. If Thou be silent.-What a thought is suggested in the silence of God! Sometimes He is silent because He loves (Zephaniah 3:17, marg.). Sometimes to test our faith and stir up our zeal (Matthew 15:23). Sometimes because He has already spoken, and we have not heeded his words (Matthew 26:62). But if a period of silence befall us, let us not have recourse to any unhallowed source of help (1 Samuel 28:6-7): let us rather pray and wait, lifting up our hands for help towards God’s oracle. Psalms 28:3-5. The workers of iniquity.-The world is so made that wickedness is doomed to failure; and the righteous man is glad when God’s righteous government of the world is thus approved. We must look at the punishment of wrong-doing, not only from man’s standpoint, but from God’s. Psalms 28:6-7. He hath heard!-The answer has already begun to steal into the psalmist’s soul. Some herald-ray has announced the coming dawn. Some stray flowers of hope piercing the sod tell of coming spring. The quick ear can tell the pibroch of the Highlanders, though foes engirdle the beleaguered city. "I am helped." Isaiah 28:8-9. The Lord is my strength.-Note the contrast between my strength (Psalms 28:7) and their strength (Psalms 28:8). Trust is contagious as well as panic. What heart, which has experienced God’s help, does not long that all may know the blessed help and salvation of God! Feed them (Psalms 81:10, Psalms 81:16). Bear them (R.V.; Isaiah 63:9; Isaiah 40:11). It is thus that prayer clears itself in its utterance, and changes its note to praise; and, as a rising lark, breaks into song as it soars. Psalms 29:1-11 "THE VOICE OF THE LORD." A perfect specimen of Hebrew poetry, giving a magnificent description of a thunderstorm, marching from north to south of Palestine. PRELUDE (Psalms 29:1-2).-Addressed to the firstborn sons of light (marg.), who stand above the tumult of earth and sky. Heaven is viewed as a temple, the priests of which are angels, clad in holy vestments (2 Chronicles 20:21; Psalms 110:3). THE DESCRIPTION OF THE STORM (Psalms 29:3-9).-We hear first the low, distant muttering of the thunder. The "many waters" may refer to the Mediterranean, from which the storm arose (Psalms 29:3). Coming nearer, the tempest breaks on Lebanon and Sirion, the Sidonian name for Hermon; the cedars of which sway to and fro before the wild fury of the storm. And each thunder peal is accompanied by the zig-zag forked lightning (Psalms 29:4-7). The storm passes southwards to the desert Kadesh, and to the rock-hewn cities of Petra. The very beasts are stricken with terror, and the forests are stripped of their leafy dress, so that their ground and floor is discovered. And in the Temple the gathered worshippers respond to the challenge of nature, and say, "Glory!" "Every whit of it uttereth glory" (marg.). Oh that every whit of the inner temple of our hearts, and of the spiritual temple of the Church-each nail, and thread, and splint-might utter that same cry, "Glory to God in the Highest!" The voice of the Lord is mentioned SEVEN times, re­minding us of the seven thunders of Revelation 10:3. THE CONCLUSION (Psalms 29:10-11).-God’s supremacy is the subject of these closing words. He sits upon the clouds as on a throne or chariot. He is King of Nature and of Grace. He is in the strength of the storm, and in the halcyon peace that breaks out like a smile, when the storm has passed; and He can give both to his people. It has been truly said that the Psalm begins with Gloria in excelsis! and ends with Pax in terris! "Glory to God" implies "peace on earth." Psalms 30:1-12 "THOU HAST LIFTED ME UP!" It becomes the child of God to dedicate to Him the house in which he lives, so that each room of it should be part of His temple, dedicated to His service and used for His glory. David wrote this psalm and song on the occasion referred to in 2 Samuel 5:11. It records the emotions which befitted the transition from the cave of Adullam to the splendor and comfort of a house of cedar. Psalms 30:1. I will extol Thee!-Lift Him up in song, who has lifted thee up in mercy. Exalt Him, from each eminence to which He has exalted thee. Psalms 30:2-3. Thou! Thou! Thou!-It may be that David celebrates here his recovery from some deadly sickness. At such times we must not put the physician or remedy in the place of God (2 Chronicles 16:12). Psalms 30:4-5. Sing! .. and give thanks!-No one saint, though he were a sweet singer like David, always engaged in making melody, could tell forth all God’s praise. In what arrears then must most of us be! Weeping is here personified; she is a lodger, who tarries for the brief Eastern night, and then, veiled, glides out of the house before daybreak. And with the first ray of light joy comes to stay; and there is a shout in the vestibule. Psalms 30:6-9. I cried to Thee!-When our circumstances are prosperous, we begin to rest in them rather than in God; and we forget Him, by whom alone our mountain is made to stand strong. Then He hides his face. The Chaldee says, "His sheckinah." And the soul, panic-stricken, turns from the creature to the Creator. Psalms 30:10. "Lord, be Thou my helper," is a prayer which will well befit our life every day. How swiftly the prayer was heard! Psalms 30:11-12. In these utterances the past tense is used of Him who turneth the shadow of death into morning .. Christ might have used these words of rapture on the Resurrection day. Each penitent may use them. And we shall use them when we have put off the body of our humiliation, and stand before God in his sanctuary (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 60: 04.05. CHAPTER 5 ======================================================================== Psalm XXXI "IN THE SECRET OF THY PRESENCE." In Psalms 31:9-18 we have a picture of unusual grief. Some have thought the Psalm was written during the Sauline persecutions; but it is more likely that it dated from the rebellion of Absalom. It alternates from depths of despondency to heights of sublime trust; and well befits the experiences of any who walk in the darkness and have no light (Isaiah 50:10). Psalms 31:1. In Thee do I trust.-God’s answer to his people’s trust is guaranteed by his righteousness (Joel 2:26) . Psalms 31:2. A house of defence.-Hidden with Christ in God, the be­liever, apparently defenceless, lives, walks, and has his being, with­in an impregnable defence. You go into the day, enclosed in God, just as God’s life is enclosed in you. Psalms 31:3-4. Pull me out of the net!-When we are wholly given up to God, our cause is his, and the honour of his name is at stake (Joshua 7:9). God’s pulls are sometimes rather sharp. Psalms 31:5. Into Thine hand!-The last words of Stephen, Polycarp, Bernard, Huss, Luther, Melancthon, and of many more, and, above all, of our Lord (Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59). The Psalter was our Saviour’s prayer-book. This is a suitable petition for every morning, ere we go forth to the day’s war and work. What a claim we have on God! He must keep what we commit, because we are his by redemption, and because his truth cannot fail (2 Timothy 1:12). Psalms 31:7. I will be glad and rejoice!-Faith will find material for her songs in the darkest days. God can recognize us though our beauty has vanished and our friends hardly know us (Job 2:12). Psalms 31:9. Mine eye is consumed with grief.-This and the following verses tell a sad tale. There is a special disease of the eyes brought on by excessive weeping; and we all know how the digestion and the health are affected by mental emotion. Yet, amid all, the be­liever realizes that each moment of suffering is allotted by the dear hand of God. Not one unkind thing can be said or done, un­less by his permission. The Refiner sits beside the crucible, his watch in hand, his other hand on the patient’s pulse. "My times are in thy hand." Psalms 31:10. My strength faileth.-Sin may be committed in the heat of passion; but it lays up for itself bitter memories, and involves sorrowful consequences, which eat into the soul. Psalms 31:11. A fear to mine acquaintance.-The inmates of the same house avoided him, and those who met him in the streets without lied from him. Psalms 31:14-18. Thou art my God.-What a change there is in the spirit of our life, when we look from men and things to God! Do not look at God through circumstances; but at circumstances through the environing presence of God, as through a golden haze. The times of our Lord’s life were in his Father’s hands, as ours are in his (Psalms 31:15; John 2:4; John 7:6, John 7:8, John 7:30; John 8:20). Who will dread the averted faces of friends or foes, if only God’s face shines? But we cannot expect it to shine unless, as his servants, we are where He would have us be, and doing his will (Psalms 31:16). "Grievous" thing are hard ones (Psalms 31:18). Psalms 31:19. How great is Thy goodness!-As God hath laid up ore in the earth, so that man must dig for it-so hath God laid up unsearchable riches of goodness in Christ, and all spiritual blessings (Romans 11:33). But we must first know what they are, und then take them (Proverbs 2:1-5). Psalms 31:20. In the secret of Thy presence.-What a compensation for slandered saints! Perhaps we never know that hiding until we have lusted the proud hatred and contempt of man. Do you know the royal withdrawing room? God’s pavilion is sound-tight; the strife of tongues cannot invade. Psalms 31:21. His marvellous kindness.-Was this Mahanaim? (2 Samuel 17:27). Psalms 31:22. In my haste.-It is a mistake to speak in haste. Psalms 31:23-24. Oh, love the Lord!--Oh for love, that we may cast it at His feet, who is so infinitely lovable! And out of love shall spring hope, strength, and courage. Psalms 32:1-11 "THOU FORGAVEST!" David evidently wrote this Psalm (Romans 4:6-8). It gives more minutely the story of his experience after his great sin (comp. Psalms 51:1-19). Maschil means to give instruction. This Psalm was one of Luther’s favorites. Psalms 32:1-2. Blessed is the man!-We never realize the blessedness of forgiveness so sweetly as when we have known the burden of un­forgiven sin. The word is plural, "Oh, the blessednesses!" Transgression is passing over a boundary. Sin is the missing of a mark. Iniquity is what is turned out of its proper course and perverted. The first must be forgiven, i.e., borne away (John 1:29). The second must be covered, i.e., hidden from sight (Revelation 3:18). The third must not be imputed (2 Corinthians 5:19). All these things are true of each believer in Jesus. And in such, forgiveness begets guilelessness. Psalms 32:3-5. I acknowledged my sin.-For some time after his sin, the tempter so gagged David that he strove to hide it. Ah, how bitter was his anguish then! He was silent in confession, but not in grief. Under the remorse of conscience he suffered as if the combined agonies of ague and fever had smitten his physical strength, and laid him low. At last he could stand it no longer; but con­fessed, and experienced the joy of God’s forgiveness (1 John 1:9). There is no cure for the soul like the heartfelt confession of sin. Psalms 32:6-7. For this shall everyone ... pray.-Godly people should take courage at the Lord’s deliverances to their fellows. Godliness is Godlikeness. Do you resemble your Father? (Ephesians 5:1). There are times when He seems especially near-nearer than the floods of great waters. Oh to be God-enclosed, God-encompassed! Then deliverances, with linked hands, shall encircle us with songs. Psalms 32:8. I will instruct thee!-Three precious promises-for in­struction, teaching, and guidance. "Though the vision tarry, wait for it" (Habakkuk 2:3). If the cloud still broods over the Holy Place, do not strike your tents (Numbers 9:15-23). Throw on God the responsibility of making his way plain. It is not that God will indicate our duty by the slight movement of the eye, but that He will watch us so as to stop us taking a wrong turn, or making a false step. Psalms 32:9. The bit and bridle.-The R.V. gives a more accurate rendering of the original. With the bit and bridle the animal needs to be governed and restrained: we should be actuated by love. Psalms 32:10-11. Be glad in the Lord!-Compassed just now with songs; and here with mercy. When one asked Haydn why his church music was so cheerful, he said, "I cannot make it otherwise: I write as I feel. When I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen." (Php 4:4). Psalms 33:1-22 "REJOICE IN THE LORD!" This Psalm incites to PRAISE. Let us note the subjects enumerated for this holy exercise. Surely it shall not be long ere, touching one of them, our soul shall kindle. Psalms 33:1. Praise is comely.-We cannot rejoice in ourselves, but we may in the Lord. Such an exercise is eminently befitting to those who owe to Him all they are and all they hope for. Psalms 33:2. With harp; with psaltery.-Sweet-toned instruments and the voice of song will often stir the lethargic soul. Psalms 33:3. Sing a new song!-New hearts may use the old words, but ever with fresh emotion. Psalms 33:4. The word of the Lord, and his works.-Think of his words of promise and of teaching; and of his marvellous works in crea­tion. Recall his works. Surely in some of these there is food for song. Muse; and the fire must burn (Psalms 39:3). Psalms 33:5. The earth is full.-His goodness is always passing before us (Exodus 33:19). The evil of the world is due to the devil’s intrusion upon God’s work" (Matthew 13:28) . Psalms 33:6-9. He spake, and it was done.-ln a few words of marvellous power the great work of creation is here recapitulated (Genesis 1:1-31). Psalms 33:10-15. The counsel of the Lord.-God’s providential government. We may know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:18; Titus 2:14), and drink in the blessedness of Psalms 33:12. Psalms 33:15 does not mean that all hearts are alike, but that all are equally fashioned by his hand (see R.V.). Psalms 33:16-19. No king saved by a host.-We may not be possessed of a host, or of much strength, or of horses: we may be humble and despised: and yet we need not regret the absence of all these earthly things. They do not really avail in the day of battle. God’s unslumbering eye sees our need; and if we only dare to trust in Him, He will deliver us from death and famine. Psalms 33:20-22. Our soul waiteth.-Let us patiently tarry our Lord’s leisure, and occupy ourselves as we do so with glad songs of praise for what He is going to do. Trust is certain to bear fruit in joy. The grave must lead to the songs of the resurrection morning. And we may well begin to rejoice in the prospect of joy, and to praise for the praise which we shall be shortly offering. Psalms 34:1-22 "THIS POOR MAN CRIED." The event which this Psalm celebrates is recorded in 1 Samuel 21:1-15. The association with Achish was not a very creditable incident. David, however, realizes the goodness of God, in spite of his own failures and mistakes. The Psalm clearly falls into two divisions, the first ending at Psalms 34:10. In the original, the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Psalms 34:1. At all times ... continually.-It is a sign of great grace to bless always, in dark times as well as in bright. Psalms 34:3. Let us exalt His name!-We learn from 1 Samuel 22:9-11, who they were to whom David spoke. "Birds," says Trapp, "when they come to a full heap of corn, will chirp, and call in their fellows." Charity is no churl. Psalms 34:4-6. This poor man cried.-Whilst feigning madness, his soul was going up in prayer: we can never turn our faces to God to be disappointed. Psalms 34:7. The Angel of the Lord.--Compare Acts 12:6-10. Psalms 34:8. Oh, taste and see.-Some experiences must be realized before they can be understood. And even then they cannot be expressed: the rapture is unspeakable. But however rich the provision of God’s goodness, it will avail nothing until we open eye and mouth. Psalms 34:10. They that seek ... shall not want.-"We will leave thee nothing," said plundering soldiers to a widow, "to put in thee or on thee." "I care not," said she: "I shall not want as long as God is in the heavens." Columba spent his last afternoon in transcribing this Psalm, saying when he reached this verse, "I will stop here. The following verse will better suit my successor." Psalms 34:11-14. Hearken unto me!-The purport of this exhortation is well summed up by Peter in his First Epistle (1 Peter 3:10). We need not fret to defend ourselves, or answer false accusations: let us re­frain our lips, and go on doing what is right and good. So shall we find our needs supplied, our enemies silenced, and our soul redeemed. Psalms 34:15. The righteous.-Those who stand before God accepted in the Righteous One, and in whose hearts his Spirit is working righteousness. Psalms 34:17. Delivereth them.-Not kept from it, hut delivered out of it (2 Corinthians 1:10). Psalms 34:18. The Lord is nigh.-You may not realize it, oh broken-hearted sufferer, but the great Gardener passes by those who are standing erect, to stoop over thee, beaten down by the storm and trailing on the ground. He comes where He is most needed. Psalms 34:20. He keepeth all his bones.-The literal fulfilment of these words must be sought in John 19:36. But there is a sense in which the integrity of our bodily health is due to the perpetual exercise of God’s care. Psalms 34:22. The Lord redeemeth.-All through these latter verses it is good to note the present tenses of our God’s deliverances. Psalms 35:1-28 "WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE?" This psalm dates from the Sauline persecution; or else from the disturbed state of the kingdom in David’s later days. Each of the three divisions into which the Psalm naturally falls ends with praise (Psalms 35:9, Psalms 35:18, Psalms 35:28). Continually in this Psalm we meet with imprecations on the wicked. The spirit of the New Testament teaches us a higher law, the law of love and forgiveness (Luke 9:55-56). But perhaps it is better to read these verses as predictions: thus, "Let them be confounded," would read, "They will be confounded." Much of it could be only true in its deepest sense, when uttered by the Messiah: rejected by Pharisee and Scribe; unconscious of any personal hatred; and only prompted by an absorbing passion for the vindication of the righteousness of God. Psalms 35:3. I am thy salvation.-What a thrill passes through the soul, when God whispers this assurance-"I am thy salvation!" God Himself is even more to us than what He has done. He is in us; around us; for us: and He is our salvation. . Psalms 35:5. The Angel of the Lord.-This is He who appeared to Abraham, and accompanied the wilderness-march. How awful that He should be wrath and pursue! Psalms 35:7. Their net in a pit.-"The pit-net was a pit covered over by the hunter with a net and with twigs, to ensure the fall and capture of a wild beast." Psalms 35:9-10. My soul shall be joyful.-We are apt enough to pray, and not always so careful to return thanks. "Who is like unto Thee?" is a snatch from the song at the Red Sea (Exodus 15:11). Psalms 35:11. They laid to my charge.-"They ask me of things that I know not" (R.V.). The idea being that his enemies sought to elicit by questions some ground for accusation (Mark 14:55; Luke 11:53; John 18:19). Psalms 35:12-14. But as for me.-How true this was of the Lord Jesus; weeping, praying, dying for his foes (Luke 19:41-44). When our prayers and tears cannot avail for others, they return to bless ourselves (Matthew 10:13). "Darling" is soul (17). Psalms 35:20. The Quiet in the Land.-This was the title adopted by holy men in Germany through long and dark days; and is beautifully significant of the course of those whose life is hidden with Christ in God. Psalms 35:22. This Thou hast seen.-What a striking contrast between God’s seeing, and the seeing of the previous verse, directed to­wards the fall and destruction of the persecuted one! Psalms 35:24. Judge me, 0 Lord!-It is a comfort to appeal from the judgments of men to the bar of God; and to claim his interposition and vindication-which must come, though years pass on without an answer. Psalms 35:28. My tongue shall speak of Thy praise!-What might not life be, if this were our resolution! Such is the spirit of heaven: of its inhabitants it is said, "they rest not day and night" (Revelation 4:8). Psalms 36:1-12 "THY LOVING-KINDNESS." By the inscription we are specially led to think of SERVICE in connection with this Psalm. The Lord’s service is indeed blessed, and it constitutes perfect freedom. Christ’s household servants all become nobles. CONTRASTED SERVICE (Psalms 36:1-4).-When there is "no fear of God before the eyes," a man is free to "flatter himself in his own eyes." It is a terrible thing when a man becomes headstrong in wickedness, and abhors not evil. THE MASTER’S CHARACTER (Psalms 36:5-8).-All natural symbols fail to set forth the glories of Nature’s Lord. We cannot scale his heights, or plumb his depths, or see his last star. His loving-kindness is precious (1 Peter 2:7). If you want men to leave other refuges, so as to shelter under the wings of God, begin to talk of His love: that will draw them (Psalms 36:8). Those who thirst for creature-delights have yet to learn something of the meaning of this abundant satis­faction (John 10:10). God gives sorrow by cupfuls, and pleasures by riverfuls. The Hebrew word for Pleasures is "Eden." Psalms 36:9. In Thy light shall we see light.-The deepest teachings of the Apostle John lie folded in this marvellous verse, as the forest in the acorn (John 1:1-16; 1 John 1:1-7). THE SERVANT"S PRAYER (Psalms 36:10-12).-Set thy loving-kindness abroach, so that we may drink, and drink again; start the flow, that it may be like some fountain of oil, which, the more it is drawn upon, the more it yields. The man who knows God is "upright in heart"; and vice versa. But the servants of sin incur irrevocable ruin, while the servants of God stand in their integrity, unmoved (Isaiah 54:17). Psalms 37:1-40 "FRET NOT THYSELF!" Written by David in his old age (Psalms 37:25), this Psalm contains his mature experience. Like Psalms 25:1-22; Psalms 34:1-22; Psalms 119:1-176, and some others, it is, in its arrangement, an acrostic of an alphabetical character. It deals with the great problem of the prosperity of the wicked, as contrasted with the afflictions of the righteous; and shows that these afflictions are only temporary, and that, if we can trust and wait, we shall see that God will mete out their deserts to all. This Psalm is a protest against querulous complaint, and has in all ages been peculiarly dear to the troubled believer. It is exquisitely paraphrased by Gerhardt’s noble hymn, "Commit thou all thy griefs." Psalms 37:5 was frequently quoted by Dr. Livingstone. Psalms 37:1. Fret not.-This key-note is thrice repeated (Psalms 37:1, Psalms 37:7-8). It might be translated "Do not worry." Psalms 37:5. Roll thy way upon the Lord (marg.): see also for same Hebrew word Psalms 22:8, "trusted"; Proverbs 16:3, "commit."-True religion is summed up in two words, SUBMIT and COMMIT. Psalms 37:7. Rest in the Lord! (marg., Be Silent!)-The Rhone rids it­self of silt as it passes through the still waters of Geneva’s lake. It is so much easier to act than to be still. Psalms 37:9. Earth may be read the land: see also Psalms 37:11, Psalms 37:22, Psalms 37:29, Psalms 37:34, and Matthew 5:5.-This surely means the supply of all temporal needs as well as of spiritual blessing. Psalms 37:12. The wicked plotteth.-Let us not fear the threatenings of our foes. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Psalms 37:12. The Lord knoweth.-It is enough that God knows what lies hid in each day, and guarantees a sufficiency of strength (Deuteronomy 33:25) . Psalms 37:19. Not ashamed in the evil time.-So God cared for Jeremiah in the time of siege (Jeremiah 37:21). Psalms 37:23. The steps ... are ordered.-Jehovah guides the steps and orders the goings. There is safety here (Psalms 37:31; Job 34:21; Psalms 17:5; Psalms 40:2; Proverbs 16:9). Psalms 37:24. The Lord upholdeth.-The Douay version reads "The Lord putteth his hand under him." Psalms 37:25. I have been young, and now am old.-Though this may have been David’s experience, yet it does not follow that it is universally true. But on the whole it is true. Not the blessedness of the seed of a good man (Psalms 37:26). Psalms 37:30-31. The law of his God in his heart.-This is the portrait of the godly as to their life, and heart, and steps. Here, as in Psalms 1:1-6 and Psalms 119:1-176, the "law of the Lord" is the source of strength and safety. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart" (Psalms 119:11). Psalms 37:34. He shall exalt thee.-The fulfilment of these promises de­pends on our fulfilment of the conditions of faith and waiting. Because they trust in Him (Psalms 37:40). Psalms 37:37. The end of that man is peace.-Bishop Coverdale’s transla­tion in the Prayer Book version is worthy of note: "Keep in­nocency, and take heed unto the thing that is right; for that shall bring a man peace at the last." But the Revised Version favors the ordinary reading. The day may break stormily; but the storms expend themselves ere nightfall, and the sunset is golden. Psalms 38:1-22 "FORSAKE ME NOT!" One of the seven penitential Psalms. It seeks to bring to God’s remembrance his apparently forgotten suppliant (see Septuagint heading). We all should have times of calling to remembrance, when we summon back the past. Psalms 38:1. THE BURDEN OF THE PSALMIST’S PRAYER. Psalms 38:2-8. HIS FIRST PLEA, derived from his physical and mental sufferings.-Sin’s convictions are as arrows. When God’s holy law is driven home by the Spirit, we are like hunted deer. Many images are introduced: the hunted quarry (Psalms 38:2); disease (Psalms 38:3); the waters rolling over a drowning man (Psalms 38:4); a burden which crushes the bearer to the ground (Psalms 38:4); ah, how blessed that they were not too heavy for the Sin-bearer! (Isaiah 53:4-5; 1 Peter 2:24). I am troubled might be rendered I writhe (Psalms 38:6). Mourning will soon be exchanged for singing (Psalms 40:3). Psalms 38:9-12. HIS SECOND PLEA, derived from his ill-treatment by men. -God reads the unspoken sorrows of our hearts (Psalms 38:9). Mark the heating, palpitating heart; the failure of strength; the lack-lustre eye (Psalms 38:10). When enemies are nearest, friends are furthest: so it was with our blessed Lord (Matthew 26:56). Malice in deed, and malice in thought (Psalms 38:12). Psalms 38:13-20. HIS THIRD PLEA, derived from his absolute dependence on God.-It is well to be deaf to calumny, and dumb in self-vin­dication (1 Samuel 10:27). Let God undertake your cause (Psalms 38:15). How truly might the Messiah have appropriated many of these words! (John 15:25; Matthew 26:62) . Psalms 38:21-22. HIS CLOSING PETITIONS.-Thus, faith becomes expectant and triumphant, claiming God as its salvation. Psalms 39:1-13 "I WAS DUMB!" Written by David and handed to Jeduthun, who is specially mentioned as entrusted with the Psalmody (1 Chronicles 16:41-42). Psalms 37:1-40 is a calm meditation on the respective lots of righteous and wicked men: this Psalm is full of impetuous and impatient complaint, which finally works itself out, and subsides into a more submissive and plaintive tone. IMPATIENT MURMURINGS (Psalms 39:1-6). FAITH AND PRAYER (Psalms 39:7-13). Psalms 39:1. I will take heed.-A tale of the fifth century tells of a plain man, who, having learned this verse, took leave of his teacher, saying he would return for more when he had mastered it, and did not return for forty-nine years, as he found it took him all that time to acquire its lessons. We need to ask God to tame what man never can (James 3:2-8). Psalms 39:3. While I was musing.-The pent-up fire broke forth as from a volcano. Perhaps it had been better, if it had been altogether restrained (Job 1:22; Job 2:10; Job 3:1). And yet, if the lips must tell the unsupportable agony of the heart, it is better to tell it all out into the ear of God. Psalms 39:5. My days as an hand-breadth.-Not only does he, with all his days, shrink into nothingness in contrast with God, but every man, when standing most firmly, is only "a breath" (R.V., marg.), curling up for a moment in the chill air, and gone. Psalms 39:6. In a vain show.-What a description of the frailty and vanity of human life! "Walketh as a shadow" (R.V., marg.): i.e., the outward life and activity of men is fleeting and unsubstantial, as the shadow of a cloud on the mountain slope. Psalms 39:7. My hope is in Thee!-David ceases from peering into dizzy depths, which well-nigh make him reel-and looks upward. This is the turning point of the Psalm. The former thoughts are repeated; but the dark clouds are shot through with light. Psalms 39:9. I was dumb.-Dumbness not now from wrath, as in Psalms 39:2, but from trust. Thou didst it. Psalms 39:11. When Thou . . . dost correct.-The transience of human life is now seen to be due to the sin which needs correction, much more than to any defect in God’s creative love. Psalms 39:12. A stranger with Thee (Leviticus 25:23).- We have a constant companion. God is our fellow-pilgrim. "Life need not be lonely, if He be with us; nor its shortness sad." Psalms 40:1-17 "LO, I COME!" Though the primary reference be to the individual believer, yet there is One only in whom these words can find their entire fulfilment. This is put beyond all doubt by Hebrews 10:5-9. THANKSGIVING (Psalms 40:1-3); DECLARATION (Psalms 40:4-5); CONSECRATION (Psalms 40:6-10); ENTREATY (Psalms 40:11-17), unite to fill this precious Psalm with helpful thoughts and words. Psalms 40:1. Waiting, I waited (marg.). Psalms 40:2. A pit of roaring, a deep cavity through which roaring waters rush (Isaiah 17:12). Miry clay (Psalms 69:2). Psalms 40:3. A new song.-May not these have been the words of Christ as He ascended out of the grave, leading the new song which only the redeemed can learn? (Revelation 14:3). Psalms 40:5. Many are Thy wonderful works.-What wonderful works in Redemption, Adoption, Pardon, Sanctification, and Providence! God’s living thoughts of us pass our power of counting (Psalms 139:17). Here is a maze, in which, bewildered, we may soon lose ourselves. Psalms 40:6. Sacrifice . . . Thou didst not desire.-The bloody and unbloody offerings respectively. Where these expressed a loving, obedient heart, they were gladly accepted: otherwise they were valueless (Psalms 50:5; 1 Samuel 15:22; Hosea 6:6) . Mine ears hast Thou digged (marg.) (Exodus 21:6; Deuteronomy 15:17). -Thus did Jesus freely give Himself up to obedience and blood-shedding for us; and so should we give ourselves irrevocably to Him. Psalms 40:7-8. Lo, I come!-It is blessed when God’s law is not only in the head but in the heart; and when it is there it will not be con­cealed (Psalms 40:10). Psalms 40:9. In the great congregation.--We are reminded of John 17:26. Psalms 40:10. I have not hid.-What themes are here, not only for the Lord, but for his ministers! Psalms 40:12. Innumerable evils.--If applied to our Lord, these must be the sins of the whole world (Isaiah 53:4-6). Psalms 40:15. Their shame.--For a reward of the shame with which they tried to load the sufferer. Psalms 40:16. The Lord be magnified!-What a contrast in the objects of those who seek! (Psalms 40:14, Psalms 40:16). Psalms 40:17. I am poor and needy.--The thoughts of God towards the soul (Psalms 40:5) are sweet themes of encouragement (1 Peter 5:7) . Poverty and need are not barriers to, but arguments for, the thoughts of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 61: 04.06. CHAPTER 6 ======================================================================== Psalms 41:1-13 "MINE OWN FAMILIAR FRIEND!" It is supposed by some that this Psalm was composed during the four years in which Absalom’s conspiracy was being hatched. Perhaps the pain and sorrow of David’s heart brought on some serious illness, which his enemies used for their own purposes, and exulted over with unseemly glee. His sensitive nature is keenly hurt, and pours out its complaint. And we cannot but feel the applicability of the Psalm to Him who was betrayed by his friend. Verse 9 is expressly quoted as fulfilled (John 13:18). Psalms 41:1-3. A GENERAL PRINCIPLE.--When the writer’s enemies were in sorrow, he was very tender in his dealings with them (Psalms 35:13-14). And now he claims that God should do to him as he had done to others. To make the bed is to turn it.--As a gentle nurse alters the sufferer’s position and pillows, so does God interpose alleviations for our pains. Psalms 41:4. WHAT A WHOLESOME PRAYER!- "Heal us, Emmanuel! we are here, Waiting to feel thy touch; Deep-wounded souls to Thee repair, And, Saviour, we are such."-Cowper. Psalms 41:5-9. DAVID’S TREATMENT BY HIS FOES.-His disease drew no pity, but only impatience that he lingered so long. Their com­forting words were full of deceit; they rejoiced in every symptom of his approaching end. "The man of my friendship," the Ahitho­phel or Judas of my love, like a vicious mule or horse, has kicked at the sick lion. Psalms 41:10-12. The earlier verses savour more of the Old Testament spirit than of the New. But the conception of Psalms 41:12 is very beautiful, as of a courtier who stands ever in the presence-­chamber of the king (2 Chronicles 9:7; 1 Kings 17:1; Luke 1:19). Psalms 41:13. This Doxology closes the first book of the Psalter. Each of the five books ends in a somewhat similar manner. Psalms 42:1-11 "AS THE HART PANTETH!" This Psalm embalms the holy musings and yearnings of the exiled king during the rebellion of Absalom. The thoughts are evidently David’s, even though their expression and setting may be by the sons of Korah (2 Chronicles 20:19). This Psalm was a great favorite with the early Christians hunted to the catacombs, where the hart is a common emblem on the walls. Psalms 42:1. As the hart panteth.--The hind in the drought, and the hunted stag, long for cool streams. This thirst for God proves the very being of God; for all natural appetites must have their perfect satisfaction. Psalms 42:2. For the living God!-Not a dead idol, but the living God of my life. Lit. "Appear before the face of God" (Psalms 41:12). Psalms 42:3. Where is thy God?--Shimei’s words clung to his memory (2 Samuel 16:8) . Psalms 42:4. When I remember.-The thought of the sufferer is to give a loose rein to these bitter memories, and to allow his sad thoughts to work out their will; and so he recalls the festal processions that he had led in happy bygone days. Psalms 42:5. Why art thou cast down?-Thus does the spirit rebuke the flesh, and battles with its despondency in the name of the most High. "David chideth David out of the dumps," says Trapp. Omit for from the last clause, which gives a beautiful name for God. Sing, though just now your feet may be fast in the stocks (Acts 16:25). Psalms 42:6. My soul is cast down.-These words reappear (Jonah 2:7; Matthew 26:38). You may be excluded from God’s temple; but you can always remember God. The Hermons belonged to the trans-Jor­danic tribes. And how insignificant was Mizar compared with Zion! Psalms 42:8. His loving-kindness.-Tears day and night (Psalms 42:3); and yet loving-kindness and song day and night (Job 35:10). Does God sing beside his sufferers? (Zephaniah 3:17). Psalms 43:1-5 "GOD, MY EXCEEDING JOY!" This, with Psalms 42:1-11, forms a pair. Psalms 43:1. Judge me, 0 God!-When others fail to understand our motives, we may appeal to the righteous bar of God. He is our great Advocate, who will plead for us (Lamentations 3:58). Psalms 43:2. Thou, the God of my strength!-"The God of my life" (Psalms 42:8) is here "the God of my strength." How fertile is the soul in its epithets for God! And how conclusive the answer to the taunt of the foe, "Where is thy God?" God is with me-in me -here. Psalms 43:3. Let them lead me.-Light and Truth in the van; Goodness and Mercy bringing up the rear. Watch them as these twin angels emerge from God’s home to conduct the suppliant thither. Psalms 43:4. God my exceeding joy.-The altar of outward symbolism and rite was very little to David. It was for God that his soul yearned. How he dwells on that precious name, God! my God! Psalms 43:5. Why disquieted?-It is a mistake to allow aught to break the inner Sabbath. Troubles may burst on the bulwarks of the ship; but they should not enter its inner sanctuary. In these Psalms, notice how God is described as the strength of our life; the gladness of our joy; the health of our countenance. And mark how faith chases the tear from the eye; the furrow from the brow; the fear from the soul. Psalms 44:1-26 "THOU ART MY KING, 0 GOD!" This Psalm is so like Psalms 60:1-12, that it was probably occasioned by the same circumstances. While David was fighting with the Syrians, the Edomites made an incursion. Amid the anguish of the time this Psalm may have been composed by the sons of Korah. David’s return was God’s answer to their cry (2 Samuel 8:13-14). Some, however, consider the Psalm to have reference to the events narrated in 2 Chronicles 20:1-37. It well befits any period of the Church’s history when her former prosperous condition contrasts sadly with her depressed and suffering state. Romans 8:36 points the application of Psalms 44:22. Thou hast helped us (Psalms 44:1-3). Thou must help us (Psalms 44:4-8). Thou art not helping us (Psalms 44:9-16). We are not conscious of having done aught to forfeit Thy help (Psalms 44:17-22). We invoke Thy help (Psalms 44:23-26). Psalms 44:3. Thy right hand (Deuteronomy 8:7-18).-All that we are, and have, and hope for, is the gift of God’s undeserved mercy. We need not boast; but we need not fear to lose. Psalms 44:4. Thou art my King!-We cannot expect deliverances till we have made Christ our King. Psalms 44:8-10. In God we boast all the day.-Sometimes God takes away all sensible enjoyment and encouragement, to see whether we still cling to Him for Himself. Happy are we if we can adopt Psalms 44:13. Psalms 44:20-21. If we have forgotten (Joshua 22:22). Psalms 44:22. For Thy sake are we killed.-The path to victory lies through death and the grave. Psalms 44:23. 0 Lord, arise!-Though the Lord seem to sleep, it is in the stern of the boat. Do not be afraid. If He is with you, no storm can prevail to your destruction (Mark 4:40). Psalms 45:1-17 "THINGS TOUCHING THE KING." The inscription of this exquisite Psalm, To the chief musician, indicates that it was intended to be employed in God’s service. Therefore, though it was probably suggested by Solomon’s mar­riage with the daughter of Pharaoh, we must pass beyond the mere outward interpretation to consider these glowing words in their relation to Christ and his Church. The Psalm is distinctly applied to Him (Hebrews 1:8); and the union between Him and his people is often described in such imagery (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23). Let us pray for the time when the universe shall ring with this marriage-ode: when the hour of the marriage of the Lamb shall have come, and heathen nations partake the joy (Revelation 19:7). Shoshannim means "lilies," and tells of the purity of heart that is appropriate to this song of love. Psalms 45:1. My heart overfloweth (R.V.)-Oh for the heart, like a geyser, kept ever bubbling over with love for Jesus! We should make things about our King-be weaving chaplets-be composing hymns. When the heart is full, there will be no difficulty about the tongue (Acts 2:4). Here is "good matter" indeed. Christ’s beauty (Psalms 45:2); his victorious might (Psalms 45:4); his Divine nature and everlasting reign (Psalms 45:6); his joy (Psalms 45:7); his sweetness (Psalms 45:8); his bride (Psalms 45:13); the splendour of the royal procession (Psalms 45:15); the number and royalty of his posterity (Psalms 45:16). Psalms 45:2. Fairer than the children of men.-Happy are they who live in His presence (1 Kings 10:8; Luke 4:22). Psalms 45:3-4. In Thy majesty.-These imperatives are predictions of what the King will do. Though His plans are made, prayer is required to put them in operation. Because of truth means in the cause of truth. Our King fights for us, and conquers Death, Satan, and the Grave. We march to victory over a fallen foe. Psalms 45:7. The oil of gladness.-Here is the secret of perennial joy. So far as we enter into Christ’s spirit, we shall share in his joy, a joy such as our fellows cannot know. Psalms 45:8. All Thy garments.-The word smell might be omitted. The royal robes are as sweet as if they were made of myrrh. Psalms 45:10-11. Hearken, ... and consider!-Those are likeliest to know the preciousness of Christ’s love who, in an abandonment of surrender, cut the cords which would bind them to old and worldly connections, and hold them back from Him. Be only for Christ: so shalt thou taste his secret love. Psalms 45:13. All glorious within.-Within is in contrast to out of the palaces (Psalms 45:8), and refers to the interior of the royal residence. Is there not also a reference to the hidden beauties of Christian character? Psalms 45:17. Thy name!-Let us pass on that precious "Name," that the people may break forth into praise in all ages and all climes. Psalms 46:1-11 "BE STILL!" The historical occasion of this Psalm cannot be certainly determined. But it is very probable that it was composed when Jerusalem was beleaguered by Sennacherib’s hosts (Isaiah 37:1-38). It befits every era in which the Church is in danger from her foes, and it foretells the final destruction of Antichrist. It was Luther’s favorite, and is rendered into verse in his memorable hymn, Ein feste Burg. During the sitting of the Diet of Augsburg he sang it every day to his lute, standing at the window, and looking up to heaven. The theme, the security of God’s people amid storms, is elab­orated in three divisions, at the end of each of which Selah recurs. Psalms 46:1-3. God our Refuge.-These words may have inspired Heze­kiah’s address to the captains (2 Chronicles 32:7). We never know how near God can be till we are in trouble. Mountains stand for the most stable things on which we have been wont to fix our confidence. The roaring of the restless sea may well strike with panic the heart which has not got into the covert of its refuge -God. Psalms 46:4-7. There is a river.-In opposition to the raging of the sea is the even flow of the pellucid river. Alone among great cities Jerusalem lacked a river; but God Himself was all to her that a river was to ordinary cities (Isaiah 33:21). The "river" throughout ’Scripture, from Eden to the New Jerusalem, is a symbol of the presence of God. The margin (Psalms 46:5) gives a beautiful alternative reading: "When the morning appeareth." Distress, in the case of God’s people, is limited to a night’s stay. But probably there is an allusion to Isaiah 37:36. God is never before his time, and never a moment too late (Matthew 14:25). If Jehovah is willing to be known as Jacob’s God, I too may claim Him, though I be but a worm (Isaiah 41:14). Psalms 46:8-11. He maketh wars to cease.-War in the Church and the world is doomed, and shall become an extinct art before the Gospel of the love of God. We must cultivate the habit of still­ness in our lives, if we would· detect and know God. Psalms 47:1-9 "KING OVER ALL THE EARTH." This Psalm probably dates from 2 Chronicles 20:1-37. Without a battle, Israel obtained a victory. They stood still and saw the salvation of God, given in answer to King Jehoshaphat’s prayer. The Korhites, whose name is inscribed above it, are expressly mentioned as having been present (2 Chronicles 20:19). Before the people left the field, they held a thanksgiving service in the valley of blessing (2 Chronicles 20:26). From that valley God is depicted as having made his ascent to heaven, having wrought deliverance for his people (Psalms 47:5). This Psalm was probably sung in that "valley of blessing." It is a double call to praise, addressed first to the heathen (Psalms 47:1-4), and next to Israel. The name Elohim occurs seven times. Psalms 47:1-4. Oh, clap your hands!-In these days of world-wide evangelization, the Gentile peoples are beginning to respond to this invitation. Psalms 47:3. He shall subdue!-If He can subdue nations, surely He can give us the victory over our sins. Psalms 47:4. He shall choose!-Let God choose for you. He will do the best for his beloved. Psalms 47:5. Gone up with a shout!-An anticipation of the Ascension (Psalms 68:18). Psalms 47:6. Sing praises to God!-Let no heart be cold, no tongue be dumb. Holy songs stir the spirit. Psalms 47:7. God is the King!-God claims the kingdoms of this world, which is in revolt; but the end is sure (Revelation 11:15). Psalms 47:8. The throne of His holiness.-Holiness is the basis of God’s rule. Psalms 47:9. The shields of the earth are the princes, as protectors of the people (Hosea 4:18, marg.). Compare Revelation 21:24. Psalms 48:1-14 "ZION THE JOY OF THE WHOLE EARTH." This Psalm was probably composed on the same occasion as the foregoing: but that was sung in the valley of Berachah; and this on the return to Jerusalem and the temple (Psalms 48:9). Tekoa (2 Chronicles 20:20) was only three hours’ march from the city, and commanded an extensive view, so that Psalms 48:4-5 were literally true. Let the reader turn to 2 Chronicles 20:27, which tells the oc­casion of this burst of jubilation. There is also a special connection between verse 7 and the circumstances described in 1 Kings 22:48; 2 Chronicles 20:37. The divisions are easy: the dignity and beauty of Jerusalem, as the city of God (Psalms 48:1-3); the special instance of Divine deliverance is gratefully recorded (Psalms 48:4-8); glad thanksgivings (Psalms 48:9-11); and ex­hortations to commemorate God’s goodness to coming generations (Psalms 48:12-14). Psalms 48:1-2. The city of our God.-Zion was the heart and centre of the holy city, which clustered around its northern slopes. The Church is the city of God now, in which He dwells, and is known for a refuge. Psalms 48:3. God . . . a refuge.-The grandest palace without God is no refuge for the weary, hunted soul. But a hovel becomes a palace if God is known and loved there. Psalms 48:5. They ... hasted away.-Notice the magnificent brevity of this verse. As if one glimpse of that city struck them with panic. Psalms 48:7. Thou breakest the ships.-The destruction of the foe was as sudden and total as the sinking of a vessel struck by a cyclone. Psalms 48:8. As we have heard.-Whatever God has done in former days, He is able and willing, if needs be, to do again. Psalms 48:9. We have thought.-Let us cultivate the habit of holy musing on this sweet and boundless theme. Psalms 48:13. Mark ye well!-Consider God’s wonderful dealings with his people. Their choice, redemption, adoption, sanctification, eternal inheritance-each is a subject for marking well and pondering. Psalms 48:14. Our God forever.-Let us replace the our by my; and bind this text as a jewel on our heart. Psalms 49:1-20 "THEY THAT TRUST IN WEALTH." The subject of this Psalm is the prosperity of the wicked, as contemplated by the righteous. This was a frequent cause of wonder to these Hebrew thinkers (compare Psalms 37:1-40). And the singer presents to us the only consolation within the reach of those times-that the glory and success of the ungodly were but temporary, and would pass away as a shadow; whilst the righteous might count upon long vistas of unbroken blessedness in the presence of God. We may divide thus: The introduction (Psalms 49:1-4); the argument (Psalms 49:5-15); the conclusion (Psalms 49:16-20). Psalms 49:4. I will open my dark saying.-The Psalmist has no hesitation in asking for universal audience; because he not only speaks what he has heard with the ear-he brings forth in song what he has learned from God. There is melody in God’s darkest sayings. Psalms 49:5. Wherefore should I fear?-The second clause might be better rendered, "When the iniquity of my treaders-down compasses me about." Psalms 49:6-9.They that trust in wealth.-Men are very foolish to take airs on themselves, because they are rich. After all, money cannot do much for its owners. It will not enable a man to redeem either his brother or himself from untimely or sudden death. "A million of money for a moment of time!" cried Queen Elizabeth on her death­bed. (See 1 Timothy 6:17). Psalms 49:10-12. Leave their wealth to others.-And yet, though wealthy and wicked men are surrounded by death, they try as much as possible to ignore it, and endeavor to obtain immortality for themselves in this world by the perpetuation of their names on their estates. Psalms 49:14. They are laid in the grave.-The idea here is of a flock of sheep, with death as shepherd, conducting them to the fold of the grave and sheol. What a contrast to Psalms 23:1! The morning of resurrection glory is not far away, with its songs of triumph: lift up your heads, your redemption draweth nigh. Psalms 49:18-20. While he lived.-Our Lord’s parables are the best com­mentary on these words (Luke 12:19; Luke 16:25). Psalms 50:1-23 "I AM GOD, THY GOD" Asaph is named as the author of this Psalm. Perhaps he who is mentioned 1 Chronicles 15:17, 1 Chronicles 15:19, and in 2 Chronicles 29:30. The Psalm contains a severe rebuke of the hypocrite who contents himself with giving a mere outward obedience to the ritual of God’s house, but withholds the love and homage of his heart. In the earlier part God is represented as coming again, as once at Sinai, but now to vindicate and explain the spiritual require­ments of his holy law (Psalms 50:1-6); then the errors in observing the first table are discovered (Psalms 50:8-15); after which the Psalmist in­dicates the violations of the second table (Psalms 50:16-21); finally there is an impressive conclusion (Psalms 50:22-23). The Psalm is very interesting, because showing how the devout Israelites viewed the Levitical ritual as being only the vehicle and expression of the yearnings and worship of the spiritual life, but not of any value apart from a recognition of God’s claims on the devotion of his people. Psalms 50:1. Elohim Jehovah ... called the earth.-God still calls the earth through the Gospel of Jesus. Psalms 50:5. Gather my saints together!-There are times when the saints have to stand before God, and receive into the depths of their heart his searching scrutiny (Malachi 3:1-3) . Psalms 50:9-13. Every beast of the forest is Mine!-God holds the keys to the commissariat of the universe. Dost thou doubt that He can supply thy table? Psalms 50:15. Call upon Me! ... I will deliver.-There is no uncertainty here. God knows our troubles; but He demands that we should call. Days of trouble are often sent to make us call. Psalms 50:21. I kept silence.- The silence of God in sight of the evil around is due to His longsuffering; but it will not continue for­ever (Psalms 50:3). Psalms 50:23. I will show the salvation of God.-What a spectacle for the holy soul! Our way may seem dark; but if we dare go on doing right, we shall certainly experience the Divine deliverance. Stand still, and see the salvation of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 62: 04.07. CHAPTER 7 ======================================================================== Psalms 51:1-19 "A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART." There is no doubt as to the occasion or the authorship of this Psalm. It abounds with references to 2 Samuel 11:1-27 and 2 Samuel 12:1-31. It is remarkable that such a confession should have been handed to the chief musician; but surely the publicity thus given to it has been a means of grace to all earnest worshippers in every age of the world. The repentance was as public as the guilt; and many a sin-stained penitent has trodden these well-worn steps, which bear the marks of pilgrims of all nations and lands. What a story it is! "This saint of nearly fifty years of age-­bound to God by ties which he rapturously felt and acknowledged, whose words have been the very breath of devotion for every devout heart-forgets his longings after righteousness; flings away the joys of Divine communion; darkens his soul; ends his prosperity; brings down upon his head for all his remaining years a cataract of calamites; and makes his name and his religion a target for the barbed sarcasms of each succeeding generation of scoffers. As man; as king; as soldier-he is found wanting. Why should we dwell on the wretched story, except that it teaches, as no other page in the history of God’s Church does, that the alchemy of Divine love can extract sweet perfumes of penitence and praise out of the filth of sin?" * *Dr. Maclaren Psalms 51:1. Thy loving-kindness ... Thy tender mercies.-Our only pleas for forgiveness are in God’s loving kindness, and in the multitude of his tender mercies. It is only as we believe in these that we dare look at our sins. Nor can we ever forget that though the blood of Jesus did not purchase the love and mercy of God, yet it is only through his oblation and sacrifice that that love is able to have free scope in pursuing its tender office of redemption. Psalms 51:2. Cleanse me from my sin!-The plural transgressions (Psalms 51:1) is here replaced by the singular sin, because all the successive crimes which had accumulated about his soul were branches from a common trunk. Mark these successive terms: transgression, the violation of law; iniquity, crookedness from the straight line of rectitude; sin, missing the mark. Psalms 51:3. I acknowledge.-However much God loves the penitent, and desires to forgive him, He dares not pardon until distinct con­fession has been made. Till then sin is like the fabled spirit of a murdered and unburied corpse-it is ever before the eye of the soul. Psalms 51:4. Against Thee have I sinned.-Every sin against man is still more a sin against God. Psalms 51:5. I was shapen in iniquity.-This was not said to extenuate, but to show how inveterate was the evil, needing infinite help and love. Psalms 51:7. Purge me ... wash me!-How many are the expressions employed! Blot out, as from a record. Wash, as foul stains which must be rubbed and beaten out. Cleanse, as a leper: for whom the sprig of hyssop was always used (Leviticus 14:4-9). Psalms 51:8. Make me to hear joy!-How gloriously bold to ask for restoration to JOY (Psalms 51:12). Let us claim the music and dancing, as well as the best robe. Psalms 51:10-12. A constant spirit (marg.).-This is what we need to guard against future outbreaks-a constant spirit (marg.); God’s Holy Spirit; and a willing spirit (R.V., marg.). Psalms 51:13. I will teach transgressors.-There is no such preacher as he who has been newly-forgiven. The forgiven Peter was the ap­pointed preacher at Pentecost. Psalms 51:15. Open Thou my lips!-When God opens the lips, the devil and fear cannot shut them. Psalms 51:16-17. Thou desirest not sacrifice.-Ceremonialism cannot free us from taint (Hebrews 9:9-16). God’s fire descends on broken hearts. Psalms 51:18-19. Do good unto Zion!-When we are right with God, our sympathies and prayers overflow the narrow confines of selfish interest, and pour themselves out for the entire Church. Psalms 52:1-9 THE DOOM OF THE EVIL DOER. The superscription fixes the occasion on which this Psalm was composed (1 Samuel 22:1-23). It was at first suggested by Doeg’s treachery; but it also had reference to Saul himself, to whom alone many of the allusions of the Psalm are applicable. And in after days this Psalm of David’s wanderings was given to the chief musician for public use, because it contains, under the husk of a passing circumstance, the kernel of eternal truth. Psalms 52:1-4. THE TRAITOR’S SIN.-How safe are those who are entrenched in the favor of God! All else may pass, but that remains inde­structibly the same. What terrible power there is in the tongue! (James 3:4-11). A sharp razor, working deceitfully, will probably in­jure the hand that holds it. Psalms 52:5-7. THE TRAITOR’S FATE.-"Shall take thee away, and pluck thee," etc.; literally, "shall seize thee, and hurl thee away homeless (tentless, comp. Jeremiah 10:20). The outstanding idea is rejection of the impenitent by the Holy One. This is the inevitable doom of sin. And one cannot but rejoice that the world has been so ordered as that wickedness meets its reward even here. The 7th verse contains the reflections of the righteous. Psalms 52:8. CONTRAST TO THE TRAITOR’S END--It is thought by some that Nob, where the tragedy took place, was situated on the Mount of Olives. If so, this allusion would be very appropriate. "As the olives grew all around the humble forest sanctuary, and were in some sort hallowed by the shrine which they encompassed, so the soul grows and is safe in loving fellowship with God." What a contrast between trusting in the abundance of riches, and in the mercy of God! The former take to themselves wings; the latter is forever (Psalms 52:1). Oh to be among God’s evergreens, drawing our supplies by roots struck deep down into Him, and trusting Him whatever betide! Psalms 52:9. The Psalmist’s soul sings itself clear, and he determines to entrust his cause to God, and patiently await his vindication. Psalms 53:1-6 WITHOUT GOD. A revision of Psalms 14:1-7. Twice is ATHEISM denounced in the Psalter. Line must be on line, precept on precept. Mahalath is "sickness." Does not this Psalm lay bare the hereditary tendency of the heart of man to forsake God? In Psalms 14:1-7. Elohim is thrice used, Jehovah four times; here, Elohim is used throughout. There are some other differences:- Psalms 14:1-7 Psalms 52:1-9 (1) Abominable works. (1) Abominable iniquity. (3) Gone aside. (3) Gone back. (5) God is in the generation of the righteous. (5) God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee It is as if every effort were made to find more forcible ex­pressions to describe the sin and the doom of those who deny God. Psalms 53:1. THE SEAT OF ATHEISM.-It is not in the head, but in the heart. And men keep on boasting of it, in the hope of making themselves believe it, and in order to keep their courage up. Psalms 53:2. THE ATTITUDE OF ATHEISM.-Its eyes are downward; if they were lifted for a moment, they would see God looking down. Psalms 53:3. THE UNIVERSALITY OF PRACTICAL ATHEISM.-Let each be­ware (Hebrews 3:13). Psalms 53:2-3. THE EVIL EFFECTS OF ATHEISM.-On the understanding and affection, so that corruption is bred through the entire nature (Romans 3:10. Romans 3:17). Psalms 53:4. THE CRUELTY OF ATHEISM.-Who eat up my people. He who has no care for God is not likely to have much care for man. The prayerless man is an atheist in heart: "he calls not upon the Lord." Psalms 53:5. THE CAUSELESS FEARS OF ATHEISM.-How often have the enemies of God been seized with inexplicable panic! (Proverbs 28:1; 2 Kings 7:6-7.). Psalms 53:6. THE DIVINE ANSWER TO THE ATHEIST.-Even now the existence of God’s ancient people is a marvellous reply to the taunts of his foes: but how dumb and silenced they will be when they see Israel restored as a nation, and when the saints shall possess the earth! Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! This is a prayer which befits every instance of depressed spiritual life. Psalms 54:1-7 "GOD IS MY HELPER." We are led by the superscription to 1 Samuel 23:19. The Psalm is short, as if compressed by the intensity of David’s need. Psalms 54:1-3 con­tain a prayer for deliverance; Psalms 54:4-7 contain expression of confidence and praise. In the first he invokes the name of God; in the second he extols it. His trust throughout is in EI, the Strong. The Ziphites are described as strangers (Psalms 54:3), though men of Judah like himself; because they were possessed of a spirit so contrary and alien to his own. It is rather beautiful to see how David refuses to say all the hard things which he might have said about Saul, and deals with those who enticed him into evil courses, as though he would cloke the sins of the Lord’s anointed King. Psalms 54:1. Save me, 0 God!-A lonely, persecuted man, who has no other help, appeals from man to God, conscious of the rectitude of his cause. Psalms 54:3. They have not set God before them.-Not to have God be­fore our eyes is to have them full of self-estimate, or of measure­ments after the standards of other men, uncorrected by thoughts of the claims of God’s Holiness, Power, and Purity. Psalms 54:4. Behold, God is my Helper!-What faith is here! Hardly had the prayer ascended than the soul is aware of the gracious answer. Note this present tense: "God is mine helper." The eye sees nothing; but faith knows that the mountain is full of horses and chariots of fire. Saul sought David every day; but God delivered him not into Saul’s hand. "The Lord is on my side" (Psalms 118:6; Romans 8:31). Psalms 54:6. With willinghood will I sacrifice; or, "with free-will gift" (Exodus 25:2; Exodus 35:29). When God has saved us, let us yield our­selves to Him, as the woman in the Gospel yielded her alabaster box. Psalms 54:7. He hath delivered me!-When we pray in faith, we have the petition which we asked (1 John 5:15). And when our enemies are punished we have no feeling of vindictive satisfaction, but are thankful that God has vindicated his name and his truth. Psalms 55:1-23 OH FOR WINGS LIKE A DOVE! The groundwork of this Psalm was suggested by Absalom’s re­bellion and Ahithophel’s treachery (2 Samuel 15:12). But the Spirit leads out the Psalmist beyond the immediate occasion to depict the sufferings of our Lord at the hand of Judas. And the whole Church has fellowship with those sufferings, in the days of treacherous foes and false friends. It may be divided thus: Psalms 55:1-2, The cry of the soul; Psalms 55:3-8, A description of desperate need; Psalms 55:9-11, The sin of the city; Psalms 55:12-15, Psalms 55:19-21, A partcularization of the plottings and deceit of a former friend; Psalms 55:16-18, Expressions of trust in God; Psalms 55:22-23, Exhortations to others, founded on personal experience. Psalms 55:4-5. My heart is sore pained.-How aptly do these words describe those deeply convicted of sin! Psalms 55:6. Oh that I had wings like a dove!-The dove is swift in its flight; and it ever hides before a storm. What a picture of timid innocence! How often do we suppose that we should find rest in changed circumstances! But the restless heart would be rest­less everywhere. The words of Jesus are the true answer to this cry for rest (Matthew 11:23, and Hebrews 4:3). Psalms 55:12-14. Thou ... mine acquaintance!-Our Lord, who bore his other sorrows in silence, exclaimed against the treachery of Judas, as if this were the drop which made His cup overflow. Psalms 55:15. Quick, i.e., alive, like Korah (Numbers 16:1-50). Very different was the spirit of the old dispensation to that of Christ (Matthew 5:43-45; Matthew 26:52; Luke 23:34). Psalms 55:17. Evening, morning, and noon.-Referring to the habit of the pious Jew (Daniel 6:10, Daniel 6:13). If we need to eat for physical strength thrice each day, do we not need to pray as often? But though we have our fixed times, no time is unreasonable. God’s courts of appeal never rise, or close their doors. Psalms 55:22. Thy burden, as the margin (R.V.) suggests, is that which God has given thee to carry. "He cast it on thee: now cast it back on Him." We cannot do God’s work in the world, so long as we stoop under burdens which impede our energies; therefore hand over all, and let no burden be brought into the inner city to disturb its Sabbath-keeping (Nehemiah 13:19). Psalms 56:1-13 "PUT MY TEARS IN THY BOTTLE!" This Psalm was composed under the same circumstances as Psalms 34:1-22. Pursued by Saul, and almost in despair, David crossed the frontier, and took refuge in the city of Goliath. He was soon recognized, and resorted to the subterfuge of feigning himself mad (1 Samuel 21:1-15). All the time he was acting thus, his soul seems to have been directing its eyes towards God. His faith was not strong enough to keep him from an unworthy disguise; but still faith was there. What a strange medley are we all at the best!-feigning madness in terror, and compiling psalms in heroic trust. The Psalm falls into three strophes; Psalms 56:1-4; Psalms 56:4-11; and Psalms 56:12-13. The earlier part of each of the two former describes the writer’s danger; and the latter part in each case closes with a similar refrain (Psalms 56:4; Psalms 56:10-11). The title is very touching, as the margin (R.V.) puts it; and perhaps there is a reference to Psalms 55:6. Psalms 56:3. I will trust.-We are reminded of 1 Samuel 21:12. It is better to say with Isaiah, "I will trust, and not be afraid" (Isaiah 12:2). See also Psalms 56:4 and Psalms 56:11. Psalms 56:4. I will not fear.-Here for a moment the writer seems to have climbed out of the shadowed valley of fear to a mountain summit, sunlit. But in the next verse he is hurled back again. Oh to live, outside one’s own experiences, in the unchanging Person and work of Christ! All praise and trust must be in Him. Psalms 56:8. Put my tears into Thy bottle!-No tear of the child of God falls unnoticed and forgotten. Remember how the sinner’s tears were precious to the Master, whose feet they laved (Luke 7:38, Luke 7:44). As rainbows are made of drops of water, so does God keep our tears to transmute into songs. You will meet your tears again in rainbows (Isaiah 61:7; Revelation 7:17; Revelation 21:4). Psalms 56:12. Thy vows are upon me, 0 God!-Vows had an important place in the Old Testament economy (Deuteronomy 23:21-23; Ecclesiastes 5:4-5) : but the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:33-35) seems to ex­clude them from the ethics of the new dispensation; though vows are twice mentioned in the Acts (Acts 18:18; Acts 21:23): in both cases probably in connection with Nazarite consecration. Psalms 56:13. My feet from falling!-Here is a plea for those who have been saved from the penalty of sin, that their feet may be kept from falling. Oh to walk before God so as to please Him! (Genesis 17:1-8; Psalms 36:9). Psalms 57:1-11 THE SOUL AMONG LIONS. This is one of the choicest of the Psalms. It is dated from the cave of Adullam or the hold at Engedi. The resemblances to Psalms 7:1-17 probably point to the latter. The Psalm falls into two parts, each of which closes with a similar refrain. Psalms 57:1. In the shadow of Thy wings.-As the hills were David’s refuge from Saul, so was God the cave of refuge for his soul-being a safe hiding-place for us all. Is there not here also a reminiscence of words once spoken to the heart of his ancestress the Moabite maiden? (Ruth 2:12; see also Deuteronomy 32:11). God’s care is like an eagle’s wing for strength, and like a hen’s for gentleness (Matthew 23:37). Psalms 57:2. God that performeth all things for me.-Why should we not let God do "all things" for us and through us? (Hebrews 13:20-21). Psalms 57:3. He shall send from heaven.-With this confidence, we need not fear "him that would swallow us up." Psalms 57:4. My soul is among lions.-Delitzsch here says that, as the fugitive among those rocky fastnesses prepares himself for his night’s rest, he hears the growl of the beasts of prey from which his refuge protects him; even so did God save David from his foes. Psalms 57:5. Be Thou exalted, 0 God!-Let us sometimes rise above our personal griefs in passionate desire for God’s glory. Psalms 57:7. 0 God, my heart is fixed!-The steadfast and prepared heart is always in a condition of holy song. May God keep us fixed! Psalms 57:8-9. I will awake right early! (R.V.,marg.)-If the earlier verses marked the writer’s thoughts at eventide, here is his morning’s resolution. Glory stands for soul (See also Psalms 16:9). He who lies down to sleep among lions shall yet arise to praise, and to set others praising. Psalms 57:10. Be Thou exalted, 0 God!-Mercy and Truth had come, as he expected (Psalms 57:3; Psalms 36:5; Psalms 108:4). And, as he closes, he magnifies Him who stooping from above heaven had lifted him to heaven. Psalms 58:1-11 "LIKE THE DEAF ADDER." This Psalm is against wicked rulers. It has been suggested that it was written on account of Abner and the rest of Saul’s princes, who judged David as a rebel and outlaw, and urged Saul to pursue him. It is the fourth of the Golden Psalms. For super­scription, see also Psalms 57:1-11. The divisions are very simple: a description of the evils of the unrighteous judges (Psalms 58:1-5); prayer for their overthrow (Psalms 58:6-8); the ultimate triumph of righteousness (Psalms 58:9-11). Psalms 58:2. Ye weigh out violence (R.V.).-Weighing is always sym­bolical of JUSTICE; but these unrighteous judges weighed out violence rather than justice. Psalms 58:3. They go astray as soon as born.-It is said that the young ser­pent will sting as swiftly and as poisonously as an older one. And certain it is that the virulence of our nature will show itself in young children. Of course, by nature, we all share the fallen nature of Adam, though, in the case of the believer, grace neutralizes its effect. Psalms 58:4-5. Like the poison of a serpent.-The second clause may be rendered, Like a deaf adder, he stoppeth the ear. "The hearing of all the serpent tribes is very imperfect, as all are destitute of a tympanic cavity." The charmer has to reach the snake by very shrill notes of voice or flute. In the case of David’s persecutors, it was not so much their inability as their unwillingness to hear. Saul’s conscience was not dead, for he was on more than one occasion touched by David’s appeals (1 Samuel 19:6; 1 Samuel 24:17-21; 1 Samuel 26:21, 1 Samuel 26:25). But he resisted the prompting of his better self. Psalms 58:6. Break their teeth!-This imagery is borrowed from the lion, which tears his prey with his great eye-teeth. Psalms 58:7. Let his arrows be as if they were cut-headless, pointless, blunt, and harmless (Psalms 37:15). Psalms 58:9. Before the contents of the pots can feel the heat of the thorns burning beneath, God will take them away: both those which have not been reached by the fire, and are therefore green, and those which are burning. The rapidity and rush of the tempest, which sweeps away all preparation for the meal, is very vivid. Psalms 58:10-11. Sooner or later the integrity of the righteous will be vin­dicated: and it will be manifest that the eye of the all-seeing Judge has discerned between the false and the true. There is a great distinction between the desire for the gratification of per­sonal vengeance, and zeal for the vindication of God’s character. Ah, what a commentary is supplied by Revelation 19:1-4! Psalms 59:1-17 "DELIVER ME, 0 GOD!" The fifth of the Golden Psalms. Compare the title with those of Psalms 16:1-11; Psalms 56:1-13; Psalms 57:1-11; and Psalms 58:1-11. Delitzsch says, "We believe that it is most advisable to adhere to the title." The contents of this Psalm correspond to the title, and carry us naturally to 1 Samuel 19:11. It consists of four parts, of which the first and third are very similar: the second and fourth parts also resemble each other. Compare Psalms 59:1-5 with Psalms 59:11-11: also Psalms 59:6-10 with Psalms 59:14-17. Psalms 59:1-2. Deliver! defend! deliver! save!-Four times the persecuted man cries for help. He speaks of his enemies as workers of ini­quity; men of blood; plot weavers; and insolent in their might. How often must similar cries have been wrung from the Waldenses, the Huguenots, and the Covenanters! Psalms 59:3. Transgression rather refers to the treason with which David was charged against the king; sin as towards God. We should habitually exercise ourselves to have consciences void of offence towards God and men (Acts 24:16). Psalms 59:4. They run and prepare themselves.-They made haste to mani­fest their enmity; yet their hatred was "without a cause" (Psalms 7:4; Psalms 35:7, Psalms 35:19; Psalms 109:3; Psalms 119:78, Psalms 119:161). Psalms 59:5. Lord God of hosts, God of Israel.-Dwell on these redupli­cated names for God: Jehovah, the unchanging; Elchim Sabaoth, the God of hosts, indicating the resources at his command; Elohe Israel, the God of Israel, in his covenant relations. Each is a new plea, which God cannot resist (see also Jeremiah 35:17; Jeremiah 38:17). Psalms 59:6-7. Like a dog.-The Eastern dog is a wretched animal, prowling through the streets to feed on offal, and filling the night air with how lings, when its search for food has been in vain. Thus for several successive nights David’s foes may have gathered round his house, whispering, or pouring forth their hatred in muttered tones. Silence has settled on the houses all around, the inmates are wrapt in slumber: Who doth hear? Psalms 59:8. Thou, 0 Lord, shalt laugh.-What a bold image! God looks down through the dark, and laughs at them in scorn (Psalms 2:4). Psalms 59:9. 0 my Strength, I will wait upon Thee is the beautiful reading of the Revised Version. Psalms 59:10. The God of my mercy.-It might be read, "My God shall go before me with His mercy." Here is God’s prevenient grace. He goes before the sheep which He puts forth: He marches in front to make the crooked straight, and the rough smooth (John 10:4). Psalms 59:11-13. God ruleth unto the ends of the earth.-These impreca­tions arise from fear lest his people should be hardened in sin. Psalms 59:16-17. I will sing in the morning.-There is also here an amplification of David’s former resolve (Psalms 59:9). The morning is ever breaking on the godly, succeeding the night of anxiety and peril. Let it summon us to loud songs of praise! Psalms 60:1-12 "SAVE WITH THY RIGHT HAND!" This is a national Psalm to be taught to the people (Deuteronomy 31:19). Psalms 60:5-12 reappear in Psalms 108:1-13. As Psalms 13:1-6 was sung by the sons of Korah when the Edomites were taking advantage of David’s absence to invade the land, so this Psalm was composed after victory had been assured. Shushan-eduth means "the lily of testimony"; and may refer to the name of the tune to which this Psalm was set. Aram stands for the Syrians. The Syrians which dwelt between the two floods, Euphrates and Tigris, had become confederate with the Syrians of Zobah (2 Samuel 10:6, 2 Samuel 10:8, 2 Samuel 10:16, 2 Samuel 10:19). For the whole story, see 2 Samuel 8:1-18. The nation’s anguish (Psalms 60:1-4); the nation’s confidence in God’s word (Psalms 60:5-8); the nation’s prayer (Psalms 60:9-12). Psalms 60:1. Thou hast been displeased.-These earlier verses have a plaintive tone, due to the great losses inflicted on the land by the Syrian invasion. Sometimes disasters fall so thick on the Church that it seems as if it were God-forsaken. Psalms 60:4. Thou hast given a banner.-There is the more reason for claiming God’s help, because his people carry the banner of his truth. If it is trailed on the ground, great dishonor is done to his holy name. Psalms 60:5. Thy beloved.-We are "beloved" indeed, if we are in the Beloved (Deuteronomy 33:12; Ephesians 1:6). Psalms 60:6. I will divide .. . and mete out.-This is an allusion to God’s promise that His people should possess Canaan (Genesis 12:7, etc.) And therefore the nation rejoices in its certain victory over its foes. When we have any promise of God, we may confidently de­pend upon it. Shechem and Succoth are described as contiguous in Genesis 33:17-18. As it was promised in Jacob’s days, so should it be (Genesis 28:13-15; Genesis 35:11-12). The enemy should not succeed in wresting an inch from Israel. Psalms 60:7. Gilead is Mine!-Gilead, though lying across the Jordan, should not be dismembered. Manasseh and Ephraim, the martial tribes, and Judah, the seat of government, were welded into a strong united kingdom, and should remain so. Psalms 60:8. Moab ... Edom ... Philistia.-The three hereditary foes of Israel had been reduced to subjection. Moab, a washing tub (2 Samuel 8:2); Edom, a slave taking care of sandals (Matthew 3:11), or the idea may be of the transference of authority (Ruth 4:7); Philistia, compelled to welcome with shouts of triumph (Psalms 108:9). Psalms 60:9. Who will lead me?-The victor pants for new victories. The strong city is probably Petra, the famous capital of Edom, hewn in rock. Psalms 60:11-12. Give us help!-The cry for help and the assurance of deliverance go hand in hand. Here is a motto for us in all times of opposition and difficulty. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 63: 04.08. CHAPTER 8 ======================================================================== Psalms 61:1-8 "THE ROCK THAT IS HIGHER THAN I." Neginah implies that the Psalm was intended for singing to instruments. It was evidently composed while the tabernacle was standing (Psalms 61:4); and after David had received the promise of the everlasting kingdom (Psalms 61:6-7). Yet he was manifestly passing through a time of great distress; and Delitzsch is, therefore, probably right in fixing its date at the time of Absalom’s rebellion, and in heading it, "Prayer and Thanksgiving of an expelled king on his way back to his throne." It is a precious gem. Psalms 61:1. My prayer.-How earnest it is!-my cry! Psalms 61:2. The end of the earth is any place of extreme sorrow or de­pression; it is equivalent to the uttermost of which Hebrews 7:25 speaks. We are never really far off from God; but, owing to de­pression, and physical weakness, and the oppression of our foes, we may feel ourselves to be so. But we are never too far off to cry to Him. My Rock!-What rock is this, save the Rock of Ages, cleft for us? And yet we cannot climb up into its clefts: we need the hand of Divine grace to lift us thither, and keep us there. "I will put thee" (Exodus 33:22). Psalms 61:3. A shelter! ... a strong tower!-What God has been, He will be. Psalms 61:4. In Thy tabernacle forever.-If permitted to return. David purposed to abide forever in the sacred shrine. But every­where God pitches a pavilion for us. These are the outspread wings of the shechinah (Psalms 36:7). Ah, what a heritage is here! (Ephesians 1:3). Psalms 61:6-7. His years as many generations.-Words which can only be fulfilled in their entire wealth of meaning in the King of kings. Psalms 61:8. I will sing praise (Psalms 5:3; Php 4:6). Psalms 62:1-12 "MY SOUL WAITETH UPON GOD!" This is the "only" Psalm (see Psalms 62:2, Psalms 62:4-6). It consists of three strophes, each of which begins with that word only or surely, ach in the Hebrew (Psalms 62:1-4; Psalms 62:5-8; Psalms 62:9-12). The first two divisions (Psalms 62:1-4; Psalms 62:5-8) close with "Selah." This Psalm was probably com­posed during the time of Absalom’s rebellion; and it resembles Psalms 39:1-13 in being dedicated to Jeduthun (1 Chronicles 25:1-3); and that Psalm also gives the Hebrew word ach four times: it is there translated surely and verily. Psalms 62:1. Only my soul waiteth, or "is silent unto."-There are times when words fail us, and when the soul mutely waits for God’s salvation. Silence is often golden eloquence, and God can under­stand it. Moreover waiting on God stills the soul. Psalms 62:2, Psalms 62:6. I shall not be moved.-The movement is only on the surface of the life, while the great deeps of the soul are at rest (Acts 20:24). Psalms 62:3. How long?-It is probably David who was the bowing wall and tottering fence (see R.V.). One thrust, and his enemies think he will be at their feet. Psalms 62:5. My expectation.-It is well for us if we have learned to look away from all creature-help to God alone. Psalms 62:6. My rock! my salvation!-What a loving accumulation of en­dearing titles for God! The man of fifty catches up the imagery of earlier years, and ransacks memory to supply fit names for this Almighty Friend. And all that God is, is mine. Psalms 62:8. At all times, means on dark as well as bright days. When the heart is charged with sorrow or sin, what a relief it is to open the sluice gates, and pour all out toward God! Psalms 62:9. Lighter than vanity (see R.V.): They go up as the lighter scale, lighter than vanity, i.e., a breath. How often have we looked for help from men and money in vain!-but God has never failed us. Psalms 62:10. Oppression ... robbery.-The men of high degree oppress; the men of low degree are fraudulent: but the evil deeds of both are seen and known of Jehovah. The increase of riches has its dangers: it generally means the increase of temptations. Psalms 62:11-12. Power and Mercy are the two pillars on which the Temple of His justice rests. Psalms 62:12. God is neither unseeing nor unmindful (Psalms 10:14; Hebrews 6:10). Psalms 63:1-11 "MY SOUL THIRSTETH!" This is said to have been from the third century the morning song of the Church. The superscription tells us that it was written in the wilderness of Judah. But the word "king" (Psalms 63:11) forbids our supposing that the Psalm was penned during the Sauline persecution. It was probably written amid the events recorded in 2 Samuel 15:23-28; 2 Samuel 16:2; 2 Samuel 17:16. This "wilderness" stretched southwards from Jericho on the western shore of the Dead Sea. In the Psalm there are noticeable references to the life of the soul. My soul thirsteth; my soul longeth; my soul shall be satisfied; my soul followeth hard after Thee (Psalms 3:1, Psalms 63:5, Psalms 63:8). Psalms 63:1. Early will I seek Thee!-This should be the cry of each of us in the dawn of life, and of each day: "In a dry and weary land" (R.V.). How weary and sad is life without God! Though we have all, yet if He be not there, our soul is athirst and weary (John 4:13-14). Psalms 63:2. To see ... as I have seen Thee!-As the Psalmist trod sadly over the burning sand, and crossed the dry torrent-beds, it seemed a picture of his state of soul; and he contrasted the present with the happy past, when he had had similar desires, which were then slaked by the vision of the Divine power and glory. Psalms 63:3. Thy loving-kindness is better than life.-Already a sense of the love of God breaks on his soul, as a tropical rain on the parched earth; and he becomes assured of speedy satisfaction. Psalms 63:5. As with marrow and fatness.-God not only gives us necessaries but dainties. Psalms 63:6. In the night-watches.-Many of David’s most rapturous experiences of God seem to have been at night. In all these Psalms there is imagery borrowed from the night-watch in the camp. Psalms 63:8. Thy right hand upholdeth.-The hand of God ever supports the soul in its pursuit of Him (Php 3:12). Psalms 63:9. Those that seek my soul.-Perhaps there is an allusion here to Numbers 16:31-32. Psalms 63:10. A portion for foxes.-Absalom’s army was badly routed, and many of the slain must have fed the jackals which roamed the forest (2 Samuel 18:6-8). Psalms 63:11. Shall rejoice in God.-"By Him," refers of course, not to the king, but to God. Psalms 64:1-10 THE COUNSEL OF THE WICKED. This Psalm probably dates from the Sauline persecutions. The slanders of the tongue, specially mentioned, are very characteristic of that period. There are two strophes: prayer for preservation (Psalms 64:1-6), and assurance of Divine vindication (Psalms 64:7-10). Psalms 64:1-5. Hide me from ... the wicked!-What a marvellous pic­ture is given here of the whole range of calumny! Insult, sar­casm, slander, inuendos, tale-bearing, and suspicion are rife enough in our society, and even in Christian society. How fond are we all of hearing and spreading reports of which we have not taken the trouble to ascertain the truth! Sometimes it is a look, or a gesture, or a shrug of the shoulders; but it may be enough to ruin a man’s reputation. Psalms 64:6. They search out iniquities.-If this search is always on foot, how careful and circumspect should we be! (1 Corinthians 10:32). Psalms 64:7-9. All men shall fear.-God relieves us of the necessity of fighting for ourselves. Whilst the wicked are bending their bows against us (Psalms 64:3), God’s arrow is flying from an unsuspected quarter against them. Curses come home to roost (Psalms 64:8). Psalms 64:10. The righteous: the upright.-The Psalm began with the singular ("my voice": "hide me!") and ends with the plural. Our experiences enrich the whole Church. And those who trust shall have abundant cause for rejoicing and praise. Psalms 65:1-13 THE RIVER OF GOD. This joyous hymn was probably composed for use in the sanctuary on the occasion of one of the great annual festivals. It expressly dwells on the Divine bounty in the fertility of the earth (Leviticus 23:9-14). There is a marvelous blending of nature and grace in its entire texture, which makes it one of the most beautiful of all sacred lyrics. There are three divisions. We are transported successively to the Courts of the Lord’s house (Psalms 65:1-4); to the shore of the sea, where rockbound coasts resist the fury of the waves (Psalms 65:5-8); and to the pasture-lands and cornfields of Canaan (Psalms 65:9-13) Psalms 65:1. For Thee is the silence of praise is the literal reading. Such praise as is too great and deep for tumultuous expressions, and so arrests the fever of the soul. It has been said, "The most intense feeling is the most calm, being condensed by repression." Psalms 65:2. Unto Thee shall all flesh come!-By the word flesh the Psalmist would call attention to our weakness and need as men (Genesis 9:11, Genesis 9:15; Psalms 136:25; Isaiah 40:5), each deficiency on our part pointing us to God. The more needy we are, the greater cause is there for going to God. And He answers prayer. There is no definition of the kind of prayer which He answers, because the outward expression matters nothing, if the heart speak. And wherever the heart speaks, God hears. Psalms 65:3. Words of iniquities (marg.).-This prevailing may be because they act more masterfully, or because they excite deeper contrition. The Hebrew word capher translated cover implies, "to cover with the atonement." And the pronoun, Thou, is emphatic, intimating that God, and God alone, could do this. Psalms 65:4. Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest.-God hath chosen Christ and all who are one with Him (Ephesians 1:4). We need to be caused, ere we can approach or dwell (John 6:44; Galatians 4:9). But in each case God is prepared to do this by the Holy Spirit: Dwell in Thy courts. What a sacred position would this be! Why, should we not seek it! "And go no more out!" (Revelation 3:12). Satisfied. Such a condition is involved in the realization of the presence of God, and when we are abiding in Him. Thy holy temple. The word "temple" was applied to the Lord’s house even before Solomon’s temple was eretced (1 Samuel 1:9; 2 Samuel 22:7). Psalms 65:5. By terrible things in righteousness.-The terror is towards God’s foes; the answer towards his friends (2 Samuel 7:23). Ulti­mately all mankind shall come to acknowledge Him (Isaiah 66:16, Isaiah 66:18). Afar off upon the sea will mean not only those afloat, but those living on the seashore, in distant lands. Psalms 65:8. The morning and evening may mean dwellers in East and West; or the mercies which characterize dawn and eve, and which lead us to new songs and joys. Psalms 65:9. Thou visitest the earth.-Every spring is like a Divine visit. The holy soul looks through second causes to the present tenses of the I AM. Psalms 65:10. Thou waterest the ridges.-The ridges of the ploughed fields are lowered through the plenteous rains, and fertilized to fatness. Psalms 65:12-13. The hills rejoice; the pastures are clothed; the valleys are covered.-Let us seek an equal fertility in the life of the soul, through that river of God, which is the Holy Spirit (Revelation 22:1). Psalms 66:1-20 "VERILY GOD HATH HEARD!" Some of the old expositors speak of this Psalm as the Lord’s Prayer of the Old Testament. It consists of five divisions (Psalms 66:1-4, Psalms 66:5-7, Psalms 66:8-12, Psalms 66:13-15, Psalms 66:16-20), of which the second and the fifth begin in a similar manner-Come ye!. Psalms 66:1. All ye lands!-Notice the missionary spirit which breaks through the narrow limits of Judaism. Thus are men larger than their creeds. See also Psalms 66:4. Psalms 66:2. Make His praise glorious!-We should make our praise as worthy of its object as possible. Praise Him with a glorious hymn! Psalms 66:3. How terrible are Thy works!.-God’s manifested power will only make his enemies yield a feigned obedience. See marg., R.V. Grace alone can change their hearts. Psalms 66:5. Come and see!-Thus Jesus spake, and Philip (John 1:39, John 1:46). Psalms 66:6. Through the Flood!-The Red Sea and the Jordan. Is not this always true of the Church, that God’s people are passing through obstacles which must daunt them, were it not for their Divine companion (Isaiah 43:2). Our God turns the place of trial into one of joy. "Isaiah 11:11-15 leads us to anticipate a repetition of the miracle of the divided waters." Psalms 66:7. His eyes behold the nations.-The metaphor here is of God looking forth on men from his heavenly watch-tower with eyes that carry with them the light by which they see. Psalms 66:10. Thou hast tried us!-"It is not known what corn will yield, till it come to the flail; nor what grapes, till they come to the press. Grace is hid in nature, as sweet water in rose-leaves. The fire of affliction fetcheth it out." Satan tempts us to our fall and ruin; God tries us to show what grace He has implanted, and to strengthen them by exercise. Psalms 66:11-12. Thou broughtest us into! ... Thou broughtest us out!-The Psalmist sees God’s will, not only in his appointments, but also in his permissions. He is said to do what He permits to be done. The imagery is of beasts, first netted; then heavily laden (the loins being the seat of strength); then driven by men who almost sit over their heads, dominating them as they choose. Psalms 66:12. Through fire and through water.-Fire and water were used in purifying the spoils of war (Numbers 31:23). We need something more than water (Matthew 3:2). He who brings us into the trial will certainly bring us out. The wealthy place is a well-watered place (see marg.); the word is translated in Psalms 23:5, "runneth over." Psalms 66:14. Opened lips (marg.) are probably mentioned to show that the vows were made under strong internal pressure which forced the lips open. Psalms 66:16. Come and hear!-These words befitted the woman of Samaria, and the Gadarene demoniac (John 4:29; Mark 5:19-20); and they suggest the duty of all those who have received special help and blessing. Psalms 66:17. I cried unto Him.- Scarcely had I cried, than I had reason to praise. Psalms 66:18. If I had regarded (R.V., marg.).-Be sure that you are on God’s errands, and not on some sinful or selfish quest. Psalms 66:20. God hath not turned away His mercy.-We have no plea in prayer, like God’s mercy. Psalms 67:1-7 "LET THE PEOPLE PRAISE THEE!" This Psalm was probably composed, like Psalms 65:1-13, to be used at one of the great annual festivals, probably the Feast of Tabernacles. The singer goes beyond the occasion which called forth his song, and seems to include in the range of his thought those spiritual blessings which accrue to all the world through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Psalms 67:1-2. Cause His face to shine!-There is an allusion here to the threefold blessing of Numbers 6:24-26. When Abraham and his seed are blessed, the world is blessed through them. Similarly we may plead that God would bless his Church and people as the condition of blessing to the world. Oh for the shining of that dear face, undimmed by any cloud born of our sin and neglect! Psalms 67:3. Let the people praise Thee!-We want crowns for the brow of Christ. Each loyal heart yearns for the exaltation of its King. Psalms 67:4. Thou shalt judge ... and govern.-To govern is to lead or tend (see marg.). Christ shall yet be the Shepherd of man­kind. Psalms 67:6. The earth hath yielded her increase (R.V.) as if already the Millennial age had broken on the rapt gaze of the poet-prophet, and all the harmonies of nature were restored. Praise ever accom­panies the fertility of the Church. Our own God. What rapture there is here! Faith lays its hand on God, and appropriates Him for itself. There is a wide difference between speaking of things and people as fair and useful, and saying of them, "These are my own." He is our own, because He has made Himself so, and has taken us to be his forever. "His every act pure blessing is." Psalms 68:1-35 "LET GOD ARISE!" This Psalm is one of the grandest odes in existence. It was probably composed when the Ark was brought up in triumph by the united people (Psalms 68:27) from the house of Obed-edom to the newly-acquired Mount Zion (2 Samuel 6:1-23). It is evidently a processional hymn, to be sung by multitudes of white-robed priests and Levites; and we may almost mark the successive divisions of the melody as corresponding to the several stages of the march. Whilst the Ark is being lifted to the shoulders of the Levites, a measured strain is chanted (Psalms 68:1-6); as the procession then moves forward, the march through the wilderness is recited (Psalms 68:7-14): presently Mount Zion comes in sight, and all neighboring hills are depicted as looking askance and enviously at its selection in preference to themselves (Psalms 68:15-16); the procession now begins to climb the sacred slopes of Zion amid more triumphant strains (Psalms 68:17-18): the procession is next described (Psalms 68:19-27); and from the assembled hosts, now gathered on the sacred site, the strains of triumph peal forth (Psalms 68:28-35). Psalms 68:1. Let God arise!-These opening words were the formula used by Moses (Numbers 10:35). How strange their history! "Through the battle smoke of how many a field have they rung! On the plains of the Palatinate, from the lips of Cromwell’s Ironsides; and from the poor peasants that went to death on many a bleak moor to their rude chant;- "’Let God arise, and scattered Let all his en’mies be; And let all those that do Him hate Before His presence flee.’’’ Psalms 68:4. Cast up a highway for Him that rideth through the deserts (R.V.).-As the Ark of God once led his people through the wilderness, so now does the Word of God ever lead us through dark and difficult places. Psalms 68:5-6. Setteth the solitary in families.-God has a special care for lonely people; and in his providence He often introduces such into the warmth and fellowship of family life (comp. John 19:26-27). He bringeth out the prisoners into prosperity (R. V.). Psalms 68:9. A plentiful rain.-"A rain of liberalities," probably referring to the abundant gifts of every kind bestowed on the people. Psalms 68:11. The women that publish the tidings are a great host (R.V.); an allusion to the Oriental custom of damsels celebrating a victory in song and dance. How marvellously this is being fulfilled now by the exodus of noble girls from their happy homes to publish to the heathen the Gospel of Jesus! Psalms 68:13. Covered with silver.-The Authorised Version gives good sense, contrasting the blackening contact of a smoky caldron with the lustrous colors flashed from the dove’s wing. Psalms 68:14. White as snow.-"Salmon" means shady, dark. It was a high mountain near the Jordan. The kings were scattered, as snow­flakes are driven before the wind, and melt before the sun. Psalms 68:15. The hill of Bashan.-Bashan is the high snow-summit of Hermon. It is employed as a symbol of worldly greatness. But the lesser Zion is as great-and greater, since God is there. God does not choose the great and strong of this world (1 Corinthians 1:26). Psalms 68:18. Gifts for men.-"Thou hast obtained spoil which Thou mayest distribute as gifts among men." Thus the Holy Spirit gives the exact sense, though not the words, in Ephesians 4:8. Psalms 68:19. Who daily beareth our burden (R.V.) .-Either rendering (A.V. or R.V.) is delightfully suggestive. Psalms 68:22. I will bring again my people.-Though the danger be as great as that caused by Og in Bashan, or by the passage of the Red Sea, yet will God deliver his people. Psalms 68:27. Benjamin, with the princes of Judah.-The union of the tribes at the extreme North and South is emblematic of the union of the Church of the ascended Lord (Ephesians 4:1-32.). Psalms 68:30. Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds (R.V.). referring to Egypt, as representing heathendom. Psalms 68:31. Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands.-A glimpse of days not far away. Psalms 69:1-36 IN DEEP WATERS. This is the second Psalm with this title, "Upon the lilies" (see Psalms 45:1-17.). It touches the profoundest depths of sorrow, which were only fully known and trodden by our blessed Lord. Of course, there was a primary reference to the sorrows of the Psalm­ist; but only in Jesus is there a full realization of much that is here expressed. Clearly, however, the maledictions with which wrong-doing is threatened had no place in Him, who from his cross asked his Father to forgive. This, like Psalms 22:1-31., is con­stantly applied to Christ in the New Testament. Compare 4, with John 15:25; John 15:9, with John 2:17, and Romans 15:3; Romans 15:21, with Matthew 27:34, Matthew 27:48; Matthew 27:25, with Acts 1:20. Psalms 69:4. Without a cause.-The last clause is a proverbial way of saying, "I am held guilty of wrongs, which I have never done," as when Shimei charged David with Saul’s sins (2 Samuel 16:8). Psalms 69:8. A stranger unto my brethren.-True of David (1 Samuel 17:28), and of our Lord (John 1:11; John 7:5). Psalms 69:9. Reproaches are fallen upon me.-All these foregoing verses may serve to show us how deep and agonizing was the travail of the Redeemer’s soul, when He came to his own, but they received Him not, and accounted Him a winebibber and sinner. Psalms 69:13-21. There was none to pity.-Read these verses once or twice, and think into them some of the meaning with which Jesus uttered them. It is probable that He literally died of a broken heart-­this was evidenced in the blood and water of John 19:34. Psalms 69:22-28. Let them be blotted out.-That such will be the fate of the wicked is undeniable; but though the saint foresee it, he will not desire it for selfish reasons. Psalms 69:35. Thy holy places.-We began with "deep mire where there was no standing": we end in the abiding city of God. Psalms 70:1-5 "I AM POOR AND NEEDY." This Psalm reminds us of Psalms 40:1-17. Indeed, it is a repetition of its closing verses. It was composed as a Psalm of remembrance, to put God in remembrance of his suffering ones. "When God seems to forget us, we must not forget to put Him in remem­brance" (Isaiah 43:26; Isaiah 62:6-7, marg.). Psalms 70:1. Make haste to deliver!-God often delays to come to our help, and tarries till the fourth watch of the morning, or the night before the execution; but He is never too late. Yet we often chafe at the delay. Psalms 70:2-3. Put to confusion.-Wicked spirits as well as men seek after our soul; but God shall turn them backward and disappoint their designs. Psalms 70:4. Let God be magnified.-How much better to say: "Let God be magnified," than, "Aha, Aha." The godly man boasts in God, and is only eager that his name should be exalted (Php 1:20). Let it be our one aim to do and suffer all with this one purpose-­to make all men think better of the great God. Psalms 70:5. Poor and needy.-Happy are they who have learned to glory in their infirmities, and to use them as arguments with God. There is a beautiful answer to this plea in that description of the Messiah which is given in a following Psalm (Psalms 82:4): Helper in good works; Deliverer from all the power of the adversary. The prayer closes with one further plea for urgency. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 64: 04.09. CHAPTER 9 ======================================================================== Psalms 71:1-24 FOR DECLINING YEARS. The writer and the occasion of this Psalm are unknown. It is obviously an old man’s psalm (Psalms 71:9, Psalms 71:17-18). The divisions fall naturally into prayer (Psalms 71:1-13), and the expression of confident hope (Psalms 71:14-24). The three first verses are a reproduction with slight variations of Psalms 31:1-3. One key-note is Great and Greatly (Psalms 71:19-21, Psalms 71:23). Another is All the day (Psalms 71:8, Psalms 71:15, Psalms 71:24). Psalms 71:2. Incline Thine ear unto me.-If you are too weak to cry aloud, God will stoop to you. Psalms 71:3. My strong habitation.-How approachable is God at all times! There is a door at St. Peter’s which is opened only once in a century; but God’s door stands always open. Psalms 71:5. Thou art my hope.-Not only is our hope in God, but God is our hope. Not created things; the Creator alone can satisfy us. "Christ is in us, the Hope of Glory." Psalms 71:6. My praise shall be continually of Thee.- Let us praise God for his mercy in his ordinary works, and have eyes for his daily miracles. Psalms 71:9. Cast me not off in the time of old age.-Compare Joshua 14:10-14. Our weakness is a prevalent and irresistible plea. Psalms 71:14. I will hope continually.-The strain changes from prayer to hope. Psalms 71:15. My mouth shall praise.-How soon has the answer come to his petition! (Psalms 71:8). Psalms 71:16. In the strength of the Lord God.-The Septuagint translates "I will enter into the powers (mightinesses) of the Lord," as into a sure citadel. But there is great force and beauty in our version. Psalms 71:17. Thou hast taught me.-Be content to let God teach you just one step or lesson at a time. And declare what you are taught. Psalms 71:21. Turn again and comfort me (R.V.). Psalms 71:22. Thou Holy One of Israel.-This name for God occurs only in two other Psalms (Psalms 78:41, and Psalms 89:18). My God cast the dumb devil out of us, and set us talking on this theme, which can never become threadbare! Psalms 72:1-20 THE COMING KING. Critics insist that for in the inscription should be of; and that therefore this glorious Messianic Psalm was composed by Solomon. A conclusion which is not contradicted by Psalms 72:20, which was evidently appended (with the Doxology) by those who divided the Psalter into books, the second of which closes with this glowing description of the Lord’s Anointed and his reign. Behold the king­dom of heaven which is already set up, and shall come yet more and more! Psalms 72:1. Give the King thy judgments.-This reminds us of 1 Kings 3:9-28. In all judging and advising we need to catch sight of that which is in God’s mind, and to reproduce it. This is what the Holy Spirit did for our Lord, and will do for us (Isaiah 11:2-4). How instantly this petition was answered! (see the next verse). Psalms 72:3. Peace to the people.-Peace as the result of righteousness (Isaiah 32:17; Hebrews 7:2). It was, and still is, common in the East to announce great events from the tops of the mountains (Isaiah 40:9). Psalms 72:4-5. He shall judge the poor.-Compassion for the poor makes the throne endure. But how infinitely true this is of our Lord, to whom so many of these expressions must apply! (Revelation 5:9). Psalms 72:6. Like rain upon the mown grass.-The mown grass is that which is shorn. On the shorn blades, suffering still from the scythe, that gentle rain descends which heals and revives: emblem of the blessed work of the Holy Spirit. Psalms 72:7. Till the moon be no more (R.V.). Psalms 72:8. The river-the Euphrates (Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 11:24). Psalms 72:10. The kings of Seba shall offer gifts.-Tarshish, on the far West, by the Straits of Gibraltar; Sheba and Seba, nations in South Arabia famed for their wealth. "The most uncivilized-the most distant-the most opulent-shall pay homage to Christ." Psalms 72:11. All kings . . . shall serve Him.-Kings of wealth, and thought, and music, and art, have already acknowledged Him, and shall (Revelation 19:16). Psalms 72:12. The needy ... when he crieth.-Our needs are arguments and reasons with Christ. Psalms 72:15. Prayer for Him ... continually.-"Men shall pray for Him continually: they shall bless Him all the day long" (R.V.). "We pray for Christ," says Augustine, "when we pray for the Church of Christ; because it is his body." We pray for Him when we say, "Thy kingdom come!" Though Christ is King of the poor, He shall have abundance of gold. Psalms 72:16. An handful of corn in the earth.-Though there be but a handful, yet such shall be the marvellous increase that the slopes of the mountains shall wave with corn as Lebanon with cedars. As there is abundant produce in the country, there shall be vast populations in the city, numerous as blades of grass. Psalms 72:17. His name shall have issue (R.V., marg.).-It shall re­produce itself. The Gospel of the name of Jesus begets children in every nation enlightened by the sun. Well for us if we claim those blessings which are in Him for us (Ephesians 1:3). Psalms 72:18-20. Blessed be the Lord God!-This doxology reminds us of Psalms 41:13, where the first book is closed. It is a sublime aspiration, in which we, who see the beginnings of this beneficent reign, may well unite. Psalms 73:1-28 "SET IN SLIPPERY PLACES" This and the ten following psalms are ascribed to the family of Asaph, the eminent singer (1 Chronicles 16:7; 2 Chronicles 29:30). The author describes his conflict with a strong temptation to envy the wicked. Psalms 37:1-40, as well as Psalms 73:1-28, discusses this problem, which was the great stumbling-block of the saints of old. We may divide the Psalm thus: How he came into the temptation (Psalms 73:1-14); how he got out of it (Psalms 73:15-20); how he profited by it (Psalms 73:21-28) . Psalms 73:1. Truly God is good!-This is the great principle on which he stands, as on a slab of granite. "Only good is God" {R.V., marg.). Whatever appearances there may be to the contrary, there is no doubt as to His perfect beneficence. The Israel is not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (John 1:47; 1 Corinthians 10:18). If you are washed in the blood of Christ, believe that every wind which blows on your life comes from the quarter of God’s love. Psalms 73:2. My feet were almost gone.-Almost, but not altogether. Psalms 73:4. No bands in their death.- This might be rendered, "no pangs up to their death" (R.V., marg.), or it may mean, that their death is easier than that of the godly. Their life flows on in a softly flowing current. "Men may die like lambs; and yet have their place hereafter with the goats." Psalms 73:6-9. They are corrupt.-What a picture! Their haughty bearing; their eyes and their speech; the imaginations of their evil heart overflowing (Psalms 73:7, R.V.). They blaspheme God in heaven, and wander through the earth in search of garbage. Psalms 73:10-11. How doth God know?-Some think that these verses in­dicate that the perplexity of the saints, coupled with the baleful influence of the wicked make the Lord’s people apostatize; others, that we here told of the anguish caused them by the tyranny of the proud oppressor. Psalms 73:13-14. Chastened every morning.-These verses might be paraphrased thus: "Surely godliness does not profit. I have lived up to all I knew to be right, keeping my conscience void of of­fence; and yet plagues and chastisement have been my daily lot. Is there a God, or is He other than good, that He so deals with his most faithful servants?" "Plagued" (contrast Psalms 73:5). Psalms 73:15-16. Too painful for me.-It seems treacherous to breathe such thoughts about God; and yet it is an infinite pain to doubt God’s perfect integrity. Ah, the agony of a suspicion that God should not be perfectly wise and good! Psalms 73:17-19. Until I went into the sanctuary.-Let us view things from God’s standpoint, and take in the whole course of his providence, weighing the future retribution of the wicked against their present estate (James 5:11). Psalms 73:20. As a dream.-"The awaking of God is a metaphor for his ending a period of probation or indulgence by an act of judg­ment": and here it would seem that death, which separates a man from his prosperity, is specially referred to. Psalms 73:21-22. So foolish was I.-When a man is nearest God, he is most full of self-loathing. God forgives him; but he cannot forgive himself. Psalms 73:23-28. God is ... my portion forever.-In spite of all the follies and sins of the past and present we may have God’s con­stant presence; and in Him we can have all and more than all that the Godless find in their wealth. God in heaven; God in the pathway of daily life; God in the heart-this is blessedness. Psalms 74:1-23 "WHY HAST THOU CAST US OFF?" This Psalm was composed when the Chaldeans destroyed the temple and city (compare Psalms 74:8 with Jeremiah 52:13-17). The Psalmist describes his people’s miseries (Psalms 74:1-11); recounts the reasons why they should still trust in God (Psalms 74:12-17); and con­cludes with urgent petitions for help (Psalms 74:18-23). Psalms 74:3. Lift up thy feet, i.e., come not slowly, but quickly, to restore ruins which otherwise must be perpetual. Psalms 74:4. Thine enemies roar.-The shout of the foe breaks in on the holy calm of congregations gathered for solemn worship; and heathen standards wave over the buildings consecrated to God. Psalms 74:5. They seemed as men that lifted up axes upon a thicket of trees (R.V.). Psalms 74:8. They have burned the synagogues.-As early as Samuel’s time there were meetings on fixed days for worship (1 Samuel 9:12; 1 Samuel 10:5). And these were probably maintained by the prophets (2 Kings 4:23), and anticipated the synagogues of later times. Psalms 74:13-14. Dragons in the waters-Leviathan.-These monsters stand here for the Egyptian hosts. Psalms 74:15. The fountain and the flood.-The Chaldaic adds to the Jordan, the Arnon, and the Jabbok (Numbers 21:13-15). Psalms 74:16-17. The day is thine, the night also.-Our God is the God of nature. What can He not do? The night may be over­shadowing your life; but it is as much his as the day: and there are treasures in darkness (Isaiah 45:3). Psalms 74:18. Arise, 0 God!-It is blessed to feel that God’s glory and our deliverance are indentical (Psalms 74:22). Psalms 74:19. Thy turtle dove.-What a striking similitude for the Church in its simplicity, weakness, and defencelessness! Psalms 74:20. Have respect unto the covenant.-There is no stronger plea with God than this: for the "covenant" is ordered in all things and sure (2 Samuel 23:5). This Psalm may be recited by the saints in all times of the Church’s depression. Psalms 75:1-10 "HE PUTTETH DOWN AND LIFTETH UP." It is fitting that the wail of the previous Psalm should break forth into glad thanksgivings of this. This title resembles that of Psalms 57:1-11, Destroy not: and probably this triumphal ode was prepared to celebrate a deliverance of which faith was sure. Reference is probably made to Sennacherib’s invasion in the time of Hezekiah (Psalms 46:1-11; Psalms 76:1-12.). The north is therefore omitted, as one of the quarters from which help would come (Psalms 75:6); it was thence that the invader came. Psalms 75:1. Thy name is near.-The believing soul gives thanks before the blessing of deliverance has come to hand. Its ear is quick to detect the pibroch of the relieving force, though the cannonade of the foe is fiercer than ever. Psalms 75:2. I will judge uprightly.-This is the reply of Jehovah, while his people are yet speaking (Isaiah 65:24). "When I shall find the set time" (R.V.) i.e., when the set time has come. Psalms 75:3. I bear up the pillars of the earth.-What a comfort it is to feel that amid the chaos and anarchy which sweep the sur­face, God is holding fast the solid foundations, on which we may build without fear! Psalms 75:4-5. Lift not up the horn.-The Psalmist here becomes the speaker. The horn is the strength of certain beasts, and is the sym­bol of power (Deuteronomy 33:17; 1 Samuel 2:1-10); and often of the power of the ungodly (Daniel 7:7). The word occurs four times in this Psalm; and it appears in some other Psalms. Psalms 75:6. Neither from east, west, nor south.-Promotion stands for deliverance-the lifting up of God’s help. Psalms 75:7-8. A cup . . . the dregs thereof shall the wicked drink.­-God’s judgments stupefy by their suddenness and terror (Revelation 16:18-21). Psalms 75:10. The righteous shall be exalted.-The prophets are sometimes said to do things in which God is evidently the Agent (Jeremiah 1:10). This is emphatically the Psalm of the second Advent. Psalms 76:1-12 "THOU ART TO BE FEARED." If the former Psalm anticipated Sennacherib’s overthrow, this was written after it (Psalms 76:3, and Isaiah 37:1-38). Psalms 76:2. In Salem is his tabernacle.-Salem was the ancient name of Jerusalem, and signifies Peace. God can only dwell where there is peace (Acts 2:1). The dwelling-place of God is among his people. Psalms 76:3. The shield, the sword, and the battle.-God snaps the proudest instruments of war. Psalms 76:4. More glorious than mountains.-The world-kingdoms are compared to mountains covered with spoils; but the city of God is fairer than the best. Psalms 76:5-6. Cast into a deep sleep.-God did but speak a word, and the warriors of the king of Assyria slept their last sleep. The poet depicts the scene in the camp on the morning after the dread catastrophe: The eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and forever were still. Psalms 76:9. God arose to judgment.-God sometimes seems to sit and allow matters to take their course: but He is waiting for the set moment to interpose; and when He arise, as He ever will, on the behalf of his people, the earth is still, as nature before a thunderstorm. Psalms 76:10. The wrath of man shall praise Thee.-What is meant in malice is changed to blessing. And there is a limit beyond which the rage of the enemies of the righteous cannot pass (Job 1:12; 1 Corinthians 10:13). Psalms 76:11. Vow and pay (2 Chronicles 32:22-23).-See Note on Psalms 56:12. Psalms 76:12. He shall cut off ... princes.-"Cut off" as a vinedresser would cut off shoots. The spirit, i.e., the life of princes (Revelation 6:15; Revelation 14:18-19). How terrible must be the wrath of the Lamb, to those who have defied and resisted his love! Psalms 77:1-20 "THE WATERS SAW THEE" This Psalm is still ascribed to Asaph, but it is after the manner of Jeduthun (inscription, R.V.). There are resemblances to it in Habakkuk 3:8-15, so it was probably composed before the end of Josiah’s reign, in which Habakkuk lived. The carrying away of the ten tribes and the imminent captivity of Judah may have furnished the occasion of this sad lament. We may divide at the Selahs. Psalms 77:1-3. I cried with my voice EXPRESSES THE PSALMIST’S ANGUISH.­-How often do we need the day of trouble to make us seek the Lord! The passage, "my sore," etc., is better rendered, "my hand was stretched out" (R.V.). This refusing to be comforted recalls Genesis 37:35 and Jeremiah 31:15. What excessive grief is here! Psalms 77:4-9. I am so troubled that I cannot speak.-A CONTRAST BE­TWEEN PAST AND PRESENT.-In this scarcity of comfort, Trapp says that the Psalmist was glad to live upon his old stores, as bees in winter. Particularly he remembered his song in the night (Job 35:10), which is equivalent to that "glory in tribulation" of which the New Testament is full (Romans 5:3; 2 Corinthians 7:4). It is whole­some to compare the present with the past, so that we may repent if we are conscious of any backsliding; and that we may be led again to the feet of Christ. After long days of gloom and anguish have darkened the soul, it begins to fear lest it may never emerge from the darksome forest into the open. Melancholy and depression are apt at putting questions; but faith has ever an answer ready. "Will the Lord cast off?" No! (Romans 11:1.) "Will He be favorable no more?" His compassions fail not! (Lamentations 3:22.) "Is his mercy clean gone forever?" No! (Psalms 103:17) "Does his promise fail?" No! (Hebrews 6:18.) "Has God forgotten to be gracious?" No! (Exodus 34:6.) "Has He in anger shut up his mercies?" No! (Psalms 103:17.) Psalms 77:10-15. I will remember.-FAITH RESTORED BY MEMORY.-The years of God’s past love are not likely to be all in vain. Has He loved from eternity, and will He forsake or forget in time? God’s way is in the sanctuary, i.e., it is holy (Psalms 77:13); but it is also in the sea, i.e., it is full of mystery (Psalms 77:19) "Some providences, like Hebrew words, must be read backwards." Psalms 77:16-19. A POETICAL ACCOUNT OF THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. -The thunderstorm here described is almost implied in Exodus 14:24. God does as He will: but no difficulties are obstacles to Him; and, what He has done, He can do. He still speaks to the waves (Mark 4:39). Psalms 77:20. By the hand of Moses and Aaron.-"Great was the power of these two men; but neither was the shepherd of the sheep: each was a servant of the Great and Good Shepherd, who made use of their hands." Psalms 78:1-72 GOD’S DEALINGS WITH ISRAEL. This Psalm specially refers to the children of Ephraim, as representing the northern kingdom of Israel (Psalms 78:9, Psalms 78:67); and is intended to show the cause of their rejection, and to warn them against incurring further judgments. It may date from 2 Chronicles 13:1-22. Is not Asaph a type of our Lord, who is ever thus pleading with his Church? Divide thus: A call for attention (Psalms 78:1-8); the story of Israel’s many rebellious and providential deliverances in the wilderness (Psalms 78:9-39); the narrative is continued to their settlement in the land of Canaan (Psalms 78:40-55); the reason for and the fact of the transference of leadership from Ephraim to Judah (Psalms 78:56-72). Psalms 78:9. Ephraim . . . turned back.-During the time of Ephraim’s headship, the nation failed at the gates of Canaan to go forward to take the land: hence the transference of leadership. Psalms 78:12. In the land of Egypt.-Zoan, or Tanis, was a very ancient city on the Nile, the capital of a district (Psalms 78:43). Psalms 78:20. Can He give bread also?-What faithless hearts are ours! God has filled heaven and earth with proofs of his love, and yet we distrust Him. "Oh, slow of heart!" (Mark 8:18.) Psalms 78:21-22. Because they believed not.-Nothing so grieves and angers God as unbelief. Psalms 78:32-42. How oft did they provoke Him!-An epitome of the forty years’ wanderings. Psalms 78:43-51. He wrought his signs in Egypt.-Several additional de­scriptive touches are here given to the account of the plagues. Psalms 78:49. Evil angels.-Not evil spirits, but agents of suffering and pain. Psalms 78:50. He made a path for his anger (R.V.), i.e., He did not restrain it. Psalms 78:59-61. He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh (see 1 Samuel 4:11). Psalms 78:66. He smote his adversaries backward (R.V.). Psalms 78:72. So He fed them ... and guided them. Sincerity of purpose and tact in handling men are essential to a true ruler and guide. Psalms 79:11-13 "WHERE IS THEIR GOD?" This Psalm, like Psalms 74:1-23., evidently dates from the Chaldean invasion. In Psalms 74:1-13. the destruction of the Temple was the prominent thought; here-its defilement is deplored. There are three stanzas; narrative (Psalms 79:1-4); prayer, especially because God’s name and glory are at stake (Psalms 79:5-12); promises of perpetual praise (Psalms 79:13). Psalms 79:1. The heathen are come into Thine inheritance.-In other passages God Himself is described as the chief agent. Here we find specified the tools employed by Him (Ezekiel 5:11; Ezekiel 23:38). Psalms 79:2-3. Blood . . . shed like water.-Fulfilled 2 Chronicles 36:17; Zechariah 14:1-21; see also Revelation 11:7. The words of these two verses are said to have been constantly on the lips of our countrymen in the days of the Indian Mutiny. Psalms 79:5. Jealousy ... like fire.-Jealousy is the reverse side of love. Jehovah was a husband to his people; hence his severity (Amos 3:2). We should be very particular as to our walk, lest we cause bitter heart-pain to the Lover of souls (1 Corinthians 10:22). Psalms 79:6. Pour out Thy wrath.-Pour out is the same word as is translated shed in ver 3. This verse is quoted by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:25). Psalms 79:8. The iniquities of our forefathers (R.V. (Deuteronomy 5:9).-Let us ask God to remember, in his dealings with us, not the sins of our past, but the covenant which He made with our fathers. Psalms 79:9. Help us, 0 God, for the glory of thy name.- We have an irresistible argument when we plead for God’s glory (John 14:13). Psalms 79:10. Let the revenging of the blood of thy servants be known (R.V.)-Joel quotes the former clause (Joel 2:17). Psalms 79:11. Let the sighing of the prisoner come before Thee!-The answer is anticipated in Psalms 102:19-20. Psalms 79:13. We will give Thee thanks forever.-In pastures of never-­failing bliss, we shall give Him perpetual praise (Revelation 7:17). Psalms 80:1-19 "A VINE OUT OF EGYPT." Under the figure of a vine injured by a wild beast (Psalms 80:8-13) the Psalmist laments the degradation of the ten tribes. The house of Joseph always represents Israel, as distinct from Judah (Obadiah 1:18; Amos 6:6). The mention of Benjamin (Psalms 80:2) does not militate against this view; for though the southern part of the tribe clung to the fortunes of Judah, it is probable that the bulk of the northern portion followed those of the ten tribes to whom they were bound by many ties (Genesis 43:29). These three tribes marched together (Numbers 10:22-24). The title of the Psalm reminds us of Psalms 45:1-17 and Psalms 69:1-36. "Lilies" are an emblem of what is lovely, and here of the lovely salvation of God. The division is clearly marked by the recurrence of the refrain (Turn), Psalms 80:3, Psalms 80:7, Psalms 80:14 (R.V.), and Psalms 80:19. The name of God being on an ascending scale: God (Psalms 80:3); God of Hosts (Psalms 80:7, Psalms 80:14); Jehovah, God of Hosts (Psalms 80:19). Psalms 80:1. Shepherd of Israel.-In Jacob’s blessing of Joseph, this title is specially given to God (Genesis 49:24,). To sit enthroned upon the cherubim (see R.V.) is an emblem of omnipotence, for they repre­sent all creatures. Thus the gentleness of a shepherd and the almighty power of God blend in this verse. Psalms 80:2. Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh, i.e., at their head, as the pillar of cloud and fire led the wilderness march. Psalms 80:3. Turn us again.-What a prayer for a backslider! (Jeremiah 31:18). When God restores us He puts us back into the very place which we occupied before we fell. Psalms 80:4. How long wilt Thou be angry? (smoke, R.V.)-Not the fire of God consuming the sacrifice of God, but burning against the backslider (Psalms 74:1). Psalms 80:5. Bread of tears.-Bread composed of tears (Psalms 42:3). Psalms 80:8. A vine out of Egypt.-Another reference to Jacob’s pre­diction, "A fruitful bough" (Genesis 49:22). The point of the Psalm­ist’s reference to the past consists in this-that God cannot desert, or destroy, any work which He has once begun. Psalms 80:10-11. The hills-those of the southern boundary of Canaan; the cedars represent Lebanon and the extreme north; the sea is the Mediterranean; the river, the Euphrates. Psalms 80:12. All they ... do pluck her.-Pul; Tiglath-pileser; Sargon and others (2 Kings 15:19; 1 Chronicles 5:26; 2 Kings 18:11). Psalms 80:15. The branch (lit. "the son," as Psalms 80:17) is another term for the spiritual vine; and in the allusion to the right hand (Psalms 80:15, Psalms 80:17), there is surely a reference to the name which Jacob gave to Benjamin, "Son of my right hand" (Genesis 35:18). The name was given by the father under Divine inspiration, and was a pledge of Divine love, not only to him, but to the whole nation whom he represented. Psalms 80:17. The Son of Man.-Surely our Lord alone perfectly fulfils this description. He is that Son of Man, whom God has made strong for Himself. And God’s hand is pledged to maintain Him until the ravages of Satan are made good, and the vine of his church covers the land. Psalms 80:18. So will we not go back.-We are redeemed, that we should not go back to our old sins, but show forth the praise of our Deliverer. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 65: 04.10. CHAPTER 10 ======================================================================== Psalms 81:1-16 "MY PEOPLE WOULD NOT HEARKEN" Probably written by Asaph himself, in the days of David, this Psalm is a call to the people to keep the Passover, the annual feast commemorating the deliverance of Egypt. Division-A call to celebrate the Passover (Psalms 81:1-3); the basis on which the Passover rests (Psalms 81:4-7); an appeal to Israel to come back from false gods to their allegiance (Psalms 81:8-12); with a promise of the blessings which may yet accrue to them (Psalms 81:13-16). Psalms 81:1. Sing aloud unto God!-We can sing aloud unto Him when we realize the great blessings which He is prepared to confer on us, as the remaining verses of this Psalm disclose. Think much of God’s resources, all of which are yours in Christ; and then praise Him. Psalms 81:3. The new moon or month may probably mean the first and chief month of the year, the Passover month, the month of Abib (Exodus 12:1-2; Deuteronomy 16:1). The time appointed is "the set time." Hengstenberg considers that the whole Psalm refers to the com­memoration of the Passover: "our solemn feast day." Psalms 81:5. This He ordained in Joseph.-Joseph is mentioned here as representing Israel, because his position in Egypt constituted him the leader amongst his people. We should never forget our de­liverance from a more intolerable servitude; but commemorate it -specially in the Lord’s Supper. The change to the first pronoun indicates how closely the Divine Spirit was behind the Psalmist, so that most naturally, and with no break in the continuity of thought, he passes from one mode of address to another. Psalms 81:6. I removed his shoulder from the burden.-"His hands were set free from the burdenbaskets." Such baskets were found in the sepulchral vaults of Thebes, and were doubtless used in carry­ing from one place to another the clay and manufactured bricks. Our Saviour has done more than this, relieving us from care and burden-bearing (Matthew 11:28; Psalms 55:22), admitting us into glorious liberty. Psalms 81:7. In the secret place of thunder.-God was supposed specially to reside in the storm cloud. Thence He looked on the hosts of Pharaoh, and spoke from the brow of Sinai. We are re­minded of that triplet of Lowell’s:- Behind the dim unknown Standeth God within the shadow, Keeping watch above his own. Psalms 81:8-9. Hear, 0 My people!-What a peculiar claim God has on the whole-hearted allegiance and devotion of his own! Let us each time that we are tempted to desert Him, recall the cost at which He has redeemed us. Psalms 81:10. Open thy mouth wide!-God wants our emptiness: He calls on us to open our mouth, even as the gaping beak of the young fledgling. There is nothing which we really need that He is unable or unwilling to supply. Let us ask Him to fill us with the Holy Ghost, and reckon that He does keep his word (Ephesians 5:18). Psalms 81:12. They walked in their own counsels.-"With the froward Thou wilt show thyself froward" (2 Samuel 22:27; Psalms 18:26; see also Romans 1:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11. Psalms 81:13. Oh that My people had hearkened!-Obedience is the condition of full deliverance. Note the stress laid upon "hearing" and "hearkening" (Psalms 81:8, Psalms 81:11, Psalms 81:13). Psalms 81:14-15. The haters of the Lord.-Our enemies and God’s haters are indentical. What encouragement is here! Notice also the permanence of our standing: "for ever." Psalms 81:16. With the finest of the wheat.-Strength and sweetness; necessaries and luxuries; complete satisfaction! Psalms 82:1-8 "THE POOR AND NEEDY." The Psalm of the magistrate; perhaps composed on the ap­pointment of judges by Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 19:5-7). There is an admonishment for past misconduct (Psalms 82:2-4); followed by a la­mentation over their obduracy, and a declaration of their doom (Psalms 82:5-7). Luther says, "Every prince should get the whole Psalm painted upon the walls of his room; for here such will find what high, princely, noble virtue their situation demands, so that assuredly worldly supremacy, next to the office of the ministry, is the highest service of God and the most profitable duty upon earth." A very interesting and close parallel to this Psalm occurs in Isaiah 3:13-15. Psalms 82:1. God judgeth among the gods.-Some think that the word "gods" refers to angels; but this will not suit the tenor of the Psalm. The word unquestionably stands for magistrates and judges. In Exodus 22:28, the people were taught to recognize in governors the reflections of the authority of God. Their judgment was said to be God’s (Deuteronomy 1:17); and whoever came before them, came before God (Exodus 21:6). There could be no doubt, then, that the Heavenly Judge would call them to his bar, if they grossly misrepresented Him. Psalms 82:2. How long will ye judge unjustly?-Compare Leviticus 19:15. Psalms 82:5. They walk on in darkness.-In spite of Divine protests, men will take their own way. With their back to the true light, they go on towards a darkness which grows denser at every step. Psalms 82:6. Ye are gods.-It seems at first strange that men so wicked should be dignified by so high a title. But that appellation rather records God’s ideal of their sacred office, and calls them to fulfil it. Our Lord quotes this verse in arguing with the Jews (John 10:34); his point being that, if Scripture calls unjust judges "gods," because they filled the place and represented the majesty of God, surely his opponents had no right to accuse Him of blasphemy, because, as "the Sent of God," and engaged in doing his Father’s will, He also spoke of Himself as God. Psalms 82:7. Like one of the princes.-If man is lifted to high office, he is but man still. His office, but not his nature, is God-like. And if he do wickedly, he must fall as other princes have fallen before him. Psalms 82:8. Arise, a God!-This call to God to undertake the judgment of the world is like the cry of the Church to her absent Lord, that He would make haste to right the wrongs of time, and to bring in his glorious kingdom (Revelation 6:10) Psalms 83:1-18 "BE NOT STILL, 0 GOD!" This Psalm was composed on the occasion described in 2 Chronicles 22:1-12. In that chapter we are told distinctly that the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, of the sons of Asaph (Psalms 83:14). Perhaps he was the author of this Psalm. This was a song of praise sung before the battle, in sure anticipation of victory. A short prayer for help (Psalms 83:1), is followed by a description of the agony of the people which drove them to take refuge in their Divine Deliverer; the doings (Psalms 83:2-4) and the numbers (Psalms 83:5-8) of their foes. And then, reminding God of what He had done in the days that were past, the singer entreats Him to do the same again, establishing his glory in an incontestable manner (Psalms 83:9-18). Psalms 83:2. Thine enemies.-It is a great source of courage, when we can feel that those who attack us are also in conflict against God; and that God takes our side against our foes and sins. Psalms 83:3. Hidden ones (1 Kings 19:18; Psalms 31:20; Matthew 23:37; Colossians 3:3).-If only we keep under the covert of God’s wings, how safe we are! Psalms 83:4. Let us cut them off!-It is a daring attempt indeed, when men deliberately set themselves to annul God’s eternal purpose. "The stars in their courses" (Jude 1:5: Jude 1:20) fight against all such. There was great wisdom in Gamaliel’s counsel (Acts 5:39). Psalms 83:5-8. Confederate against Thee.-A great confederacy with one fell purpose. Men who are naturally enemies to each other are allies when they can injure God’s people. Psalms 83:9-12. Sisera, Oreb, Zalmunna.-Three deliverances of the past are quoted as specimens of the help which the land required (Jude 1:4-5, Jude 1:7-8). Psalms 83:13. Like a wheel!-"The wheel" is rather "the whirl." And the whole is equivalent to "as the stubble," which is whirled round and carried away. Psalms 83:14. As fire on the mountains.-The bracken or furze on the mountains is a ready fuel for the lightning spark which sets it ablaze. Psalms 83:16-18. Let them be put to shame!-The disasters which are im­precated on the allied forces are intended to lead them to recognize the supremacy of God. But there is no need to attempt to show the consistency of these petitions with the spirit of Christ: they are evidently inspired by the spirit of that older dispensation, which our Lord so distinctly set aside, as the husk from which the grain has passed into new and more perfect development (Matthew 5:38-39). Psalms 84:1-12 "A DAY IN THY COURTS." One of the sweetest of the Psalms. The Gittith is said to have been a musical instrument on which some of the Psalms were played. The speaker is evidently the anointed king (Psalms 84:9), a title which clearly designates David, who constantly uses it of himself. The conception of this sacred poem must have been his during the exile caused by Absalom’s rebellion, even though its elaboration and ultimate form may have been due to the sons of Korah. Psalms 42:1-11 and Psalms 43:1-5 are inseparably connected with this in their plan and structure; in the coloring of their language; and in their rare and beautiful figures. See also Psalms 27:4. The first seven verses, divided into four and three (as is often the case in the Psalms), contain a meditation; the remaining five are a prayer. Note the three Blesseds (Psalms 84:4-5, Psalms 84:12). Psalms 84:1. How amiable are thy tabernacles!- Amiable in the sense of beloved. Psalms 84:2. For the living God!-The longing and fainting are closely joined with rejoicing-for so might crieth out be rendered (see R.V., marg.): and therefore they do not indicate the pain of un­satisfied desire, but of desire which is immediately satisfied, though it still craves for more. The soul which has enjoyed most of God’s grace longs most earnestly for it; and in proportion to its longing is its joy. Psalms 84:3. The sparrow hath found an house.-This does not mean simply that he envies the birds which build In Zion; but that he himself is as a sparrow or swallow, which, after long wandering, has found a home and nest in God’s house. "My poor little soul, the terrified little bird, has now found its right house and nest, even thine altars. If I had not found this, I must have been as a lone bird on the house-top, or an owl in the desert." Notice that it is in the altar that rest is found, i.e., in the life of consecration and obedience. If you can say, "My King," you have found your nest. Psalms 84:4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house.-Though not literally, yet spiritually, we may dwell in the Lord’s house all our days (Psalms 23:6; Psalms 27:4). As long as you are able to praise, you are there. Psalms 84:5. Whose strength ... whose heart.-Two conditions of blessedness: to have God as your strength, and to have in your heart ways. Too many hearts are full of cliffs and precipices; but they need levelling, so that there should be a highway for God (Isaiah 40:3-4.). Psalms 84:6. The valley of Baca is the valley of tears. Some speak of it as the valley of tear-shrubs. But there the righteous will find wells of salvation. If you are now in the valley of tears, be sure you are on the way to the city, and look out for the wells. Psalms 84:10. A doorkeeper in God’s house.-Better be Lazarus at the threshold of God’s house, than Dives in his palace. Psalms 84:11. A Sun and Shield.-A Sun in dark hours, and a Shade in scorching ones. Grace is the bud of glory; glory the flower of grace. If God has given the first, He will give the second. If He withholds aught on which you have set your heart, believe it is not really good; and still trust Him. We stand in grace and look for glory (Romans 5:1-2.). Psalms 85:1-13 "MERCY AND TRUTH." There is no clue to the historical associations of this Psalm. The description of the distress through which the nation had been passing is quite general. It will, therefore befit all times of anxiety and depression. We have first a description in seven verses of the long-protracted misery of the people; and in the six remaining verses the strong expression of confidence of help and deliverance. Psalms 85:1-3. Thou hast forgiven ... iniquity.-The Psalmist recounts a former instance of God’s gracious intervention; and in this he sets us an example which we may well follow. Our captivity may con­tinue long; but it will be brought back. Iniquity may be aggravated; but it can be forgiven. And the forgiveness of God will cover sin, as the deluge the highest mountains. There is probably an allusion here (3) to Exodus 32:12: "turn from thy fierce wrath." Psalms 85:5. Wilt Thou be angry forever?-God’s anger is short-lived where there is contrition ("For a moment" Psalms 30:5). Psalms 85:6. Revive us again.-Spiritual revival is the indispensable con­dition of quickening and rejoicing. Psalms 85:8. He will speak peace.-God ever "speaks peace" to his saints, though the world is in revolt (John 20:19-21). Note the recurring references to righteousness and peace (Hebrews 7:2). Psalms 85:10. Mercy and truth are met.-Mercy and righteousness are on one side; truth and peace on the other. They seem going on dif­ferent errands and in different directions. But they meet at the cross of Jesus. There we have "the bridal of the earth and sky" (Isaiah 45:8). Psalms 85:12. The Lord shall give good.-God gives nought but good; and all good is from God (James 1:17). Psalms 85:13. Righteousness shall go before Him.-Righteousness not only looked down from heaven; but, in the person of Jesus, it has trod our earth, leaving footprints for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21). Psalms 86:1-17 "BOW DOWN THINE EAR!" David is in straits, deprived of human aid, his life endangered by a band of proud and ungodly men. And he quotes the help given him by God in former days (Psalms 86:13). Obviously, then, this must refer to his sufferings at the hand of Absalom and his ad­visers. The Psalm is divided into two strophes. The first ten verses make up the first, and the remaining ones the second. Notice the re­frain in Psalms 86:5, Psalms 86:10, Psalms 86:15, "Thou art good!" "Thou art great!" "Thou art God alone!" Thou art full of compassion!" Psalms 86:1-2. I am poor and needy!-He founds his prayer on his misery, and on the fact of his being one of God’s chosen ones. "I am holy" might be rendered "I am godly" (R.V.). The Creator is the best Preserver. And He who has begotten passionate desires after Himself can best meet and satisfy them. Psalms 86:4. Rejoice the soul of thy servant.-"We may expect com­fort from God when we maintain communion with God. God’s goodness appears in two things, in giving and forgiving. We may expect that God will meet us with his mercies when we in our prayers send forth our souls to meet Him." Psalms 86:11. Unite my heart to fear thy name.-Our thoughts are apt to wander and scatter. We therefore need so much that God would gather them up into a true unity (Php 3:13-14). The united heart, which has but one purpose and desire to live for God, is the heart which is most sure of God’s "way," and most full of praise (Psalms 86:12); and that experiences most fully His delivering care (Psalms 86:13). Psalms 86:15. Full of compassion.-Who can fathom the fullness of God’s compassion? (Romans 11:33; Ephesians 3:19; Php 4:7). Psalms 86:16. Give thy strength unto thy servant.-Well is it when we come to the end of our strength, and begin to appropriate God’s (Php 4:13). Psalms 87:1-7 THE GATES OF ZION. This is a song of praise for some great deliverance; and from end to end it is full of triumphant joy. It seems to have dated from the times of Hezekiah, when Babylon was still second in power to Rahab (Egypt). Rahab means haughtiness or pride, and is used by Isaiah sarcastically (Isaiah 30:7, R.V.). "I have called her [Egypt] Rahab that sitteth still." "Rahab" (that is Pride or Ar­rogance) could only be applicable to Egypt before the battle of Carchemish (2 Chronicles 35:20-24), which humbled that nation’s pride. The appellation "Rahab" is also found in Psalms 89:10 and Isaiah 51:9. lt seems clear that this Psalm (Psalms 87:1-7) celebrates the security of Jerusalem after the discomfiture of Assyria by the angel of the Lord. Psalms 87:1. His foundation is in the holy mountains.-The foundations of Zion were laid in the eternal choice and determination of God. And those of the Church rest on the chief Corner-stone, our blessed Lord (Isaiah 28:16). "Holy" surely means "set apart" from ordinary and common use. All is holy which is set apart for God. Psalms 87:2. The gates of Zion.-Are you quite sure that you are safe inside through faith in Jesus? Psalms 87:3. Glorious things are spoken of Thee.-What glorious things have been spoken of the people of God! They are a chosen gen­eration, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a posses­sion (1 Peter 2:9); the body and bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25). To be where Jesus is, at the right hand of God-this its destiny. Psalms 87:4. I will mention Rahab and Babylon as among them that know Me (R.V.).-In those days, when the numbers of the chosen people were much reduced, the heart of the Psalmist yearned with peculiar eagerness for the ingathering of the nations, according to ancient promise. There is also here an anticipation of the new birth, which makes different nationalities one family in Jesus Christ. Psalms 87:5-6. When He writeth up the people.-There is a reference here to citizen-rolls (Luke 2:3). Whole hosts of nations are even now tracing all that is best in them to the religion which emanated from Mount Zion; and the time is coming when the forces of the Gen­tiles shall literally return to that city, which is to be the metropolis of a redeemed and rejoicing world (Isaiah 60:11) . Psalms 87:7. Singers and players on instruments. -The mention of singers and dancers (R.V.) summons to our thought the idea of a triumphal procession like that of Israel after the passage of the Red Sea. "All my fresh springs," as the Prayer-Book version has it (see also Psalms 84:6; Isaiah 12:3). Would that we were more content to be channels through which those springs might visit the world! (John 7:38). Psalms 88:1-18 "INCLINE THINE EAR!" This and the following Psalm constitute a pair. They were probably written during the reign of Zedekiah, but before the Captivity. The nation stood on the brink of a precipice; but the city and temple had not as yet been destroyed. Mahalath Leannoth means "the distress of oppression." It is a Psalm to give instruction to all sufferers as how to bear the griefs which lie heavily upon them. Stier says of this Psalm: "It is the most mournful of all the plaintive Psalms; yea, so wholly plaintive, without any ground of hope, that nothing like it is found in the whole Scriptures." Hengstenberg says: "The fact is all the more striking, that the Psalm begins with the words, ’0 Lord God of my salvation,’ after which the darkness grows continually thicker to the close." Surely in its deepest meaning, this Psalm is applicable only to the Prince of Sufferers. Psalms 88:1. 0 Lord God of my Salvation!-In the greatest griefs, it is much to be able to say "God of my salvation." Say it, if you do not feel it: you will come to feel it. Psalms 88:2, Psalms 88:13. Unto Thee have I cried.-In this dark hour the writer still feels that there is hope in God (Psalms 42:1-11; Psalms 43:1-5): and that prayer is the true resource of the overburdened spirit. Psalms 88:2. Full of troubles.-O troubled soul, others have trod your path. See the "blazed" trees along the track. You may be sure that this is the way to the reward. Psalms 88:6. In the lowest pit.-If we are willing to lie in the grave with Christ, we shall share His resurrection (Php 3:10). Psalms 88:8. Mine acquaintance far from me (John 8:16; John 16:32). Psalms 88:9. I have called daily upon Thee.-There are times when prayer seems unavailing; yet must we keep on praying. So has it ever been (Matthew 15:25). Psalms 88:14. Why hidest Thou thy face?-God does not give his reasons. What He does, we know not now, though we shall know (John 13:7). Psalms 88:14. Lover and friend ... far from me.-All forsook the Man of Sorrows and fled. He knew what loneliness meant. But no ledge of rock along which He leads his own is too narrow for Him to go beside them (Isaiah 63:9). Psalms 89:1-52 THE LORD’S MERCIES This is the other side of our experience, contrasted with that set forth in the previous Psalm. As the two sides of our earth, the one in darkness, the other illuminated. This Psalm especially records God’s faithfulness (Psalms 89:1, Psalms 89:2, Psalms 89:5, Psalms 89:8, Psalms 89:24, Psalms 89:33). And though there is a touch of the old melancholy, especially towards the close, yet on the whole the Psalm rings with a happier tone, and glistens with the sparkle of hope. First, there is a remembrance of God’s promise which secured the perpetual existence of David’s kingdom (Psalms 89:1-37); then a com­plaint that the present condition of affairs is in sad contrast to all this (Psalms 89:38-45); last, a prayer that God would interpose (Psalms 89:46-51). Psalms 89:2. Mercy shall be built up forever.-Mercy is a structure never done, layer on layer, storey on storey, tier on tier. God’s faithful­ness is as sure as the heavens (see also Psalms 36:5; Psalms 57:10; Psalms 108:4). Psalms 89:3-4. A covenant with my chosen.-Supply, "For Thou didst say" (2 Samuel 7:8-16). In troublous times we must cling to God’s promises. Psalms 89:5-14. The heavens and the earth are thine (see also Psalms 19:1-2; Psalms 77:16).-Full of praises, from heaven and earth; from angels, men, and nature. Psalms 89:15-18. The people that know the joyful sound.-The blessedness of the believer (see also Psalms 1:1-6; Psalms 32:2; Psalms 40:4; Psalms 112:1). Psalms 89:19-37. Established forever, as the moon.-An exquisite descrip­tion of the rise and development of David’s power, which was a shadow of Christ’s. As the sun and moon change not, but remain faithful to their posts in the heavens, so God’s covenant is un­alterable, made with Christ and all who believe in Him. Psalms 89:38-51. Remember, Lord!-In this plea for mercy we may well join, on the behalf not only of Israel, but of the Church; not only because of the insolence of our foes, but because of the dis­honor done to the name of God. But even in the midst of all this sorrow, the Psalmist is able to grasp deliverance; and so the Third Book of the Psalms ends in the light of an ascription of praise (Psalms 89:52). Psalms 90:1-17 "THREESCORE YEARS AND TEN." There is every reason to accept the superscription of this Psalm as correct. It was written by Moses at the close of the forty years’ wanderings; and perhaps about the same time as his other two songs (Deuteronomy 32:1-52 and Deuteronomy 33:1-29). If so, it was old when Homer sang. The imagery is all borrowed from the desert march: the desert streams, which soon dry; the night-watch in the camp; the short-lived growth of the grass before it is blasted by the "khamsin," or desert wind (Psalms 90:5). The melancholy strain is due to the incessant funerals and the aimlessness of the desert marchings. Psalms 90:1. Thou hast been our dwelling-place.-God is our Home. Let us live in Him. Satan cannot enter to drag us forth (1 John 4:16). Psalms 90:2. From everlasting ... Thou art God.-Earth, our planet; World, the universe. God is above all change, because He lives in the eternal ages. There never was a period in which Jehovah was not. He is more permanent than the most changeless things. Psalms 90:3. Thou turnest man to destruction.-In opposition to the eternity of God is the transitory life of men. It seems long to us when we compare it with our days; but how short, when compared with the eternity of Him who looks on a thousand years as a brief night-watch! (2 Peter 3:8). Psalms 90:4. A thousand years . . . are but as yesterday.-"As to a very rich man a thousand sovereigns are as one penny; so, to the eternal God, a thousand years are as one day."-Bengel. Psalms 90:7. By thy wrath are we troubled.-Moses now ascends from the melancholy fact of the brevity of life to the melancholy cause, that it is due to the wrath of God incured by our sins (compare Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12). Psalms 90:8. Our secret sins.-Does not this teach us that there are sins so secret that none but God detects them? But his eyes carry the light by which they see (Revelation 1:14). What a comfort to turn to the blood of Christ which cleanseth from all sin! Psalms 90:9. As a tale that is told.-"As a sigh" (R.V., marg.). This de­scription is true of the unsaved and rebellious: but of believers we have a gladder description (1 Corinthians 6:11). Psalms 90:11. The power of thine anger.-God’s wrath, which abides (John 3:36) on those who refuse to believe, is worse than those who have feared it most have ever conceived of it. Psalms 90:12. So teach us to number our days.- We should reckon our shortening days, and work harder, as the poor sempstress whose last candle is burning low (John 9:4). Psalms 90:14. Satisfy us early!-"Early" in life, and each morning, too: "Oh, satisfy us in the morning with Thy mercy" (R.V.). Psalms 90:16-17. Thy work; thy glory; thy beauty.-All these blend in Jesus. And, as we abide in Him-his deeds are done through us; his glory shines around us; his beauty adorns us (Psalms 27:4). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 66: 04.11. CHAPTER 11 ======================================================================== Psalms 91:1-16 "THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH." This Psalm is entirely general. But it is of great service to travellers, and to all who are exposed to danger and hardship. It alternates between the expressions of personal trust and exhorta­tions to trust: hence the interchange of the pronouns "I" and "Thou." It is attributed by the old Rabbis to Moses, and indeed corresponds to his experience on the night of the first Pass­over. Satan quoted Psalms 91:11-12 to our Lord (Matthew 4:6). Psalms 91:1-2. We may regard Psalms 91:2, ’I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge," etc., as the soliloquy of the man described in Psalms 91:1, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, and abideth under the shadow of the Almighty." Psalms 91:3. Surely He shall deliver thee.-Deliverance from guile and traps, as well as from the insidious pestilence of jungle and morass. Psalms 91:4. Under his wings shalt thou trust.-The wings of God! (Deuteronomy 32:11-12; Matthew 23:37) . Psalms 91:5-6. Thou shalt not be afraid.-In each verse we have the alternations of day and night, for there is not an hour which has not its special liabilities of harm. The soldier gets a dare­devil courage from the motto: "Every bullet has its billet." The believer flinches not, because his Iife is "hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Psalms 91:9. Thou hast made the Lord ... thy habitation.-There must be definite appropriation on our part before there can be deliver­ance. Psalms 91:11. He shall give his angels charge over thee.-Do we make enough of the gentle, careful ministry of the angels? (Hebrews 1:1-14; Luke 22:43). But certainly we must be in God’s ways, ere we can claim angel-help. Psalms 91:13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder.-This reminds one of some marvellous words of our Lord (Luke 10:19-20), and surely refers to our spiritual foes (Mark 16:13; 1 Corinthians 15:26). Psalms 91:15. I will be with him in trouble.-It is worth our while to be in trouble, to have such a Companion. He is never so near as then. Psalms 92:1-15 "IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS." This Psalm was intended for use in the public worship of God upon the Sabbath; on which day, according to Leviticus 23:3, there was held a holy convocation. The Psalm is well fitted for its purpose, for on such a day men ought to find leisure to consider the works of God, and to praise Him. One theme for lasting praise is God’s preservation of his Church in the midst of a hostile world. Psalms 92:2-3. To show forth thy loving-kindness ... and thy faithfulness. -Perhaps at the morning and evening sacrifice. What themes for morning and evening worship! Psalms 92:4. Thou, Lord, hast made me glad.-Let us learn to joy in God Himself (Romans 5:11; Romans 11:33). But especially on his own day let us remember the work of the Redeemer, which has made us glad for evermore. Psalms 92:5-8. Thy thoughts are very deep.-God so often delays the pun­ishment of the wicked, owing to reasons hidden from our sight. His ways are very deep to the eye of man. Psalms 92:10. Like an Unicorn.-The wild ox or buffalo (Numbers 23:22; Deuteronomy 33:17). Thou enablest me to rise up with spirit, with a sense of strength, in an attitude of attack. The fresh anointing should be sought every morning (1 John 2:27). Psalms 92:12-15. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree.-In God’s trees, the strength of grace does not fail with the strength of nature. But on the contrary, the Apostle Paul witnesses in 2 Corinthians 4:16. Psalms 93:1-5 "THE LORD REIGNETH!" It is thought that this Psalm dates from the Assyrian in­vasion, and that it is the might of the terrible Assyrian foes which is here compared to the mighty breakers of the sea (R.V.) But the Psalm well befits all times of anxiety and opposition, and it is interesting to remember that this, and the six Psalms which follow, have always been applied by the Jews to the days of the Messiah. Surely then we may apply them to the Lord Jesus. Psalms 93:1. The Lord reigneth.-It is a great support to know that above and beyond all that here hinders and distresses us, there exists the great fact of Jehovah’s sovereignty. This encourages us in con­flict; this sustains us in the hour of trial. Five times in Scripture is this declaration repeated (1 Chronicles 16:31; Psalms 93:1; Psalms 96:10; Psalms 97:1; Psalms 99:1; Revelation 19:6). This is also the war-cry of the Church in answer to the defiance of her foes. Calvin says: "All acknow­ledge with the mouth what the prophet here teaches; but how few place this shield in front of the might of the world, so that they fear nothing, be it ever so terrible." Thus might we oppose all attacks of our spiritual foes, and find ourselves ever victorious. What a magnificent apparel-majesty and strength! Psalms 93:3. The floods have lifted up their voice.-The sea is the usual symbol of the tumultuous masses of the nations. In this splendid reiteration, we can almost hear the successive dash of the breakers with foam and fury around the throne of God, which stands out in eternal immoveability (Psalms 93:2). We irresistibly contrast this with Canute’s throne, which had to be drawn back and back from before the incoming tide. Psalms 93:4. The Lord is mightier than ... many waters.-"As thunder is louder than the loudest noise of the sea, so is Jehovah infinitely more mighty and glorious than the sea, and the world-power which it symbolizes." The miracle of Jesus in quieting the storm has symbolic and far-reaching meaning. What! do you fear one man, when this God is yours? (Isaiah 51:12). Psalms 93:5. Thy testimonies (Psalms 19:7; Psalms 25:10).-The sureness of God’s testimonies is emphasized here, because the Psalmist would remind us that among their other contents is the sure promise that our foes shall not prevail. Over twenty times God’s testimonies are named in Psalms 119:1-176. Holiness is here used in the sense of separation from every evil thing, a condition which God’s honor requires Him to main­tain. And is there not a pledge implied that He will maintain intact the separateness of the temple of the heart? (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Psalms 94:1-23 "THY MERCY HELD ME UP." This Psalm belongs to the same era as the foregoing one. The mention made of the throne of iniquity (Psalms 94:20) seems to indicate that the Chaldean empire had already arisen, and taken up a threatening attitude against the people of God. Still there is no mention made as yet of the destruction of the temple or of the leading into captivity; and therefore, perhaps, the land had not been overrun by the invader. Luther says: "This Psalm is a prayer of all the pious children of God, and of spiritual people, against their persecutors; so that it may be used by all such from the beginning to the end of the world." Psalms 94:1. God, to whom vengeance belongeth.-God’s vengeance in­cludes the vindication of the eternal law of righteousness, and also of his downtrodden people. We seem to hear already the cry of the martyred saints, "How long, 0 Lord, holy and true!" (Revelation 6:10). This confident anticipation of God’s ultimate decision on the behalf of his down-trodden people is very characteristic of these Psalms. Psalms 94:5. They afflict thine heritage.-We are God’s heritage, as He is ours. Alas! that after so much culture we return such a poor revenue (Deuteronomy 32:9). Psalms 94:7. They say, The Lord shalt not see.-Wicked men are ostrich-­like (Psalms 10:11; Psalms 59:7). Psalms 94:8-11. When will ye be wise?-The Psalmist reasons with those who are both hard of heart and dull of understanding. Psalms 94:12. Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest.- What a school­ing is this; and what a Teacher! The discipline is rather severe; but the pupils turn out well, and derive lasting blessedness and rest. Better chastisement than "adversity"(Psalms 94:13). Psalms 94:14. The Lord will not cast off . . . neither forsake.-God cannot be surprised by anything He discovers in us. He knew all when He began to love us. The tenacity of his love to his chosen people is a strong encouragement to all the seed (Malachi 2:16; John 10:28). Psalms 94:16. Who will rise up for me?-This verse is answered by the next two. Psalms 94:19. My thoughts-Thy comforts.-Turn from anxious care to the bosom of thy God, till thy soul begins to sing with holy de­light. Psalms 94:22-23. The Lord is my defence.-We may very well possess our souls in patience, and not be disturbed by the plottings of our foes: their time is short, their end sure. But oh the pity that they should incur such a fate at the hands of the God of love! Psalms 95:1-11 "LET US SING UNTO THE LORD!" Few of the Psalms have entered so deeply into the worship of the Church as this. It abounds in bold metaphors and compar­isons, calculated to awaken praise as well as heart-searching. The two halves of the Psalm, consisting of five verses each, are united by a middle verse (6), which summons to worship. Psalms 95:1. The Rock of our salvation.-God is a Rock, by virtue of his steadfastness and unchangeableness. Psalms 95:2. Let us come before his presence!-His presence never casts a shadow, but prompts to joy. Live in the perpetual realization of that presence, if you would have perennial gladness (Psalms 16:11: see also Exodus 33:14-15). Psalms 95:4-5. The deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills.­-Depths and heights; sea and land-are full of God. However high we climb or low we descend, in whatever condition we find ourselves, there is always certain evidence of God and a theme for praise. Psalms 95:6. Oh come, let us worship!-When the heart is full, it brims over in some outward act of devotion. Psalms 95:7. We, the people of his pasture.-His pasture, i.e., the flock whom He feeds and tends; his hand, i.e., with which He counts, and guides, and defends. Ah, remember how the Shepherd’s hand was pierced, and still bears a scar! Psalms 95:8-10. Harden not your heart!-For the day of Meribah and Massah (R.V.) we must turn to Exodus 17:7. From the last clause of verse 7 to the end of the Psalm will be found quoted in Hebrews 3:7-11. Psalms 95:11. My rest is surely that into which God entered at creation. It has been the chosen object of search for all mankind. But it certainly was not exhausted or fulfilled in the rest of Canaan; for here, though the people had been settled in that land for centuries, God speaks of their missing his rest. Obviously, then, they had not yet entered it; and it remains for all who believe in the true Joshua, Jesus our Lord (Hebrews 4:9-10). Psalms 96:1-13 "THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS." This Psalm and the preceding one form a pair. This one is to be also found in 1 Chronicles 16:23-33. It was probably re­edited at the time when the preceding Psalm (Psalms 95:1-11) was composed. Note the thrice-repeated command, Sing, sing, sing (Psalms 96:1-2), which corresponds to the thrice-repeated, Give, give, give (Psalms 96:7-8); and with the triple call for joy from heaven, sea, and field (Psalms 96:11-12). Psalms 96:1. Sing unto the Lord a new song!-We should always praise God with fresh emotions, if not with different words. The "new Bong" is ever in front of us (Revelation 5:9-10). Psalms 96:2. Show forth, not only with our lips, but with our lives. Psalms 96:5. Idols, i.e., "things of nought" (R.V., marg.). See 1 Corinthians 8:4-6.-The heavens are constantly quoted as a challenge to our poor conceptions of God (Job 26:1-14; Isaiah 40:1-31). Psalms 96:6. Honor and majesty are his inseparable attendants; and wherever He is (for here is his sanctuary) there are strength and beauty. These may also be ours as his gifts (Psalms 96:9), but to give them back to Him (Psalms 96:7). Psalms 96:7-8. Give unto the Lord! (compare Psalms 29:1-2) .-What better offering is there than thyself? (Romans 12:1). Psalms 96:10. The Lord reigneth!-The reign of the Lord in heart or uni­verse must ever be a theme for song. His righteous equity shall yet roll back the curse, and hush the groans of a travailing uni­verse (Romans 8:14-22). "Tell it out!" Psalms 97:1-12 "LET THE EARTH REJOICE!" The reign of Christ affects all material things. Alas that men are so slow to acknowledge it (Psalms 97:1-6)! the votaries of false gods are bewildered (Psalms 97:7); but the people of God are glad, and are encouraged to endure steadfast to the end (Psalms 97:8-12). Psalms 97:1. The Lord reigneth!-How different is the Psalmist’s exulta­tion at God’s reign, to the fear which many have when asked to yield Him the supreme empire of their hearts! (Luke 19:14). And yet the strain of Hallelujah is impossible till it can be said in heart and universe, "The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth" (Revelation 19:6). Psalms 97:2. Clouds and darkness are often around God still (Deuteronomy 4:11; Psalms 18:11); but we can trust Him, because we know that all He does is based on righteousness and truth (see 2 Samuel 22:12). Psalms 97:4-5. The earth trembled: the hills melted.-Compare Habakkuk 3:6. Psalms 97:7. Worship Him, all ye gods-This is quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews, as an address to Angels (Hebrews 1:6), a circum­stance which is doubtless owing to the quotation being made from the Septuagint. And the fact of this Psalm being there applied to our Lord is a striking evidence of his equality and oneness with Jehovah; and warrants us in inserting his name in all these Psalms. "The Lord Jesus reigneth!" Psalms 97:8-12. Zion was glad! ... rejoice, ye righteous!-The kingdom of Jesus, like the pillar of fire, has a dark side for Egyptians, and a bright one toward the Israel of God. Psalms 97:10. He preserveth! He deliverth!-The character, safety, and deliverance of the child of God. Herein the great Apostle rejoiced (2 Timothy 4:18). Psalms 97:11. Light is sown for the upright.-Coal is sown light in the natural world; and so tears, griefs, trials, are the seeds from which the saints shall reap crops of future blessedness. But the harvest day is not yet (Hebrews 12:11; James 5:7-8). Psalms 97:12. Rejoice! ... give thanks!-The holiness of God, which was once against us, is now on our side, and is the theme of our praise. Psalms 98:1-9 A NEW SONG. In this Psalm the whole creation is summoned to be one great orchestra of praise. It seems as if this summons might have been addressed to all living things, as the elders first began to praise the Lamb in the midst of the Throne (Revelation 5:12-13). Psalms 98:1. Marvellous things.-Who can recount them when they include such marvels as redemption, forgiveness, deliverance from the power of sin, the overthrow of Satan, and the glory of ,God through the mystery of pain and evil? The right hand that was nailed to the cross. The holy arm that would not ward off a single blow levelled at Himself. Psalms 98:2. His salvation-His righteousness.-It is a great salvation, based on the satisfaction of the noblest moral perfections in God’s nature. "He is just, and the justifier of him that believeth." In the face of earth and hell, He has openly shown Himself Saviour. Psalms 98:3. Mercy and truth.-What a wonderful combination! But it is not the house of Israel only who are permitted to participate in them. Gentiles also at the furthest distance may see and receive. Psalms 98:4. All the earth.-The hum of bees, the rustle of woods, the murmur of rivers, the boom of ocean waves, are constituent voices in the "joyful noise" of "all the earth." Inarticulate to man, but precious to God. Psalms 98:6. A joyful noise before the King.-There are some who speak as if the Kingship of the Lord Jesus were a subject for melancholy. They dread nothing more than to be the absolute slaves of such a master. How much more faithful is the conception of the Psalmist -that it should be the theme of song! Psalms 98:9. He cometh.-To those that love Him, his coming is a theme of joy. This refrain is repeated from Psalms 96:1-13; as if the pious heart can never tire of so sweet a theme. And well may in­animate nature be glad; for though now, as Goethe said, she is a captive waiting for her redemption, when Jesus comes, her groaning and travail will be ended, and her curse removed. Psalms 99:1-9 "EXALT YE THE LORDI" This is the last of these precious Psalms which dwell so rapturously on the reign of Jesus. It falls into three strophes, each of which ends with an ejaculation upon the holiness of God (Psalms 99:3, Psalms 99:5, Psalms 99:9). Psalms 99:1-3. The Lord is great in Zion.-The majesty of God. But great and awful though He be, we fear Him not; for "He sitteth on the cherubim," a phrase which always recalls the blood­ besprinkled mercy-seat-God in Christ, reconciling the world. Though the reign of Christ is closely associated with the temporal restoration of Israel, yet in the meanwhile it is set up in the hearts of believers (Luke 12:32; Luke 17:21; 2 Corinthians 10:5). Psalms 99:4-5. Exalt ye the Lord! . . . and worship!-A demand for homage. The more we abase ourselves before God, the more we exalt Him: and we have good reason to do so, whether we con­sider the attributes of his character, or the distance between his holiness and our sin. Psalms 99:6-9. They called: He answered.-An enforcement from the examples of the past. There never were three such men; and each was a marvellous illustration of the power of prayer and praise. Let us follow in their footsteps, cultivating the meekness of Moses; the holy nearness of the Aaronic priesthood; and the prayers which were so striking a characteristic of Samuel (1 Samuel 7:8-13; 1 Samuel 8:6, 1 Samuel 8:21). Psalms 99:8. Thou forgavest! Thou tookest vengeance!-Let us beware of sin; it may be forgiven, yet we may have to reap its bitter results. Moses was forgiven, but he did not enter the Promised Land; so was David, but the sword never left his house. Psalms 99:9. His holy hill! ... Our God is holy!-Oh, the holiness of God! Let us not rest until it has been brought into our hearts by the Holy Ghost; so that we may be holy in quality, if not in de­gree, as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Psalms 100:1-5 "WITH THANKSGIVING!" In the previous Psalm there is a commendation of our Lord Jesus and of the majesty of his kingdom; in this, there is an exhortation, based on that royal conception, for "all the earth" to worship Him. It is full of holy rapture, and has inspired hearts to love and worship through all ages. May our hearts be in tune with the anthem of the universal church, as we peruse these noble and majestic words! But it may be that it has been specially pre­pared as an anthem for use in that golden coming time, when the kingdoms of this world shall indeed have become the kingdoms of the Son of Man. Psalms 100:1. All ye lands!-It is especially on the Lord’s day that the devout heart thinks of all the lands of men on whom its blessed light is breaking, and asks that the "joyful noise" of loyal and glad hearts may rise from each. All lands have been included in the purchase of Calvary: let all sing! (Revelation 7:9). Psalms 100:2. Serve the Lord with gladness! ... with singing!-God’s service is glad-joyous, blessed, perfect freedom. Let us not do his will grudgingly, but gladly. Psalms 100:3. Know ye that Jehovah is Elohim: that the Self-existent One is also the Almighty One! The more we know God, the more able shall we be to praise Him. Notice the themes for praise:- (1) That He is God; the only living and true God; infinitely perfect: self-existent and self-sufficient; the Father of mercies, tender and true, loving and strong-Oh, rapture indeed, that such a one is God! (2) That He is our Creator; because as such He is responsible for us. (3) That He is our Proprietor. He hath made us; and we are his (R.V.). (4) That we are his people-owning Him, therefore, as our liege Lord and King. "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion: thy King cometh!" (Zechariah 9:9). (5) That He is our Shepherd: and it is the Shepherd’s part to care-not the sheep’s. Psalms 100:4. Enter into his gates!-We specially enter his gates, when we mingle with the assemblies of his people. Put on the garment of praise with other Sunday attire! Psalms 100:5. The Lord is good!-Yes, good always and only: equally so when He takes as when He gives; when He chides as when He smiles. And what He has been, He will be. He is the "faithful" God (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 4:19). Praise Him! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 67: 04.12. CHAPTER 12 ======================================================================== Psalms 101:1-8 "MERCY AND JUDGMENT." Again we come on one of David’s Psalms. This was not im­probably composed at the beginning of his reign, and contains the ideal programme which he proposed to himself; and the principles here laid down are those which not only apply to every Christian community, but which will assuredly distinguish the kingdom of the blessed Lord, for whose advent the Church daily prayeth. Psalms 101:1. I will sing of mercy and judgment.-Mercy and judgment marvelously blend in all human lives; and they should be alike commemorated in song. Sing your songs to God! Psalms 101:2. I will behave myself wisely.-The art of this is given (Psalms 119:99; see also 1 Samuel 18:14-15). The reward of such conduct is the coming of God into the soul (Exodus 20:24; John 14:23). But the pious heart yearns for it to make haste and ar­rive. Oh, when whilt Thou come unto me? A perfect heart is the blameless, consecrated, and wholly yielded heart (1 Kings 3:14; Proverbs 20:7). Psalms 101:3-8. I will set no base thing before mine eyes!-Here is the picture of a pious palace, or private dwelling house. No slander or pride; upright and trustworthy servants; deceit and lying ban­ished; and strict discipline maintained (1 Timothy 3:4). We may well ask ourselves whether this is a true picture of the inner realm of the heart, and whether we are strict and merciless in not permitting traitors there. We do not now use the sword of extermination to men; but we should for evil principles and habits, and unholy things. Psalms 102:1-28 "WITHERED LIKE GRASS." This is the fifth of the penitential Psalms. Some have held that it is one of the later Psalms, asking for deliverance from the captivity; but, from certain special Davidic characteristics, it seems better to refer it to the hand of the royal and sweet Psalmist him­self. However, its authorship is of comparatively small consequence; the main thing is to notice the adequateness of the Psalm to those who are afflicted and overwhelmed, and who feel the need of suitable words in which to pour out their hearts to God. We may arrange the subjects as follows:-A pitiful complaint (Psalms 102:1-11); confidence in the Divine Deliverer (Psalms 102:12-22); a comparison of the greatness of God with the frailty of nature (Psalms 102:23-28). Psalms 102:4. My heart is smitten.-A withered heart, from which all joy is gone, as the juice from a sapless bough (see Psalms 102:11). Psalms 102:5. My bones cleave to my flesh (see Job 19:20; Lamentations 4:8). Psalms 102:6-7. I am like a pelican, ... an owl, ... a sparrow.-­All symbols of solitariness. Psalms 102:7. Alone upon the housetop.-Loneliness is one of the keenest of human sorrows (Psalms 38:11; John 16:32). Psalms 102:10. Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.-The devout soul turns from its sorrows to Jehovah. God is ever coming to the soul through human agents and secondary causes. And it deals with Him at first hand. Psalms 102:12. But Thou, 0 Lord, sittest as King (R.V., marg.). What a comfort to turn from our failures and defeats to that eternal Monarchy, which is as independent of us as the stability of the mountains is of the withered leaves that strew their slopes. Psalms 102:13. Thou shalt arise!-As much of this complaint was probably occasioned by the depressed state of the Jewish nation, so com­fort is occasioned by a clear conviction that the Divine Deliverer is at hand. Psalms 102:14. Thy servants take pleasure in the stones of Zion.-When God leads his people to bemoan their low estate, a revival is near at hand (compare Nehemiah 1:3-4, with Nehemiah 12:43). Psalms 102:15-16. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord!-­The revival of God’s people is indispensable to the awakening of the world. And God’s glory is conspicuously manifested in the newly-imparted zeal and life of his servants. Then He indeed appears in glory. Psalms 102:17. The prayer of the destitute (Psalms 34:6). Psalms 102:18. Written for the generation to come (Matthew 26:13; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11). Psalms 102:19-20. From heaven did the Lord behold the earth.-The Lord (Jah) stoops low to hear the sighs which might seem too slight to penetrate the dungeon wall. Sigh, imprisoned heart, if thou canst not pray! Sighs fly swift to the ear of God. Psalms 102:25-27. Of old hast Thou, laid the foundation of the earth.­-These magnificent verses are applied directly to our Lord (Hebrews 1:8, Hebrews 1:10-12). Granite rocks and stars of light shall fulfil their purpose, and be laid aside as worn-out robes when He speaks their concluded mission (Revelation 21:5); but Jehovah-Jesus will ever be unchangeably the same, and able to summon new creations into being with a word. Psalms 103:1-22 THE PSALM OF GRATITUDE. David’s name heads this peerless Psalm of praise, which expresses, as none other, the soul of the Church and of the Christian. It has been compared to a still, clear brook of praise. Psalms 103:1. All that is within me, bless his holy name!-Let no faculty of the soul be still in God’s praise. Psalms 103:2. Forget not all his benefits.-Alas! that we forget so often and so many of God’s benefits! Memory, awake! and touch thy chords; bring back the blessed past! Psalms 103:3-5. Who forgiveth! ... who redeemeth!... who satisfieth!-Notice the "present tenses" in this and the following verses. God’s tender dealings run parallel with our lives. He is never weary or exhausted. Enumerate the blessings which He gives, and as the fingers tell the successive beads, praise Him: forgiveness; healing (Exodus 15:26); redemption; crowning; satisfaction (Psalms 36:8; Isaiah 58:11); perennial youth. We need not think that the Bible authorizes the belief that the eagle literally renews its youth; but only that the youth, when renewed, is eagle-like in its royal strength (Isaiah 40:31). Psalms 103:7. He made known his ways unto Moses!-Ways, or plans, are only made known to the inner circle of the saints; the ordinary congregation learn only his doings (John 15:15). Psalms 103:8. The Lord is merciful and gracious,-A conception of God, which seems strange in its setting of that old Jewish economy, but has been confirmed by all subsequent ages. Psalms 103:9. He will not always chide.-He does chide, and we might question his love if He did not. His chiding is occasioned by our sins; and so soon as they are confessed and put away, there is no trace of it left. Psalms 103:10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins.-Surely each one can set his seal to this. Psalms 103:11-12. As the heaven is high above the earth! . . . As far as is east from west!-These are the largest measurements which imagination can conceive; but they are all too small for the purpose of the Psalmist, in his desire to describe the impossibility of forgiven sin coming back on the soul. Psalms 103:13-14. Like as a father pitieth ... so the Lord pitieth.-We do not half enough realize our Father’s pity. We chastise ourselves bitterly if we do not understand or reach our ideals. We are ever fearful that He will not give us credit for the motives which underlie our sad and fitful experience. We try to make ourselves more fit for his love. And all the time He is tenderly regarding us, and knows so well how much of our failure accrues from temperament, and disposition, and overstrain (1 Kings 19:5). Psalms 103:15-18. As for man, his days are as grass.-What a sublime con­trast between man’s weakness, at his best-and God’s eternity of mercy! There is a promise also here for the grandchildren of God’s people.-Remember to do. Psalms 103:19. His Kingdom ruleth over all.-Yes, all men and devils are beneath that power. Satan must even get permission before he can tempt (Job 1:11-12; Luke 22:31). Psalms 103:20. Bless the Lord, ye his angels!-The mighty and obedient angels! Angelic obedience might well stimulate us (Matthew 6:10). Psalms 103:22. Bless the Lord, all his works!-One lonely soul on fire with the love of God may set the whole universe ablaze (Acts 2:41; Revelation 5:11). Psalms 104:1-35 "NOW MANIFOLD ARE THY WORKS!" An anonymous poem; and yet there are many indications of David’s touch. Luther has well described it as "a praise of God from the book of Nature." The theme is the greatness of God, as seen in his works. The description follows closely on the description of the several days of creation, as given in Genesis 1:1-31., the deviations being accounted for by the special object in the Psalmist’s mind, of exalting the greatness of God-not only in the creation, but in the maintenance of his universe. There is a majestic introductory verse, which is then elaborated -First, the light, the heaven and earth, then the formation of the dry land (Psalms 104:2-5); the watering of the earth from His fountains (Psalms 104:6-9); the provision for beasts and men (Psalms 104:10-24); the wonders of the sea (Psalms 104:24-26); God’s personal work in nature (Psalms 104:27-30); a noble conclusion of praise (Psalms 104:31-35). It is almost impossible in the brief space at disposal to say aught of this marvellous production. Here poetry at its highest, sublimity of conception and diction, and devotional feeling of the most spiritual order blend in one superb and unrivalled poem. Psalms 104:2. Who covereth thyself with light.-God has many "garments" ascribed to Him (Psalms 93:1); but this primeval one is, perhaps, the most beautiful of them all. Psalms 104:4. Who maketh winds his messengers; his ministers a flaming fire (R.V.).-The tempest and the flame are his slaves; make friends with their Master. Psalms 104:6-8. At thy rebuke the waters fled.-This is the work of the third day-the removal of the water from the earth-and is painted at great length, because the Psalmist sees in it an allegory of the removal of the heathen, who had inundated the Holy Land (Psalms 93:1-5). Some have seen in these verses a reference to glacial action, by which so much water is being brought down from the mountains to the valleys. Psalms 104:9. That they turn not again (Genesis 9:15; Job 38:8-11). Psalms 104:11-12, Psalms 104:14. Wild asses, ... fowls, ... cattle.-If God is so care­ful of birds and beasts, how much more of his children! (Matthew 6:26; Matthew 10:31). Psalms 104:15. Wine, ... oil, ... bread.-The products of the land: the olive; the vine; and corn (Deuteronomy 11:14). Psalms 104:16. The trees of the Lord; the cedars of Lebanon.-The earth is satisfied (13); the trees are satisfied (R.V.); all living things are satisfied (Psalms 104:28, R.V.). Psalms 104:17-18. The birds, ... the wild goats, ... the conies.-He who implants natural instincts, provides for their satisfaction. Psalms 104:20-23. The beasts of the forest creep: the young lions roar.­-Night and morning in the forest pasture-lands. Psalms 104:24. How manifold are thy works! (Psalms 111:2). The fertility of God’s inventiveness. Psalms 104:28. Thou openest thine hand.-To satisfy creation, God has but to open his hand. Psalms 104:30-31. The Lord shall rejoice in his works.-Where no human foot treads, God’s Spirit broods, rejoicing in his works. Psalms 104:34. My meditation of Him shall be sweet.-Here, indeed, is food for holy meditation; sweet because of its theme. Let us also rejoice in the Lord! Psalms 105:1-45 THE COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM. This Psalm is supposed to date from the Babylonian captivity, at which time the hearts of God’s people would be specially directed to that faithfulness which could not fail (Psalms 89:33), and must keep for them all that it had promised. It was natural then to recapitulate the past as an argument for a similar inter­position again on their behalf. The past wonders of God are quoted as arguments for the future (Psalms 105:1-7); a recalling of the covenant (Psalms 105:8-12); his care over the early Jewish fathers (Psalms 105:13-15); his guidance of Jacob and his family to Egypt (Psalms 105:16-23); the deliverance of Israel with great wonders and signs (Psalms 105:24-38); the marvels of the wilderness march (Psalms 105:39-42); and the introduction of Israel into Canaan (Psalms 105:43-45). Psalms 105:2. Sing unto Him! sing psalms unto Him!-If you cannot sing, talk. Psalms 105:3. Glory ye (lit. Praise ye! same word as translated Boast in; Psalms 34:2) .-In the midst of our deepest trouble we have reason for joy; and even the seeker has plenty to rejoice over, for he is on a road which must lead him ultimately to blessedness. Psalms 105:8. He hath remembered his covenant.-A verbal allusion to Deuteronomy 7:9. Psalms 105:9. Which He made with Abraham.-When once you can lay hold of a promise, or the provisions of the covenant, you have a leverage with God which enables you to count upon the fulfil­ment of your petition. God cannot go back from his plighted word. Psalms 105:12. But a few men; yea, very few.-And His word is entirely in­dependent of our numbers or power. Psalms 105:15. Touch not Mine anointed ones (R.V.; see Psalms 20:6).­How safe we are! (Genesis 20:6). Psalms 105:17-22. Joseph, who was sold for a slave.-A summary of Joseph’s career in Egypt. Psalms 105:18. Laid in iron.-Is this not equivalent to the entrance of the iron into his soul? Psalms 105:19. His word came.-Until the time that the thing which Joseph had spoken was brought under the notice of Pharaoh, when his "discreet and wise" spirit-the veritable word of the Lord (Genesis 41:38-39)-approved him to the Egyptian monarch. In com­pliance with his request, the chief butler made mention of Joseph to Pharaoh, and he was "brought out of the prison house" (Genesis 40:14). Psalms 105:23-27. Israel also came into Egypt.-The Egyptian experiences of the children of Israel. Psalms 105:28-36. Darkness; waters turned into blood; frogs; flies; lice; hail; the smiting of the firstborn.-A magnificent description of the plagues; with several added, and graphic touches. Psalms 105:39-41. Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 12:1-51; Exodus 13:1-22; Exodus 14:1-31; Exodus 15:1-27; Exodus 16:1-36; Exodus 17:1-16). Psalms 105:42. His holy promise.-If He did all this because of his coven­ant, it is impossible that He will ever forget or forsake his own. Psalms 105:43-45. He brought forth his people with joy.-All the benefits bestowed on Israel are shadows of spiritual blessings. Redeemed; enriched; restored; satisfied with heavenly bread, and drinking of the spiritual rock; made to sit in heavenly places. What can we desire more? Only let us not rebel against Him. Psalms 106:1-48 "THEY FORGAT GOD!" The previous Psalm was a history of God’s goodness to Israel: and this is a history of their rebellions and provocations. Its main character is the confession of sin. If, as is supposed, it dates from the captivity, it is in harmony with the confessions of Daniel and Nehemiah; and it tends to show that the sharp discipline had done its work, and that God was about to restore his people to the land of their fathers. After an introduction of inimitable sweetness (Psalms 106:1-6), the confes­sion extends to the sins of Egypt (Psalms 106:6-12); of the wilderness (Psalms 106:13-33); and of Canaan (Psalms 105:34-43). But as, in spite of all, the mercy of God had so often interposed, so the believer felt able to call on the Lord to complete the work He had begun, and to gather the nation again from among the heathen (Psalms 106:44-48). Psalms 106:1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord/-This is also the commence­ment of Psalms 107:1-43: it likewise forms the opening sentence of Psalms 136:1-26; whilst in the latter Psalm, For his mercy endureth for ever is the oft-recurring refrain. Psalms 106:4-5. Remember me, 0 Lord!-A prayer like this is sure of its answer (see Nehemiah 13:14, Nehemiah 13:22, Nehemiah 13:31). Psalms 106:7-8. Our fathers provoked Him at the Red Sea.-Our sin can­not shut us out of the love of God. There is ever a Nevertheless (Nehemiah 9:31; Psalms 73:23; Psalms 89:33). Psalms 106:12-13. They believed ... they forgot.-How sad and sudden a contrast! Psalms 106:15. He sent leanness into their soul.-Let us ever condition our prayers in the will of God, lest a similar fate overtake us. Psalms 106:16. They envied Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16:3, Numbers 16:5, Numbers 16:7). Psalms 106:19-29. They made a calf; they despised; they murmured.­-How sad a catalogue of failures! Psalms 106:23. Stood in the breach, as a warrior covers with his body a broken piece of a wall in a besieged city. Psalms 106:28. They joined themselves unto Baal-peor.-This was the result of the suggestions of Balaam to Balak (Numbers 25:3; Revelation 2:14). Psalms 106:32-33. It went ill with Moses.-How infectious is unbelief, that it spread from the people to their noble leader! Psalms 106:35-39. Were mingled among the heathen.-In spite of Joshua’s warning (Joshua 23:12-13; see also Judges 2:2; Judges 3:6). Psalms 106:43. Many times did He deliver them.-These are the times of the Judges and the Kings! And how many times has He also de­livered us from the results of our sins! Psalms 106:44. Nevertheless He regarded their affliction.-Another Neverthe­less. See verse 8. Psalms 106:46. He made them to be pitied.-God can put pity into the heart of your most merciless foe. Psalms 106:48. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.-With this magnificent doxology we close the fourth book of the Psalms; and as we do so, we worship and bow down, and join the hallelujahs of heaven and earth. Psalms 107:1-43 "OH THAT MEN WOULD PRAISE THE LORD!" This Psalm, according to Psalms 107:32, was composed to be sung at a national religious service, in which joy was the keynote. It was also, according to Psalms 107:22, connected with the offering of sacri­fices and thank-offerings. It is thought that it was composed for the first celebration of the feast of tabernacles, after the return from the exile, when Israel was gathered as one man at Jerusalem, and sacrifices were offered (Ezra 3:1-3). The special references, however, are not very distinct; and so the Psalm is appropriate to the whole Church, and to each individual, after experiencing some marked Divine interposition or deliverance. The Psalm begins with an exhortation to praise, on account of God’s gracious deeds: and in the following verses we are presented with four tableaux: Of the caravan in the wilderness (Psalms 107:4-9); of the prisoner (Psalms 107:10-16); of the sick (Psalms 107:17-22); of the mariner in the storm (Psalms 107:23-32). In each of these paragraphs there is a great similarity of order: first the trouble, then the cry for help, then the gracious deliverance, and, lastly, the exhortation to give thanks. After this, there is a glad reference to the restored nation (Psalms 107:33-43), which, in spite of the hate of its enemies, had been reinstated in its own land, and was already preparing to rebuild the Holy City. Psalms 107:1-2. His mercy endureth forever.-It is not enough to think it: say it. Psalms 107:3. He gathered them out of the lands.-Evidently in reference to the return from the Captivity (Isaiah 43:5-6; Isaiah 56:8). Psalms 107:4. They wandered in the wilderness.-We are in this world as in a wilderness, having no continuing city; but we are under the care of One who is leading us through the desert to our home, and He will not suffer us to lack any good thing. Psalms 107:8. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness!-This prayerful refrain occurs four times (Psalms 107:8, Psalms 107:15, Psalms 107:21, Psalms 107:31). Psalms 107:9. He satisfieth... and filleth.-Blessed hunger, which meets with such a provision! (Matthew 5:6). Psalms 107:10-14. In darkness and in the shadow of death.-Words fail to describe the miseries of an Oriental prison: a true type, though, of souls under conviction; or of the pressure of some great heart-­sorrow: yet out of these the Lord delivereth (2 Thessalonians 3:2). Psalms 107:17. Because of their transgression.-We are foolish to yield to transgression, which so often brings in its train sickness of body. But let us beware of saying that sickness is a sign of special sin (John 9:2-3). Psalms 107:20. He sent his word, and healed them.-His name in all ages has been Jehovah-rophi, "the Lord that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26). And He heals the diseases of souls as well as of bodies. Oh, put yourselves into the hands of the good Physician of souls! Psalms 107:25-29. He raiseth the stormy wind.-We all know what these storms mean: but they are valuable if they bring us to an end of ourselves; for then we are at the beginning of God. Psalms 107:33-38. He turneth ... a fruitful land into barrenness.-Those who trust in earthly comforts, and seem secure, may in a moment be left destitute; whilst those who are in the greatest straits may suddenly become enriched with all manner of good. Do not trust in things, but in God. Psalms 107:43. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things.-Let us ask God to give us this true wisdom and spiritual insight; that we may look out for these indications of Divine mercy, and treasure them for our encouragement and comfort, and as sources of praise. Psalms 108:1-13 MY HEART IS FIXED! This is a Davidic Psalm, and a variation of Psalms 60:1-12. It con­sists of three strophes. The first (Psalms 108:1-5 is borrowed, with alterations, from Psalms 57:7-11; the second (Psalms 108:6-9) and the third (Psalms 108:10-13) from Psalms 60:5-12. This Psalm seems to have been intended to express, on the behalf of the people of God in all ages, their firm confidence that He would deliver them, and ultimately give victory over all their enemies. Psalms 108:1. My heart is fixed.-The fixed heart is the singing heart. Glory here stands for mouth, or soul, whose praise pleases God (Psalms 30:12). Psalms 108:2. I will awake the dawn (R.V.,marg.).-There is no time for praise like early morn. Let us ask God to waken us (Isaiah 50:4). Psalms 108:6. That thy beloved may be delivered.-We are beloved in the "Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6). Me in the A.V. is changed to us in R.V. The saint never prays alone; the voice of Jesus and of the universal Church blends with his. Psalms 108:7. God hath spoken.-When God has spoken, promising victory, we may already begin to exult, and divide the spoils of the war. Psalms 108:8. Gilead ... Manasseh ... Ephraim.-David enumerates the various portions of the land which already owned his sway, and the other portions which he had subjugated. And in Christ the believer learns that all things are his (1 Corinthians 3:21). Even his enemies contribute to his possessions and wealth. Psalms 108:10. Who will lead me into Edom?-Most of us have an Edom before us, in the form of some difficulty or temptation; but if only we are abiding by faith in God, we shall discover the secret of entering as conquerors, even into the city of rock (Petra, the chief city of Edom, was cut in the rock). Psalms 108:11. Wilt not Thou, 0 God?-An implied answer to the question of Psalms 108:10. Psalms 108:12-13. Give us help from trouble.-"Vanity of vanities" is written on all human aid, and on our resolutions and endeavors: but if only we will follow where God leads the way, we shall go from victory to victory. He will fight for us and tread down our foes; as when a strong man tramples down the forest undergrowth, and the little children have but to follow in his steps. Psalms 109:1-31 "HOLD NOT THY PEACE, 0 GOD!" The internal evidence agrees with the inscription as ascribing this Psalm to David; and like others of the same character, it dates probably from the time of the Sauline persecution. It is full of appeals for the Divine vindication of persecuted saints. These old sacred writers had very clear, strong, views of the enormity of wrong-doing, and did not scruple to invoke the Divine justice against those who perpetrated it (see Psalms 23:4). There are sentences which exhibit a like spirit in the New Testament (Acts 23:3; 1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 4:4); but on the whole we are taught by the Gospel to speak more leniently of those who oppress us (Matthew 5:44; Luke 23:34; Acts 7:60). We cannot for­get the quotation made from this Psalm (Psalms 109:8) by the Apostle Peter with reference to the betrayer (Acts 1:20); and thus we are led to question whether these strong imprecations may not be a foreshadowing of that awful fate which must overtake such as knowingly and wilfully sin against God’s children and cause. The arrangement of the Psalm is very simple. It consists of three strophes, each of ten verses; and a final verse which gives the con­clusion and sum of the whole. Psalms 109:4. By omitting the three words in italics, we get a beautiful meaning: But I-prayer; as if the one response made by the Psalmist was PRAYER; and so much so, that his existence for the time was summed up in the word. Psalms 109:6-15. Let him be condemned.-It is held by some that these verses are a quotation of what was desired by his foes; but it is better to consider them not as imprecations but as predictions, the imperative mood being put for the future tense, agreeably to the custom of the Hebrew. Psalms 109:21. For thy name’s sake!-What an exquisite prayer! Better let God do for you than do for yourself (Psalms 119:124; Jeremiah 14:7). God’s mercy is indeed good. Psalms 109:22. I am poor and needy (so also Psalms 70:5). Psalms 109:26. Help me, 0 Lord!-Another of these sweet ejaculatory petitions, of which we should each carry a quiverful for daily use. Psalms 109:28. But bless Thou!-It is well to be persecuted, if with every curse of man we can detect the silver tones of the Divine benedic­tion, saying, "Blessed are ye!" (Matthew 5:11). Psalms 109:31. He shall stand at the right hand of the poor.-How brave is the accused if he enters court leaning on the arm of the noblest in the land! How futile is it to condemn when the Judge of all stands beside to justify! (Rom. 3:33). Psalms 110:1-7 "SIT THOU AT MY RIGHT HAND!" Luther calls this Psalm "the true, high, main Psalm of our beloved Lord, Jesus Christ." Our Lord Himself says that it was written by David in the Holy Ghost; and there is no portion of the Old Testament more frequently quoted in the New (Matthew 22:44; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Hebrews 1:3, Hebrews 1:13; Hebrews 5:6, Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 7:17, Hebrews 7:21). This Psalm was composed when the seat of government and the ark of the covenant where already on Mount Zion. David had already received the grand promise of 2 Samuel 7:1-29; and there rings through the Psalm a grand anticipation of victory over his foes. But do not all these thoughts fade into comparative insignifi­cance as we read into these words conceptions of the glory, per­petuity, and ultimate victory, of the kingdom of our Lord? In Psalms 110:1, Psalms 110:2, and Psalms 110:4 the Hebrew word JEHOVAH is rendered LORD: where the second mention of the word "LORD" occurs in Psalms 110:1, and also in the instance of Psalms 110:5, the Hebrew word is ADONAI-Master, Ruler, Lord. Psalms 110:1. Sit Thou at My right hand!-This was the welcome of the Ascension Day-the word with which the Father greeted Jesus. And all through the ages He has been engaged in making the foes of Christ the footstool of his feet. This is not accomplished yet, but it is sure. Psalms 110:2. Out of Zion.-It is out of Judaism, the seat of which was Zion-from the narrowest nation under heaven-that the Gospel has gone forth, which has a message to the entire race, and is destined to enclose the whole world in its embrace. Psalms 110:3. Thy people shall be willing.-A striking picture of the soldiers of Christ. Their spirit, as free-will offerings. Their attire, in the beautiful and glistening robes of holiness. Their numbers, youthful warriors, numerous as the dewdrops besprinkling the morning meadows. Psalms 110:4. Thou a Priest forever!-In Jesus the offices of King and Priest blend (Zechariah 6:12-13). This combination of priesthood and kingship is also the spiritual prerogative of all Christ’s true dis­ciples (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10; Revelation 20:6). His priesthood, however, is not after the model of Aaron; but according to that of Melchizedek, a more ancient, universal, and more enduring type, as the Epistle to the Hebrews amply shows (Hebrews 7:1-28). Psalms 110:5. Shall strike through kings.-The triumph of our Lord is guaranteed by the omnipotence of God. But, alas for that dies irae, that day of wrath! Nevertheless, He must bruise the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15) . Psalms 110:6. He shall judge.-The Gospel of Jesus must be for our bless­ing or our bane-for salvation or destruction. Psalms 110:7. He shall drink of the brook in the way.-As Jonathan in the wood (1 Samuel 14:27) took of the honey and was refreshed, so does our Lord drink of the love and devotion of his people, and goes forward without discouragement to the victory which awaits Him. Have you been as a brook from which He has drunk? Is Jesus refreshed by you? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 68: 04.13. CHAPTER 13 ======================================================================== Psalms 111:1-10 "THE WORKS OF THE LORD." This Psalm was probably written after the return from the Captivity. The circumstances of the new colony were poor and de­pressing. And the aim of the religious leaders of the people was to get them to look up to God, and expect from Him a gracious repetition of the marvelous works of the past. That word, works, is the keynote of the Psalm, occurring constantly (Psalms 111:2-4, Psalms 111:6-7); also the word ever (Psalms 111:3, Psalms 111:5, Psalms 111:8-10). When tempted to lose heart, because of present difficulty, let us go back on the former deeds of the right hand of the Lord. This Psalm is an alphabetical acrostic. Psalms 111:1. I will praise the Lord.-It is not enough to call on others to praise: each of us must do so, as a matter of personal duty. Psalms 111:2. The works of the Lord are great.-Let us search them out-­the works of the Lord in nature, with telescope or microscope, on Alpine solitude, and by mountain stream, or in the great world of human life. We must seek, if we would find. For it is God’s pleasure to hide things. Psalms 111:3. His work.-Notice the singular. All the "works" (Psalms 111:2) are the WORK, emanating from one source, tending to one result. "One law; one plan; one far-off Divine event." Psalms 111:5. He will ever be mindful of his covenant.- Judge not God by his delays; but by his promises. "He waits that He may be gracious." Psalms 111:6. The heritage of the heathen.-What a heritage is ours in Christ! (Romans 8:17). Psalms 111:7. The works of his hands are verity and judgment.-They are "Yea and Amen in Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:20). Psalms 111:9. He sent redemption unto his people.-Type of the redemption of Christ (Revelation 5:9). Psalms 111:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.-The fear of God here mentioned is childlike fear, which dreads to offend, and is compatible with perfect love. To have this is to have a wisdom which enters into God’s secrets, and reads his meaning, and understands Himself. If you want to have a good understanding of things, and men, and God, you will get it best by being right with God. The standpoint from which we view things is of the utmost importance to our right understanding of them. The margin gives another reading, a good success. But note that all depends on obe­dience. Those that do, know. Act up to all you know; and you will know more (John 7:17). Do God’s will, and He will prosper you. Psalms 112:1-10 "HALLELUJAH’" The HALLELUJAH at the beginning of this Psalm closely relates it to the preceding and following ones. Evidently they were com­posed about the same time, perhaps by the same author, and be­long manifestly to the era of return from the Captivity. Like the preceding Psalm, this also is an alphabetical acrostic. Psalms 112:1. Blessed is the man that delighteth in His commandments.­-The only way of delighting in God’s commandments is to do them (Revelation 22:14). Psalms 112:2. The generation of the upright shall be blessed.-We have ample warrant for believing that though godliness is not heredi­tary, yet the religion of a godly parent has the strongest possible influence on children, and a blessing is passed on to after-generations (Psalms 103:17; Isaiah 59:21) . Psalms 112:3. Wealth . . . in his house.-Although the Christian dispensa­tion is one of spiritual, rather than of temporal, blessing-it is nevertheless true that "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). Psalms 112:4. There ariseth light in the darkness.-We may not always see the light, but it is behind the cloud, waiting God’s signal (Psalms 97:11; Isaiah 50:10). Psalms 112:5. A good man . . . lendeth.-There is a premonition here of our Lord’s words (Matthew 5:42). Psalms 112:7. He shall not be afraid.-The heart which is trustfully fixed on God is not afraid: because no tiding can reach it save through the Father’s care; and all tidings must be of the Father’s ap­pointment. If you are dreading evil tidings, do not look along the road by which the postman comes, but upward and Godward. Trust is expulsive of fear. Psalms 112:9. He hath given to the poor.-There is no great difficulty in giving to the poor, when once we have learned our unsearchable riches in Christ. Oh to be purveyors of these to others! (Ephesians 3:2-10). Psalms 112:10. The wicked shall see, and be grieved.-The wicked are vexed, partly because they are aware that the righteous have possessions of which they are destitute; and partly because their own schemes melt way before their eyes, as wreaths of smoke. Psalms 113:1-9 "HE RAlSETH UP THE POOR." This and the five following Psalms constitute the Hallel (or Praise-song), sung at the Jewish festivals, particularly at the Pass­over and Feast of Tabernacles. It is thought to have been the hymn or psalm sung by our Lord and his disciples after the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:30). This Psalm is ruled by the number three; three strophes of three verses each: three times in Psalms 113:1 we are exhorted to praise. Psalms 113:1. Praise the name of the Lord!-God’s "name" is his character. Psalms 113:2. For evermore!-This verse proceeds on the supposition that our God will forever continue to develop and unfold his glorious nature, so that there will be always some new occasion to adore Him. Psalms 113:3. From the rising of the sun unto the going down.-This prediction is yet to be realized (Psalms 72:11; Malachi 1:11; Revelation 15:3-4). Then the sun’s course as it awakens the successive populations of the globe shall be tracked by songs. Psalms 113:5-6. Our God ... who humbleth. Himself.-How humble should we be! Whilst we familiarly speak to God as our Father, we should never forget the immense distance between Him and us. And yet our Lord stooped through this immense distance to be­come man! (Php 2:6-8). Psalms 113:7-8. Out of the dust! ... out of the dunghill!-These are almost word for word from the prayer of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:8). A woman may lead the songs of the Church. Psalms 113:9. A joyful mother.-The "barren woman" here may perhaps typify the Jewish Church in her low estate, or even the Gentile Church (Isaiah 40:13); but when God wills, and in answer to prayer, her children are multiplied. Psalms 114:1-8 "THE SEA SAW IT, AND FLED!" The authorship of this Psalm cannot be traced. It clearly belongs to the period of return from the Captivity; and the writer seeks comfort, under much discouragement, in the recollection of the blessed and glorious past. Psalms 114:1. Israel ... Jacob.-The two names of the patriarch occur in the same verse. Israel must never forget that he was once Jacob; and all Jacobs may yet become Israels, by the grace of God. We all have our Egypts, and our people of strange tongue; but when the lesson of our bondage is learned, our God brings us out. Psalms 114:2. Judah was his sanctuary.-The Eternal finds his home in the midst of his people (Deuteronomy 33:12; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3). Is thy heart his sanctuary and dominion? Psalms 114:3-6. The sea saw, and fled.-A poetical description of the passage of the Red Sea, and of the Jordan; also of the giving of the law (Psalms 68:16). Psalms 114:7. The presence of the God of Jacob.-How gracious that God should call Himself the God of Jacob! (Isaiah 41:14). The Divine presence is always with us (Matthew 28:20), though so often we are insensible to its majestic glory. And if earth should tremble before Him, much more should we; not with the fear of slaves, but with the godly fear which dares not grieve his Holy Spirit. Psalms 114:8. Who turned the rock into a standing water.-Many such miracles doth He still. The most unlikely things yield the streams which quench our thirst and satisfy our souls. Work such miracles, blessed God, on the rocks and flints which glaciers of trouble have brought down into our lives! Psalms 115:1-18 "NOT UNTO US, O LORD!" Another of the Psalms which date from the Captivity era. We may divide it thus:- Psalms 115:1, Ascription; Psalms 115:2-7, God (Elohim), con­trasted with heathen Deities; Psalms 115:8, A portrait of idolaters; Psalms 115:9-11, Ex­hortation; Psalms 115:12-15, Assurance; Psalms 115:16-18, Resolution. Psalms 115:1. Not unto us, 0 Lord!-It would eliminate from success and praise their power to harm us, if we would, from the heart, give utterance to these noble words. God’s mercy and truth are in­dissoluble. Psalms 115:2-3. Where is their God?-Those accustomed to some visible embodiment of God are always amazed at spiritual worship (John 4:24). Pompey, we are told, was very surprised to find nothing in the most Holy Place. God’s good pleasure is never arbitrary, but always conditioned by the highest welfare of his creatures. Let us ask Him to work that pleasure out in us that we may please Him! Hebrews 13:21 and Hebrews 11:5). Psalms 115:4-7. Their idols.-This sarcastic description recalls the searching passage in Isaiah 44:9-19. Psalms 115:8. They that make them.-A very striking thought is given in these words. We resemble our ideals; we become like what we worship. And though we may not be now tempted to prostrate our­selves before the idols of the heathen, yet there are idols which may fascinate us (1 Corinthians 10:14; Colossians 3:5; 1 John 5:21). We must not trust gold, or success, or any earthly thing; but God in Christ, till we become like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18). Psalms 115:9-11. Trust in the Lord!-A triple appeal for trust, addressed to the congregation, the priests, and perhaps the proselytes (Ruth 2:12). The greatest cannot do without God. The least may appropriate Him. Trust it taking what God gives. "Help" and "shield" together make a very assuring combination: the one for succour in every moment of need: the other for defence. Psalms 115:12-13. The Lord ... will bless!-Here is a triple answer to the triple appeal. And we are surely at liberty to argue from the past to the future. What God has done, that He will do: trust Him! Psalms 115:15. Ye are blessed of the Lord!-Then let him curse who may. We have but to turn back to Abraham’s life to see what God’s blessing includes (Genesis 12:2-3; see also Numbers 6:22-27). And we who believe must be blessed, if the Maker of all things blesses us. The lot of God’s children may seem arduous and dark­some; but it is a blessed one: and in Him is our peace and rest. Psalms 115:17. The dead praise not.-Views of the HEREAFTER were but partial to the Old Testament saints (2 Timothy 1:10). We have now an opportunity, which even heaven does not present, of praising God amid the obloquy and hate of men: let his praise be the more hearty and continuous in proportion to their anathemas. Psalms 116:1-19 "I LOVE THE LORD!" This Psalm formed part of the Paschal Hallel, and contains an underlying reference to the deliverance from Egypt, and also to the deliverance from the captivity in Babylon. The Psalmist passes from the national deliverance to his personal sweet ex­periences of redeeming mercy, and sings his own song of thank­fulness. The name "Jehovah" occurs fifteen times, and "Jah" once. Psalms 116:1-2. He hath heard.-Answered prayer may well incite to renewed love; but let us not love Him less, if He withhold. Per­haps the withholding is a greater proof of love than giving would be (John 11:3-15). Psalms 116:3-6. The sorrows of death.-Many who are reading this Psalm may be in a similar position. And excessive grief is some times apt to check prayer. The soul is too sore and hurt even to cry out. Yet it is well worth our while, when we are in such cir­cumstances, to break through all restraints and call out to God. He is very merciful. Psalms 116:7. Return unto thy rest, 0 my soul!-There is no "rest" so warm and safe for the soul, as in the love and care of God. Sometimes, however, like the dove, we seem to get away from it: there is nothing better, at such times, than to return, and we shall be at once pulled in unto Him (Genesis 8:9). Why do we ever leave our rest? Why wander from our home? (Matthew 11:29). The love of God invites us back (Romans 2:4). Psalms 116:8. Thou hast delivered.-He hath delivered; He doth deliver; He will yet deliver (2 Corinthians 1:10). Psalms 116:10. I believed: therefore have I spoken.-Quoted by the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 4:13). This is the speech which convinces men, because it has in it the accent of the speaker’s conviction. Never say more than you believe. Psalms 116:11. In my haste.-It is this hasty speaking which lies at the root of so much misery to ourselves and others. An eminent director of souls once said: "I shall have good hopes of you when you can speak and move slowly." Oh for a holy collectedness of spirit! Psalms 116:13. The cup of salvation.-The Scripture often speaks of our lot as a "cup." In this case it brims with blessed help. But it is only because our dear Lord drank a cup brimming with bitter sorrow (John 18:11). Psalms 116:14. I will pay my vows.-A good resolve, repeated in Psalms 116:13 (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). Psalms 116:15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.-Therefore He often raises them from the very borders of the grave. Each saintly death- bed is the scene of minute care on the part of God our Father; since it is there that He puts the finishing touch on a perfected character. Balaam’s wish (Numbers 23:10) was not granted; for it went forth from feigned lips. Psalms 116:16. 0 Lord, truly I am thy servant (thy slave).-A marvelous avowal! The Psalmist dwells with delight on his slavery (ebed, a slave); and through it finds freedom. To be the slave of Jesus is to taste the sweets of liberty. Those who become God’s slaves are loosed by Him from all other bonds (John 8:31-36). Psalms 116:17-19. The sacrifice of thanksgiving.-"Praise is comely" (Psalms 33:1; Psalms 147:1). Shall we withhold from Jehovah that praise which is his due? Thanksgiving should ever be the accompaniment of our prayers (Php 4:6). Psalms 116:17-18 are almost identical with Psalms 116:13-14. We ought not to shrink from making mention of God’s name (Psalms 66:13-16). Psalms 117:1-2 "ALL YE NATIONS!" This is the shortest chapter in the Bible, and its center. Per­haps it was intended to be used as a doxology to the preceding and other Psalms. And yet, small as it is, it is full of a world-wide spirit, reaching out to all nations. "It is a dewdrop reflecting the universe." The Apostle quotes it in Romans 15:11, as foretelling the call of the Gentiles. In this Psalm, as also in Isaiah 11:10, and elsewhere, the spirit of Judaism forgets its natural exclusiveness, and reaches out its hands to the world. Psalms 117:1. Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations!-Before we can ap­propriate these words, we must have learned to exercise the spirit of praise for ourselves. We must have come to see that the Lord Jesus is infinitely deserving of the love and homage of all man­kind. And we must have received into our hearts the spirit of his own great love, which yearns over all men. Men will never be truly happy till they adore and praise Him whom we call Master (Php 2:10). Psalms 117:2. His merciful kindness is great.-The greatness of his love and the permanence of his word. Here are themes indeed for praise. Do we think enough of them? And are we as prepared to praise in dark and sad days as in bright and happy ones­-because God is the same, and the same to us, though our lot may not be quite what it was in other and more gladsome moments? Psalms 118:1-29 "CHASTENED SORE!" This Psalm was sung by the restored exiles, when they laid the foundation of the second Temple (Ezra 3:10-11). It is believed that our Lord and his disciples sang this Psalm before He went into the garden (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). It was the last Psalm of the Hallel, 113-118; and is said to have been used after the Paschal meal. It is very touching to read into this Psalm some of those thoughts which must have filled the heart of our blessed Saviour, as with it on his lips. He stood on the margin of the cold river. Psalms 118:26 had been, but a few days before, sung in chorus by the multitudes who attended the triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9). That same verse will probably be on the nation’s lips when Zechariah 14:1-21 is fulfilled. (Compare Isaiah 25:9 with Matthew 23:39). Luther says of Psalms 118:1-29, "This is my Psalm, the one which I love." "Jehovah" occurs twenty-two times, corresponding with the numbers of letters in the Hebrew alphabet; "Jah" occurs five times. Psalms 118:1. He IS good. Hold this fast, in spite of all appearances to the contrary, or the maledictions of his foes. And He will not grow weary, or change (Malachi 3:6). Psalms 118:2-4. His mercy endureth forever.-The triple call of Psalms 115:9-11. Psalms 118:5. I called, . . . the Lord answered.- Sin-stricken and sorrow­ful souls can hardly do better than take this prescription. If it has healed one, why should it not avail for others? (See Psalms 34:6). Psalms 118:6-7. The Lord is on my side.-If you would have God on your side, you must take care to be on his side. And when once a poor saint and God are on the same side, victory is certain (Romans 8:33; Hebrews 13:6). Psalms 118:8-9. It is better to trust in the Lord.-If our dearest friend were a rich and mighty prince, how secure we should be! Are we less so, when we entrust all our concerns to God? Nay, saith the Psalmist, not worse off, but better. Put your most secret desires and plans, then, into the hands of Jesus. Psalms 118:10-12. In the name of the Lord.-We may say this of our spiritual foes, as well as of all who oppose our endeavors for God’s cause. Psalms 118:14. The Lord is my strength and song/-A fragment from the Song of Moses (Exodus 15:2). (See also Psalms 27:1; Psalms 62:6) Psalms 118:16. The right hand of the Lord.-Our Mediator sits at the right hand of God, the position of activity and might (Mark 16:19). That right hand must therefore prevail for us. Psalms 118:17-18. But.-There is always a "but" of merciful reservation in God’s dealings with us (Isaiah 38:17). Psalms 118:19-20. The gates of righteousness.-The Lord hath many gates, through which the righteous pass, into the inner chambers of his presence (Revelation 21:12, Revelation 21:25). Psalms 118:22. The head-stone of the corner.-This verse is supposed to have been suggested by the difficulty experienced by the Temple builders in fitting a certain stone into its place, though it after­wards occupied a very important position in the completed struc­ture. The verse is frequently quoted, and applied to the Lord Jesus (Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11; and 1 Peter 2:4, 1 Peter 2:7). Psalms 118:27. God ... hath showed us light.-New light demands more devoted service. Psalms 119:1-176 "THY LAW DO I LOVE." This long and noble Psalm is devoted to the praise of the Word of God, which it mentions in nearly every verse, under one title or another. Ezra probably composed it in order to lead the people better to appreciate and prize the Holy Scriptures. The Psalm is a rich aid to meditation, if read thoughtfully and prayerfully, and will be loved in proportion as it is used. Chrysostom, Am­bros, Augustine, and Luther have left on record very high tributes to its worth. It is an alphabetical acrostic; and certainly the most remarkable of all the acrostic Psalms in the Scriptures. To make the Psalm easier to commit to memory, its contents are broken into twenty­-two short divisions or sections, all the verses in each section beginning with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is a pleasant exercise to take up the keywords of this Psalm, which occur throughout its texture, and to dwell on them in all the varying lights flashed thereon by the context in each several case. Take, for instance, that word Quicken (Psalms 119:25, Psalms 119:37, Psalms 119:40, Psalms 119:138, Psalms 119:149, Psalms 119:156, Psalms 119:159). The following division, founded on that of Pastor C. A. Davis, is proposed. Psalms 119:1-8. The undefiled, and their blessedness. Psalms 119:9-16. The sanctifying influence of the Word. Psalms 119:17-24. The longings of the holy soul. Psalms 119:25-32. A cry for quickening. Psalms 119:33-40. Faithfulness, the result of the Divine inworking. Psalms 119:41-48. Mercies, and their effect. Psalms 119:46-59. Hope in affliction. Psalms 119:57-64. God our portion. Psalms 119:65-72. A review of the Divine dealings. Psalms 119:73-80. The creature’s appeal to its Creator. Psalms 119:81-88. Hope in depression. Psalms 119:89-96. The inimitable Word of God. Psalms 119:97-104. The benefits of pious musing. Psalms 119:105-112. Light for a dark landing. Psalms 119:113-120. Human thoughts contrasted with God’s Law. Psalms 119:121-128. The plea of the oppressed. Psalms 119:129-136. Thirst for the living God. Psalms 119:137-144. God’s righteousness. Psalms 119:145-152. The paragraph of the "Cry." Psalms 119:153-160. An appeal for consideration. Psalms 119:161-168. The believer’s eulogy on God’s Word. Psalms 119:169-176. A closing appeal. And it is touching to notice the closing minor cadence, for the loftiest flights of holy rapture must ever come back to a lowly confession of sin and unworthiness (1 Peter 2:25). Psalms 120:1-7 "IN MY DISTRESS." This and the following fourteen Psalms are called "Songs of Degrees," or of "Goings Up." They were, perhaps, composed for singing as the Ark was being borne to its resting-place. In any case, they became the pilgrim songs of the people, who sang them as they went up from all parts of the country to the annual Feasts. May our souls mount up on these songs as on wings! This Psalm, like so many of David’s, seems to refer to Doeg, or a man of his sort, whose lies had brought untold mischief to the singer (1 Samuel 22:9). . Psalms 120:1. I cried; ... and He heard.-Let those that are in distress lay this testimony to heart. One personal experience is worth tons of exhortation. If you cannot pray, cry. Psalms 120:2. Deliver ... from lying lips!-Slander is a vile sin; though even Christian people are not as watchful against it as they should be (James 3:1-18). Psalms 120:3. Thou false tongue!-The strongest treatment is not too much to be meted out to those who forge or circulate untrue state­ments, or statements the truth of which they have not verified. Psalms 120:4. Sharp arrows ... with coals of juniper.-A figurative in­timation of the punishment in reserve for slanderers. As sure as the poisoned arrow shot by an expert takes its victim, revenge shall overtake such an offender against God and man. Psalms 120:5. Woe is me!-By a proverbial allusion, an outcast life is described. Denied the joys of home and friendship, and partici­pation in the ordinances of God’s house, the believer is very like a wanderer among barbarians. Psalms 120:6-7. I am for peace ... they are for war!-Having opened with a statement of the gracious treatment he received at the hands of the Lord, the Psalmist closes with a contrasted reference to man’s ill-treatment of him. He was for peace; but his enemy desired war. In like manner, the Christian is frequently made painfully aware of the "contradiction of sinners." (Hebrews 12:3). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 69: 04.14. CHAPTER 14 ======================================================================== Psalms 121:1-8 "THE LORD IS THY KEEPER:’ Another of the Pilgrim Psalms, prepared for the annual festival journeys. This seems to have been specially designed to be sung in view of the mountains about Jerusalem, and is probably an evening song for the pilgrim-band. The keynote of the Psalm is the word keep, which occurs six times in one form or another (see R.V.). Psalms 121:1. I will lift up mine eyes!-We must not be contented with merely looking at the hills-but must look above and beyond them. The loftiest and mightiest sources of help are too low for us. Nothing short of God will avail for us. Psalms 121:2. My help cometh from the Lord!-The term applied to the Lord, as Creator of heaven and earth, indicates his inexhaustible abundance of help. "Despair is madness in anyone who has such a God to help him." Psalms 121:3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.-The sliding of the foot is a very natural type of misfortune, especially in so mountainous a land as Canaan, where it is in the highest degree dangerous to lose one’s foothold (see also Genesis 28:15; Psalms 26:1; Psalms 37:31). Psalms 121:4. He ... shall neither slumber nor sleep.-This is said of Israel’s foes (Isaiah 5:27) ; hut it is more true of Israel’s God. When the pilot comes on board, the captain may turn in to sleep. Psalms 121:5. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.-"Shade" is a metaphor for protection from the scorching heat, like Jonah’s gourd. God is a Sun (Psalms 84:11); but He is a shadow from the heat (Psalms 91:1; Isaiah 25:4). Psalms 121:6. The sun shall not smite . . . nor the moon.-Heat and cold stand for the extremes of condition to which we are all exposed. Sometimes everything is warm and bright around us; at other times we are lonely and depressed: but in all circum­stances God is sufficient (Php 4:12). Psalms 121:7. The Lord shall preserve! ... He shall preserve!-These re­peated assurances are to calm and quiet our unbelief, which needs to be told again and again that God will watch over his own. Nothing that happens to us can be evil. Whatever God lets pass through the meshes of his protection must be for our good. Psalms 121:8. Thy going out and thy coming in!-The going out is for work and service; the coming in may be for rest and refresh­ment. The Good Shepherd keeps his flock through all (John 10:9). Psalms 122:1-9 "PEACE BE WITHIN THY WALLS!" If the former Psalm was sung of the pilgrimband, when re­tiring to rest on the last evening, when Jerusalem was already in sight-this would be sung one station further on, when the pilgrims had reached the gates of Jerusalem, and halted for the pur­pose of arranging themselves for solemn procession to the temple. It is ascribed to David; and internal evidence confirms the in­scription. The city was newly built and beautified, and was the seat of David’s government. The house of the Lord, referred to in Psalms 122:1 and Psalms 122:9, is clearly the early sanctuary, which was known by this name (Jude 1:18; Judges 19:18). Psalms 122:1. Let us go into the house of the Lord!-There is an illustra­tion of this in Isaiah 2:3. It was much to have reached Jerusalem, but much more to have a desire to visit the Lord’s house; for that was not merely a material edifice-it was also the place where God met pious souls. Oh for this desire after God! Psalms 122:2. Our feet are standing (R.V.).-What a difference a step may make! All the difference between outside and inside-between a stranger and foreigner or a child at home. Psalms 122:3. Jerusalem ... a compact city (compare 2 Samuel 5:9).-This is an expression of wonder that the stately city had arisen so quickly under the genius of David. What shall we not say, one day, of the new Jerusalem, when she descends from God in his glory! (Revelation 21:2). Psalms 122:4. Whither the tribes go up.-From the external splendor of Jerusalem the Psalmist passes on to praise her internal glory, in that she was the religious center and metropolis of the nation. The law to that effect had been laid down in the opening of the national history (Exodus 23:17, Deuteronomy 16:16). Psalms 122:6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.-In the Hebrew there is a graceful alliteration in this verse:- Peace in the City of Peace: May those be at peace who love her! as though David would make the beloved name as dear to his people as it was to himself. Prosperity still attends those who love the name and cause of God. In such souls there are already present the elements of prosperity and blessedness. Psalms 122:7. Peace ... and prosperity!-Let us never forget to pray for the good estate of the Church Universal; not in public only, but also in our private devotions. Such prayers must be dear to her Bridegroom, Christ. Psalms 122:8. For my brethren and companions’ sakes.-All who are mem­bers of that Church are our brethren and friends. Psalms 122:9. I will seek thy good.-Let all strive to promote the cause of God by word and life, by exertions and prayers. Psalms 123:1-4 "UNTO THEE LIFT I MINE EYES." This Psalm must by internal evidence be carried, as to its authorship, to a much later date than the preceding one. It was probably composed after the return from captivity, when Israel was suffering so much from the Samaritans and others (Ezra 4:1-24 and Nehemiah 2:19). Calvin shows the application of the Psalm to the Church of all ages when he says: "The Holy Ghost, by a clear voice, incites us to come to God, as often as-not one and another member only, but the whole Church is unjustly and haughtily oppressed by the passions of her enemies." Psalms 123:1. Unto Thee lift I up mine eyes!-Our Lord looked upward when He prayed (John 17:1); and He has taught us to look up to our Father in heaven. It is his throne (Matthew 5:34). Sometimes we cannot articulate words and sentences; but we can put a prayer into a look. Psalms 123:2. Our eyes look unto the Lord our God (R.V.).-It has been truly said that the servant looks to the master’s hand: (1) for direction; (2) for the supply of his needs; (3) for protection; (4) for correction; (5) for reward. A very slight gesture is enough to indicate the master’s will. Oh to be so incessantly oc­cupied with the Lord Jesus as to need but a sign! There is per­haps also here the thought of the eagerness with which the eyes of a slave watch for the master’s signal that a fault has been expiated by sufficient chastisement. There is a striking parallel in the history of Hagar (Genesis 16:6-9). Psalms 123:3. We are exceedingly filled with contempt.- Contempt is hard to bear; but we are taught to expect it, as the followers of Him who passed through storms of contumely, but who despised the shame (Hebrews 12:2-4). Fix your hearts on the joy set before you, and "rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:13). Psalms 124:1-8 "THE LORD ON OUR SIDE." One of David’s Psalms, perhaps written during the Aramaic­-Edomitic war (2 Samuel 8:3-13: compare Psalms 44:1-26; Psalms 60:1-12.) Luther says, "We may well sing this Psalm, not only against our enemies who openly hate and persecute us, but also against spiritual wickedness." Psalms 124:1. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side/!What an If is this! One shudders to think what and where we might have been, without the delivering, preserving hand of our God. If we are on the Lord’s side, and walking uprightly, we need never doubt as to whether He is on our side. That we may rest assured about. Psalms 124:2. The Lord on our side: ... men against us.-Weigh these two in the balances, God and men; and how unworthy do our fears appear! (Psalms 56:11). Psalms 124:3. They had swallowed us up quick.-Probably an allusion to the destruction of the company of Korah (Numbers 16:32-33). The word quick is old English for "alive." Psalms 124:4-5. The waters; the stream; the proud waters.-Yet, as a matter of fact, the proud waters never have gone over us. They have threatened us again and again; but there has always been a "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further" (Job 38:11). God makes of soft sand a strong bar to the sea. His voice on high is greater than the voices of the waves (Job 38:8; Psalms 93:3-4). Trust Him! As it has been, so shall it be. Psalms 124:6. Blessed be the Lord!-These outbursts of praise are so characteristic of the sweet Psalmist (Psalms 28:6; Psalms 31:21) . Psalms 124:7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare.-We have often marvelled at the way in which the Evil One ensnares us. Quite unexpectedly he begins to weave the meshes of some net around the soul, and seems about to hold it his captive. And then, all suddenly, the strong and deft hand of our Heavenly Friend interposes, as we sometimes interpose on behalf of a struggling insect in a spider’s web. The mare falls into a tangled heap, and the soul is free. Psalms 124:8. Our help is in the name of the Lord.-All the help of Omnipotence is pledged on the side of the weakest of the saints. Lean back upon it, and be strong! Psalms 125:1-5 "AS MOUNT ZION!" "The Church first sang this Psalm under the oppression of heathen rule (Psalms 125:3); but in her own land; from the natural features of which the figures of her security in the Divine pro­tection are taken. Struggling with manifold troubles, which might have led her to doubt as to the protecting favor of God, she here rises above these in faith." Whilst many of her members were true, others had departed from the living God (Psalms 125:4-5). "These circumstances are exactly those which existed after the deliverance from captivity; at the time when the building of the temple was interrupted" (compare Psalms 120:1-7; Psalms 126:1-6.).-Hengstenberg. Psalms 125:1. They that trust in the Lord.-Trust so links us and our cause to God, that we acquire something of his stability; as the limpet, sticking fast to the rock, partakes of the nature of the rock. Psalms 125:2. As the mountains round about Jerusalem.-Robinson says: "The sacred city lies upon the broad and high mountain range, shut in by two deep valleys. All the surrounding hills are higher: in the east, the Mount of Olives; on the south, the Hill of Evil Counsel, which ascends from the Valley of Hinnom." What an ex­quisite picture this is of the believer-God-encompassed; God-encircled; God-girt! And as the mountains made Jerusalem well-nigh in-accessible and impregnable, so is God round about us, warding off the attacks of our foes. They cannot get at us except through Him. Oh that our eyes might be opened to see the in. vulnerable walls by which we are surrounded (2 Kings 6:17). Psalms 125:3. The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous.-The wicked do oppress the righteous: but their oppression shall not be permanent; that the righteous may not be tempted to relinquish their righteousness, and relapse into backsliding. Psalms 125:4. Do good, 0 Lord, unto ... the upright.-God is to us what we are to Him (Psalms 18:25-26). Psalms 125:5. Such as turn aside unto their crooked ways.-Crooked ways are by-paths or private ways, apart from the highways. The com­mandments of God are as the public road. To travel along them is to be at peace. To diverge from them is certain misery. Psalms 126:1-6 "THE CAPTIVITY TURNED." The circumstances in which this Psalm was written are evident upon its face. The exiles were still rejoicing with the new ecstasy of deliverance from captivity, and were extremely anxious as to their future. The first three verses express their joy; the fourth is a prayer for complete deliverance. Psalms 126:1. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion.-A partial fulfilment of Isaiah 52:8. There are times when the soul seems to dwell in a captivity which hinders both its joy and its free devo­tion. And then suddenly and unexpectedly the captivity is turned. The soul is restored, and is as in times past. It is the Lord’s doing, and we are as in a blessed dream (Acts 12:9). Psalms 126:2. Our mouth was filled with laughter.-God loves the singing and laughter of his saints. Trust and wait! The memory of your present anguish shall be soon forgotten in tumults of joy (Job 8:21). What a contrast to Psalms 137:1-9! Psalms 126:3. The Lord hath done great things! (Joel 2:21). Psalms 126:4. Turn again our captivity.-Much had been done for the exiles; but a large portion of the nation was still in bondage, and heavy disabilities remained on those who had returned. When God has done much for us, we may venture to ask more. The met­aphor of "streams in the south" is derived from the rapidity with which, after the heavy rains, the dry watercourses become flushed with torrent streams. Would that to our hearts and churches might come abundant life, as when the snows melt in the spring­time and flush the brooks! Psalms 126:5-6. Sow in tears: reap in joy.-The sowing and reaping are figurative expressions for the commencement of undertakings and their results. Often the farmer who sows in anxiety is agreeably disappointed with the harvest. And this is invariably the case with the children of God. They are often in pain and sorrow; but when these are undergone for righteousness’ sake, they must be followed by a harvest of joy, which shall be a hundredfold compensation (Matthew 19:29; Luke 6:21). Let the Christian worker not count as lost the seeds he sows, or the tears in which he steeps them. But let all such rest on that word doubtless, which is God’s guarantee. Precious tears! precious seed! precious reward! (compare Jeremiah 31:9, Jeremiah 31:12). Psalms 127:1-5 "EXCEPT THE LORD BUILD." This Psalm may have been suggested to Solomon by the building of the temple. It teaches us to depend in all our undertakings on the blessing of God. The Divine blessing is the only true source of prosperity; and it should be sought on the threshold of every undertaking. Psalms 127:1. Except the Lord build the house.-There is no condemnation implied here against our building and watching, but against our doing anything independently of God; or as if we could per­manently succeed apart from Him. We must be fellow-workers with Him (Proverbs 10:22). Psalms 127:2. Bread of sorrows is that eaten amid hard labor; rising early and sitting late thereat; reminding us of the ancient curse. What a picture this is of the anxiety and care which fall to the lot of so many! On the other hand, the beloved children of God, whilst they do not slack their toils (2 Thessalonians 3:12), are yet relieved of the over-pressure of the nightmare of care. When they have done their best, they leave the results to God, and sleep peacefully; and by night, the blessing or deliverance comes to them, they know not how. There is an alternative reading preferred by some: "He giveth unto his beloved in sleep." That is, that whilst those who know not God as a Father are wearing themselves down with labor and sorrow, blessing comes to the faithful even when they are resting and asleep. Psalms 127:3. Children are an heritage of the Lord.-We have here an illustration of how all we have is due to the Lord’s tender care. Our family life is his gift (compare Genesis 30:2; Genesis 33:5). Psalms 127:4-5. Happy the man that hath his quiver full!-Figures are multiplied in these verses, which have thus been expounded in rhyme by Tate and Brady:- As arrows in a giant’s hand When marching forth to war, E’en so the sons of sprightly youth Their parents’ safeguard are. Happy the man whose quiver’s filled With these prevailing arms; He needs not fear to meet his foe At law, or war’s alarms. Contending armies of a besieged city would meet at the gate Jude 1:16; Isaiah 22:7). In view of the teaching of Psalms 127:3, it thus appears that the comfort and support which dutiful children render to parents is of the Lord’s appointment. Psalms 128:1-6 ON FEARING THE LORD. This Psalm has no authorship or date assigned to it. It is anonymous, as are so many of the sweetest hymns of the Church. But it needs no introduction; and it goes on singing through the world, refreshing weary hearts as the streamlets which run among the hills. The burden is the blessedness of true godliness in the entire range of human life. Psalms 128:1, Psalms 128:4. Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord.-How continu­ously throughout the Old Testament do we find blessedness as­sociated with godliness! (Deuteronomy 7:12-14; Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Job 1:10; Psalms 33:12; Psalms 112:1-3; Psalms 115:13-15). Note the words, everyone, which hand on the blessing to all, whether Jews or Gentiles, who comply with these conditions. The fear of the Lord is born of love, which dares not grieve. It is the inner temper of the devout soul, which always reveals itself in the consistent and obedient walk. We walk in his ways when we walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, Galatians 5:25). Psalms 128:2. Shall eat the labour of thine hands.-A gracious promise! Leviticus 26:16-17 and Deuteronomy 28:31-33 present the dark reverse which is the portion of the ungodly. It shall be well with thee.-How often do we meet with this pledge, either direct or implied, in the Book of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 4:40; Deuteronomy 5:16; Deuteronomy 6:3, Deuteronomy 6:18; Deuteronomy 12:25, Deuteronomy 12:28; Deuteronomy 19:13; Deuteronomy 22:7); and it is once repeated in the New Testament (Ephesians 6:3). Faith can grasp this promise, even when outward appearances seem adverse to its fulfilment (2 Kings 4:26). It shall be well amid calamity and sorrow, in the deepest, and best, and most permanent sense. Isaiah 65:18-25 is the "latter-day" fulfilment of this promise. Psalms 128:3. In the innermost parts of thine house (R.V.).-Reminding us of the beautiful courtyard or quadrangle of an Oriental house, in which the fountain plays, and around which the vine trails grace­fully. Thy children like olive plants.-The petition of Psalms 144:12 is for such a blessing as this. And it has its response. "I am like a green olive tree" (Psalms 52:8; see also Jeremiah 11:16; Hosea 14:6). Jesus grew up as a "tender plant" (Isaiah 53:2). Psalms 128:5. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion!-Jerusalem, as the center of religious worship, where the temple was, stood as the focus for the religious life and thought of the nation (Psalms 20:2). And its prosperity was intimately associated with that of the people (Psalms 122:2-6). The spiritual and temporal act and interact. Psalms 128:6. Thy children’s children.-The promise of Psalms 103:17 accords with this verse (see also Proverbs 13:22). Note the word to restored Israel in Ezekiel 37:25; in those days aged men and women shall look with complacency on the boys and girls of a third or fourth generation playing in the streets (Zechariah 8:4-5). Happy are those who, even now, can put their finger on the promise in Isaiah 59:21, and claim it as their own! Psalms 129:1-8 "THEY AFFLICTED ME." Another of the nameless pilgrim-songs. The singer looks back on the many and severe oppressions from which Israel had suffered, but from which the Lord had delivered his people (Psalms 129:1-4); and therefore faith concludes that, however proudly the enemy may bear himself, God will certainly visit him with utter ruin (Psalms 129:5-8). Psalms 129:1. Many a time have they afflicted me.-The youth of Israel was spent in Egypt (Hosea 2:15; Hosea 11:1; Jeremiah 2:6). As we look back to our youth, once so full of promise, how many are the afflictions through which some of us have passed! We little ex­pected them; we thought that we must escape: but we have had our full measure. Psalms 129:2. Many a time; ... yet they have not prevailed.-But how sweet to remember that every affliction has had its deliverance! There has always been a "yet" (Isaiah 44:1; Isaiah 49:15; Jeremiah 3:1). We will not therefore dwell on the afflictions, but on the revelation which each has given of the strong and tender care of God. Each has been a dark lantern-in which, when opened, we discovered that his light was burning. Psalms 129:3. The ploughers ploughed upon my back.-As the plough tears up the earth, so does the scourge tear up the back. How true was this of Him in whom the ideal Israel was fitly personified-our blessed Lord! Isaiah 1:6; Matthew 27:26). Psalms 129:4. The Lord is righteous.-Twelve times throughout the Bible this truth is declared in the same words; besides being con­tinually stated in other forms. It is comforting to know that our God is "righteous in all his ways" (Psalms 11:7; Psalms 145:17; see also John 17:25). Some think that the Psalmist refers to the plough-­cords. The enemies would continue their ploughing; but God suddenly cuts the cords, and looses the cattle, and the plough stands still. Psalms 129:5. Let them be confounded!-The imperatives here may be read as predictions: "They shall be." Psalms 129:6. As the grass upon the housetops.-The metaphor of "grass" is harrowed from Isaiah 37:27. There is but little soil on the flat roofs of oriental houses; and grass, which may have taken root there, having no depth of earth, is soon scorched. All the greatness of the world’s empires is as grass (Isaiah 40:6-7). Psalms 129:8. The blessing of the Lord be upon you!-We have here the customary salutation with which passers-by greeted the reapers. But such a benediction would never bespoken over the withered grass of the house-tops: so the wicked shall pass away with no silvery, note of love or blessing sounding over their decease. Psalms 130:1-8 "OUT OF THE DEPTHS" A choice Psalm! There are times in our experience when nothing suits us as these words. When like Jonah we are cast unto the deep, and all God’s billows and waves are passing over us; when like Peter we lose our foothold, and begin to sink-then, indeed, we may cry: "De profundis clamavi." The name of "Lord" (either as "Jehovah," "Jah," or "Adonai") occurs as many times as there are verses. The soul, when in trouble, loves to repeat to itself again and again that precious name in which all help and comfort are enshrined. Psalms 130:1. Out of the depths have I cried.-Great soul-trouble and sor­row are often compared to deep and tumultuous waters (Psalms 42:7; Psalms 88:7). There are times when no imagery so well sets forth our experiences as this: "All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me." But there is no depth so profound that the soul cannot cry therefrom. If you cannot pray, cry. Psalms 130:2. Lord, hear my voice!-Can a mother so forget her child as not to hear its moan in pain? She may; but God cannot so forget his own (Isaiah 49:15). Psalms 130:3. 0 Lord, who shall stand?-If God should simply notice our sins, and not our tears or faith- or, above all, the atonement of Calvary-we should be without hope. Psalms 130:4. There is forgiveness with Thee.-Forgiveness does not lead to lax living, but to a godly fear. The forgiven soul dreads to grieve the Forgiver. Mercy is antiseptic to depravity. Psalms 130:5-6. I wait for the Lord.-We are too apt to wait for circum­stances, people, things; and to meet with disappointment, because they are apart from Himself. But those who wait for the Lord cannot be ashamed. There may be no Theophany; but, as they wait, a new strength and comfort steal into their hearts. Oh to have the eagerness of the watcher for the dawn, as we wait for God! And should not we all cherish this expectancy for the breaking of that eternal morning, when the day shall dawn on which night never falls? Psalms 130:7. With the Lord ... plenteous redemption.-In God there is something more than forgiveness-there is deliverance. He does not remember ours sins; or He redeems us from their tyranny and con­sequences. He does this plenteously, "with good measure, pressed down, and running over"; overtopping with a deluge of goodness the loftiest Himalayas of our sins. Psalms 130:8. He shall redeem Israel.-HE SHALL! It is certain as his existence, as inevitable as his own glorious nature. If He has made, He can and will redeem. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 70: 04.15. CHAPTER 15 ======================================================================== Psalms 131:1-3 "AS A WEANED CHILD." This Psalm is ascribed to David; and it bears in its small com­pass distinct traces of its origin. But it was evidently constructed before the dark clouds which overcast the close of his reign had gathered. It must have been composed during that "morning with­out clouds," in which he ascended the throne of a united people. It is a cry for the child-heart; and it becomes us to offer it "in all times of our wealth," when pride and self-will lie in wait against us (see 2 Chronicles 32:25) . Psalms 131:1. My heart is not haughty.-The home and seat of pride are in the heart; but how often it betrays itself in the eyes! (Psalms 18:27; Proverbs 6:17, R.V.). Exercise may be rendered, to walk to and fro. Though David had a promise of universal dominion, yet he took no step to secure it for himself. He resisted every temptation to snatch for himself that which was nevertheless divinely assured. There are many things which are great and high, both in revela­tion and in daily providence: we are not forbidden to use our reason; but after our best attempts, we must feel that God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours. He could not be God, were it not so. Our true attitude then is one of childlike, loving trust, waiting to be taught and led. And to such a spirit, God’s Spirit of revelation will draw near, making clear mysteries which had baffled reason, and left human genius faint and weary in its quest (Isaiah 40:30-31; Matthew 11:25) . Psalms 131:2. My soul is even as a weaned child.-The weaned child is no longer filled with tumultuous passion and frenzy for its mother’s breast: it is content to do without its wonted sustenance, because is has been led to another source of supply. So when God turns us from some long-cherished comfort, let us be sure that it is not to starve us, but to give us something more suited to the maturing conditions of our life. And let us not be cross and im­patient, but rather let us quiet ourselves; and, if that seem im­possible, beseech that his Spirit may instil his quiet (1 Peter 3:4). Psalms 131:3. 0 Israel, hope in the Lord! (R.V.).-The cure for inquietude is to he found in a hope which begins as a struggling ray, but expands into the "for ever" of eternity. Psalms 132:1-18 LORD, REMEMBER DAVID! This Psalm is evidently intended as a dedication song, composed for the completed temple. The earlier verses tell of David’s purpose (Psalms 132:1-7); then follows an earnest prayer (Psalms 132:8-10); and at the conclusion we have the Divine response (Psalms 132:11-18). Psalms 132:1. Lord, remember David.-When any design approaches com­pletion, we should not forget those who were concerned in its first conception, or gathered the materials. God never forgets them; and we should not (1 Corinthians 3:8). The names of the Apostles are not omitted from the stones (Revelation 21:14). Psalms 132:2. How he sware unto the Lord.-David’s anxiety is recorded in 2 Samuel 7:1-2. Psalms 132:3. Surely I will not come into my house.-We ought always to put the interests of God’s house before our own. That was a grand character that Naomi gave of Boaz (Ruth 3:18). Psalms 132:5.A Tabernacle for the Mighty One of Jacob (R.V.)-How won­derful that God is known as the Mighty One of Jacob! But surely no man stood in greater need of a mighty God than Jacob. Psalms 132:6. Ephratah perhaps stands for Ephraim, and refers to the residence of the Ark in Shiloh. The fields of the wood is Kirjath­jearim, where in darkness and solitude the Ark was deposited after its return from the land of the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:1; 2 Samuel 6:3-4). Psalms 132:8-9. Arise, 0 Lord, into thy rest!-These verses are taken al­most literally from Solomon’s dedication prayer (2 Chronicles 6:41; see also Numbers 10:35). The Ark was an image and pledge of God’s presence with his people. The staves of the Ark were drawn out when it was deposited in the most Holy Place, to indicate that its journeyings were complete (2 Chronicles 5:9). Oh, weary, tired builders, think of the strength of the true Ark of the Covenant, which is Jesus Christ! In Jesus, ascended and glorified, God rests. Psalms 132:9. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness.-Every believer is a priest, and should wear this robe of righteousness (Revelation 3:4-5, Revelation 3:18; Ecclesiastes 9:8). Every saint is more than a conqueror, and should shout for joy (Romans 8:37; Php 4:4). Psalms 132:10. For thy servant David’s sake.-This reminds us of 1 Kings 8:25. God’s anointed king asks that he may be remembered, as the far-off interest of David’s prayers and tears. Psalms 132:13-14. This is My rest.-These verses are the Divine answer to the petition of Psalms 132:8. Psalms 132:16. Her saints shall shout.-The answer to Psalms 132:9. Psalms 132:17. I will make the horn of David to bud.-This is the vindi­cation of the promise quoted in Psalms 132:11. God never forgot his pristine promise to David. He speaks of it centuries afterwards (Isaiah 55:3). Its partial realization was in the maintenance of a line of kings on the throne of Judah (1 Kings 11:36). But its full accomplishment is in our Lord, that lamp of God’s grace shining in a dark world (John 8:12; see also Ezekiel 29:21). Psalms 133:1-3 "AS THE DEW OF HERMON!" This Psalm celebrates the love of God’s people. The word "Behold," with which it opens, indicates, possibly, that some lovely manifestation of such unity was taking place under the Psalmist’s eyes: perhaps in connection with a great religious festival. It was probably written by David to celebrate the glad reunion of the nation after its long disunion during the times of the Judges and the opening years of his own reign. This Psalm is a fitting anticipation of our Lord’s intercessory prayer (John 17:1-26). Psalms 133:1. How good and how pleasant!-Brethren of Christ must be brothers of each other (Mark 3:35). It is not enough, however, to be one: we should take all opportunities of manifesting our unity to the world-dwell together. Unity does not mean uniformity; but oneness of heart, and feeling, and aim (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Psalms 133:2. Like the precious ointment.-This oil was specially compounded (Exodus 30:22-25). "Precious," not only because of its in­trinsic nature, but more because of its typical character as sym­bolizing the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20, 1 John 2:27). With that blessed chrism our Lord was anointed at his Baptism (Luke 3:21-22; Luke 4:18): and it was copiously shed forth after his Ascension (Acts 2:33). Moreover, the results of that anointing have descended to ourselves, the weakest and furthest, who are but as the skirts of his robes (Psalms 133:2). Believer, be sure and avail yourself of the copiousness and wealth of our High Priest’s enduement! (John 3:34). Psalms 133:3. As the dew of Hermon.-The dew which fell on Mount Her­mon is cited as being more lovely and holy than common dew. It is therefore employed as a further metaphor of the anointing oil, which had been referred to. And the Psalmist says that the love which was represented by the oil-which, in turn, was sym­bolized by the dews of Hermon-fell on Mount Zion as the dew on parched herbage, wherever the Lord’s people met there in the exhibition of brotherly love. Love in the Spirit is the dew of this world of men; a symbol and channel of the eternal love and blessing of God. Psalms 134:1-3 "LIFT UP YOUR HANDS!" This is the last of the pilgrim-psalms. It is supposed to be addressed to the priests of the sanctuary-who were prepared to offer the evening sacrifice-by some pilgrim-bands which had just arrived from their distant journey, and had presented them­selves in the temple. We gather from 1 Chronicles 9:33 that the temple was provided with a night-watch of choristers, who kept up the worship of God through the silent hours. And surely God has still such a relay of servants, who come on duty and serve Him through the long dark hours of night. The sufferer from whose eyes sleep has departed; the watcher by the sick bed; the nurse-all these maintain God’s blessed worship, when many of his active workers are recruiting from their toils. Psalms 134:1. Behold!-Evidently the matter is pressing, and arises from the immediate circumstances of the moment. How eager are pious souls that God should be loved and adored! Night is no reason for hushing praise. God’s song-birds will sing even in curtained cages. It is in the dark that the nightingale fills the woods with torrents of liquid music. Psalms 134:2. Lift up your hands!-The lifted hand is the gesture of prayer (Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4). It is not unimportant to study the appropriate expression of prayer, as well as its matter. Psalms 134:3. The Lord bless thee out of Zion!-This is the answer of the priests, as they meet the assembled pilgrims, and return their salutations. We can never send up to God our adoration, but that it comes back to us again; as moisture drawn by sunshine from the earth returns to it again in showers. Psalms 135:1-21 "PRAISE YE THE LORD!" This is a call for praise, beginning with the priests, who stand in the Lord’s house (Psalms 135:1-4). God’s glory in nature (Psalms 135:5-7); in his dealings with Israel (Psalms 135:8-14); and in contrast with idols (Psalms 135:15--21) ­is adduced as a theme for praise. It seems rather like a mosaic, as the description of the singers invoked is taken from the previous Psalm; the account of the exodus from the next Psalm; and the description of idols from Psalms 115:1-18. Psalms 135:1. Praise ye the Lord!-The first word announces the object of the Psalm-PRAISE. Psalms 135:3. Sing praises . . . for it is pleasant.-One rendering of the words, "it is pleasant," is "He is lovely." When the heart is full of the love of Jesus, it seems as if the universe were too small to be an orchestra for his praise. Psalms 135:4. The Lord hath chosen Jacob.-God’s eternal choice is, in­deed, a fit theme for praise! and we who have been thus called into the inner circle, that we might bring others there, may well join in the doxology of the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 1:3-6) . Psalms 135:5. I know that the Lord is great.-The soul has convincing proofs of God’s glory, which it treasures. Psalms 135:6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased.-To its farthest limits, the whole earth is under his mighty working. He draws the veils of vapor over the hills, and shadows over life. Psalms 135:10-13. Who smote great nations.-God’s deliverance of his people from their foes-and his gifts-are as much subjects for our praise as for Israel’s; because we have all had our Sihon or Og, barring our pathway to blessedness-some unwelcome intruder on our peace. Psalms 135:14. The Lord will judge ... He will repent.-A literal quotation of Deuteronomy 32:36. God is said to "repent," when his people turn to Him. The wind may be blowing strongly in one direction across a plain; but it seems to change, when we, who had been walking against it, turn and go with it. Psalms 135:19-20. Bless the Lord!-In Psalms 115:1-18 the word was TRUST; here it is BLESS. But this is the regular graduation of the Christian life. Trusting ever leads to blessing. Psalms 135:21. Out of Zion.-Zion is the place where the believer dwells with God, and may represent the whole Church, or any place, how­ever simple, where two or three meet in his name. Psalms 136:1-26 "HIS MERCY ... FOREVER:’ A magnificent antiphonal Psalm, to be sung by two choirs; or by the temple choir and the people alternately; the response rolling in after every stanza. It seems like an interleaved Bible, and teaches us to interleave all things with the thought of the mercy of God. There are evident traces of its having proceeded from the same hand as the previous Psalm; the aim being to incite the hope and trust of the people of God, by enumerating His glor­ious acts. Psalms 136:1-3. The God of gods.-These verses rest on Deuteronomy 10:17. Is there not a trace of the Trinity in this threefold ascription? Psalms 136:4. Alone, i.e., without human help (Isaiah 40:12-17; Isaiah 63:3). Psalms 136:6. The earth above the waters.-The emergence of the earth from the waters was a favorite thought with the Psalmists Psalms 14:2; Psalms 33:7; Psalms 104:6-9. Psalms 136:7-9. To Him that made great lights.-Genesis 1:14-18 set to music. Psalms 136:10-22. A strong hand, ... a stretched out arm-The Exodus and the Wilderness Wanderings recounted in a psalm of thanksgiving. Psalms 136:15. Overthrew may be rendered "shook off," as St. Paul did the viper. Psalms 136:19-20. Sihon and Og.-Flies preserved in amber! Our greatest difficulties and opponents will one day only be remembered for the love and mercy which they called into manifestation. Psalms 136:23. Who remembered us.-Men forget us in our "low estate"; but that is the time when God seems to remember us most. Psalms 136:25. Who giveth food.-The provision made for animals, and birds, and all living things, is a proof of the mercy of God. Will He do less for his children? Psalms 136:26. His mercy ... forever.-What an unspeakable comfort it is to rest on God’s mercy, which is unaffected by our failures and sins, and changes not with our fluctuations! Like Himself, his mercy is immutably the same. Psalms 137:1-9 "BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON!" One of the most touching of the Psalms. It reminds us of the emotions excited in an army on a distant march by hearing the strains of a home song. It was evidently composed by a returned exile. But it is also clear that the destruction of Babylon herself was imminent (Psalms 137:8). We are thus led to the conquest of Babylon by Darius (Daniel 5:31), whereby its entire destruction, as foretold in prophecy, was brought within a measureable range. The Psalm falls into three stropes, each consisting of three verses. Psalms 137:1. By the rivers of Babylon.-The streams of Babylon had probably a special fascination for the exiles. First, because they were removed from the busy rush of the city, and thus afforded opportunity for reflection; and secondly, because they were an image and symbol of their floods of tears (Lamentations 2:18; Lamentations 3:48). Daniel loved and sought them (Daniel 8:2; Daniel 10:4). Psalms 137:2. Our harps upon the willows.-This touching metaphor has passed into all languages as an expression of extreme grief. Of what use is the harp when the heart is nigh to breaking? Psalms 137:3. They required of us a song.-This demand may have origi­nated from the far- famed power of Hebrew Psalmody. Across the desert the news had come of the sweetness of the temple min­strelsy; or, it may be that their captors were anxious that the Israelites should reconcile themselves to their lot, and feel at home in their banishment. But in any case the treatment by those captors had made compliance with their demand impossible. Psalms 137:4. How shall we sing ... in a strange land?-"The Lord’s song" is only possible in the Lord’s house, where his presence is manifested and felt. To be separated from Zion was to be separated from God; and to lose God was to lose all. When we have lost the sense of God’s presence, having been led captive by our sins, we too are sure to lose our joy, and peace, and blessed­ness. The land of the stranger and the song of the Lord can never be found together. Psalms 137:5-6. If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem.-The imprecation here made is on the hand and tongue; on the one if it should be misemployed in playing, and on the other in singing. Would that we were con­stantly able to apply these words to our Lord Jesus! Why do we remember all things and people beside, and forget Him? Surely we court failure in every other direction, so long as we do not make Him the crown and head of our chief joy. Psalms 137:7. The children of Edom.-Edom took malicious pleasure in the destruction of Jerusalem; and the punishment of Edom is often referred to (Jeremiah 49:7-22; Lamentations 4:21-22; Ezekiel 25:12-14). Psalms 137:8-9. 0 daughter of Babylon!-Calvin says that the Psalmist acts here as the Divine herald of coming judgment; but there seems a flavor of something more personal and vindictive in these ter­rible words. We can understand the spirit which breathes through them; but it is rather that of the Old Dispensation than of the New (Matthew 5:43-48). Psalms 138:1-8 "I WILL PRAISE THEE!" This is the first of a cycle of Davidic Psalms, and is founded on the promise of 2 Samuel 7:1-29. Here, as there, the promised blessing is dwelt upon with gladness. The idols, which could exhibit nothing to compare with it, retreat ashamed (Psalms 138:1); the Lord has done more to glorify Himself by it than by all his previous wonders (Psalms 138:2); all kings will one day praise the Lord on account of it (Psalms 138:4); and it is the beginning of a chain of blessings that can never end (Psalms 138:8). Psalms 138:1. Before the gods may, however, refer to angels (Psalms 8:5; Hebrews 2:7); or to princes (Psalms 82:6; John 10:34-36); or to idols (Psalms 97:7). Psalms 138:2. Toward thy holy temple.-This reminds us of Jonah (Jonah 2:4), and of Daniel (Daniel 6:10). The temple, as being the seat of religious worship and of sacrifice, is symbolic of that propitiation through which alone sinners may approach God. God’s promise, prompted by love, and founded on truth, was a fuller manifestation of God’s character than any previous revelation. Psalms 138:3. Thou answeredst me.-Our God does not always answer our prayers as we request; but He does for us, as for our Lord in the Garden-He strengthens us (Luke 22:43). Let us not forget that He is "the strength of our heart." Psalms 138:4. All the kings of the earth.-It is pleasant to think how many of the great of this world have been included in the ranks of the servants of God; and more shall be (Psalms 68:29; Psalms 102:15). And it may be that not a few of them shall be found to have been in­fluenced in their choice by the sweet words of David the king. Each man can best influence the men of his own class. . Psalms 138:5. They shall sing of the ways of the Lord (R.V.).-So great is the glory of our God, that the noblest of this world may count it an honor to carry his train. Psalms 138:6. To have respect unto is to "regard." God eyes with loving regard those who are true to Him; but He is repelled from those whose hearts are proud, so as to look on them only from a dis­tance (2 Chronicles 16:9). Psalms 138:7. Thou wilt revive me.-The revival of the soul is the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. How blessedly and unexpectedly these revivings steal into our hearts; and so often, when heavy trouble lies on us from without. Psalms 138:8. The Lord will perfect.-There are no unfinished pictures on the walls of God’s studio; no incomplete statues in his halls of sculpture. When He begins, He pledges Himself to complete. His mercy endures forever; so we cannot tire it or wear it out. But our assurance ought always to take on the language of pleading, that He would not forsake. Psalms 139:1-24 "THOU HAST SEARCHED ME!" It is rather interesting to notice the position of this sublime ode on the omniscience and omnipresence of God. In earlier Psalms David has again and again reminded us of the love and mercy of God, which "endure forever": and here he bids us take heed that we do not make that love an excuse for sin, because his eyes are as a flame of fire. There is the same combination, though in the reverse order, in Hebrews 4:12-16. Observe: the fact of God’s omniscience (Psalms 139:1-12); its ground on his creatorship of man (Psalms 139:13-18); its consolatory aspect, that as God knows the innocence of his people, so He will not condemn them with the wicked, but lead them in his everlasting way (Psalms 139:19-24). Psalms 139:1. 0 Lord, Thou hast ... known me.-What ineffable comfort there is in the thought that our hearts closed to all else, are open to Him! Because, as He can detect the secret source of our disease, He can cure it; and, as He can read our secret sorrow, He can apply the healing balm. "He knows all; but loves us better than He knows." Psalms 139:2. Downsitting is our time of quiet rest; uprising, the going forth to work. Afar off perhaps means that God anticipates our thoughts and purposes before they are matured in our mind. Psalms 139:3. Thou winnowest (marg.); as if God were ever applying the fan of his judgment to our active life, and to the thoughts which chase each other across our mind in sleep. Psalms 139:5. Thou hast beset me.-The All-knowing is also the AIl-pre­sent. We are God-encompassed; God-environed. Behind, that none may attack in the rear. Before, that He may search out the way and met our foes. Laid thine hand; as if a child were to put one hand over the hollow of another to keep some frail insect from its pursuer (John 10:28-29). Psalms 139:6. Too wonderful!-We must worship, where we fail to comprehend. Psalms 139:7-8. Whither shall I go?-It used to be said that the entire world was but one vast prison-house for the Roman Emperors, so complete was their power. And what hope can the sinner have of escaping God? (Amos 9:2). Psalms 139:9-12. The wings of the morning.-Neither change of hemispheres nor distance, nor darkness, can at all alter the soul’s proximity to its ever-present God. What bliss this is to those who know Him as Father and Friend! Psalms 139:13. Possessed is "formed" (R.V., marg.).-The reins are the seat of the desires and feelings. How much transpires in that secret workshop! Nothing can be concealed from our Maker. Psalms 139:15-16. Not hid from Thee.-We may refer these words to the mystical body of Christ, which even now is being secretly pre­pared and composed of many who are as the lowest dust of the earth. And God’s book contains, through his foreknowledge, the names of those who are to be incorporated in that mystical body (Romans 8:29; Revelation 17:8). Psalms 139:17-18. How precious are thy thoughts unto me!-The Psalmist is so occupied with the thoughts of God, which teem in his mind, that he pursues his meditations sleeping as well as waking. And as he starts from slumber, his first bright waking consciousness is that God is by his side. Psalms 139:19-22. Am not I grieved?-When we are startled at these strong expressions of David, we may well ask ourselves whether, in our tender pity for sinners, we may not be losing something of his stern consciousness of the evil of sin, and the guilt of the wicked. Psalms 139:23-24. Search me, 0 God!-This prayer is a worthy ter­mination of the Psalm. Lead me is the one incessant cry of the devout soul. "Lead, kindly Light!" We long to get forward on that way which is everlasting, because founded on the per­manent principles of Truth, Righteousness, Light, and Love. The way planned from eternity by the Eternal, and leading to the eternal home. Psalms 140:1-13 "THOU ART MY GOD!" The tone of this Psalm corresponds with the inscription, and attests its Davidic origin. It perhaps dates from those early troubled days at court, when his steps were taken with difficulty, because of the gins and snares that lined his pathway. The Psalm consists of five verses as the beginning, and five as the conclusion; and in the middle occurs a strophe of three verses, the heart of the Psalm, distinguished by the fourfold use of the name Jehovah. Psalms 140:1. Deliver me from the evil man.-We pray "Deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13, R.V.). Psalms 140:2. Gathered together: as Psalms 56:6; and Psalms 59:3. Psalms 140:3. Adders’ poison under their lips.-Who can describe the mis­chief caused by a false and slanderous tongue? See also Psalms 58:4; Romans 3:13-14. Psalms 140:4. Keep me, 0 Lord!-A good prayer for all times (Psalms 17:8; Psalms 25:20). Psalms 140:5. A snare for me, and cords.-We have every reason to be afraid of Satan, who adds cunning to his malice; and who is not content with hidden assaults, but weaves insidious toils, which may take months to mature-in order to do us harm; and grieve our Master, Christ, wounding Him through us. Psalms 140:6. Thou art my God!-The first portion of the verse corresponds with Psalms 31:14. If He is ours, and we are his we may have con­fidence that He will "hear the voice of our supplications." Psalms 140:7. Thou hast covered; Thou dost cover; Thou wilt cover.-Such is the force of the tense used here (as in Psalms 5:11; Psalms 139:13). As we go down into the fight, let us never forget that helmet of salvation provided for us by the Lord Himself (Ephesians 6:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:8). What a contrast to the "head" of the wicked! (Psalms 140:9). Psalms 140:9. Mischief of their lips.-Slander is like a man starting an avalanche, which ultimately overwhelms and covers his own dwelling (Psalms 7:15-16). Psalms 140:10-11. Burning coals.-We have not so learned Christ (Romans 12:20); but we must endorse the Psalmist’s confidence that evil cannot ultimately prevail in God’s world: and that, however great may be the momentary triumph of the wicked, they are destined to utter and disastrous downfall. Psalms 140:12. The Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted (Psalms 9:12; Psalms 18:27; Zephaniah 3:19). Psalms 140:13. Shall give thanks.-Not only hereafter, but here and now, do those who love and serve God walk and live in the manifested light of God’s presence (Psalms 16:11; Ephesians 5:20). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 71: 04.16. CHAPTER 16 ======================================================================== Psalms 141:1-10 "LET MY PRAYER BE AS INCENSE!" Another of David’s Psalms. De Wette is led by the language to class it, with Psalms 10:1-18., as one of the oldest. Psalms 141:1. I cry! ... Make haste! ... Give ear!-The word Kara, to call, or to cry, continually occurs in the Scriptures (Psalms 17:6; Psalms 22:2). Psalms 3:4 shows the answer. Make haste! (Psalms 38:22; Psalms 40:13; Psalms 70:1). Give ear! (Psalms 17:1; Psalms 60:1; Psalms 86:6). Psalms 141:2. Let my prayer be as incense!-The smoke of the sweet­-smelling incense is often used in Scripture as a symbol of the prayer of believers, which is precious to God (Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3-4). The offering of incense morning and evening, under the Levitical dispensation, symbolized prayer (Exodus 30:7-8). Psalms 141:3-4. Set a watch before my mouth.-The Psalmist prays for preservation from the danger of lip sins, heart sins, and life sins. God’s sentry is God’s peace (Php 4:7). How wise to make God the doorkeeper of our mouth! (Proverbs 4:24). Psalms 141:4. Let me not eat of their dainties.-The child of God does not eat of the "dainties" of the wicked; and yet amid tribulation he seems to sit at a banqueting table, anointed as a guest with oil (Psalms 23:5). Psalms 141:5. Let the righteous smite me.-"The righteous" is referred by some commentators to God, who alone, in its full sense, deserves the appellation (2 Samuel 7:14-15). But it may also refer to that loving care which one believer may exercise over another, in rebuke and admonition. For, "which shall not break my head," the R.V. more correctly translates, "let not my head refuse it." The last clause should be rendered, as in the R.V., Even in their wickedness shall my prayer continue. That prayer rises, like a geyser, in winter’s frost as under summer skies. Psalms 141:6. When their judges.-When the enemies of the Lord are over­thrown, they will be the more prepared to listen to words which they had rejected before, but the intrinsic sweetness of which will then commend them to their hearts. Psalms 141:8. Mine eyes are unto Thee.-"Looking off unto Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2) is a good motto. And it is marvelous how the feet are kept from snares and pitfalls, when the eyes, instead of being fixed upon the ground, are lifted upwards to the Throne (Psalms 119:110). Psalms 141:9-10. That I withal escape.-Another petition that the Psalmist may be kept. Proverbs 3:26 gives an encouraging promise-"The Lord shall keep." Psalms 142:1-7 "WITH MY VOICE." One of David’s Cave-Psalms. Maschil means Instruction. Row much instruction individuals and the Church have gained from the strait dark caves in which, in every age, the saints have been immured! The prison and the persecutor oppress the soul of the sweet singer, who yet towards the close catches sight of a brighter and better time. Psalms 142:1. I cry with my voice.-In the R.V. each clause is rendered in the present tense. To use audible words is sometimes a great incentive to prayer, stirring up the spirit to more vehemency and concentration. Psalms 142:2. I poured out my complaint.-of course God knows all before we tell Him; but it is our duty-and a great relief-to unbosom ourselves to Him. We often miss the benefit of prayer, because we deal so much in generals, and do not enough dwell on the particulars of our need. Psalms 142:3. When my spirit was overwhelmed.-There are times when, however bravely we would bear ourselves, our spirit faints (R.V. marg.). What is here said of the "spirit" (rooakh) is oftener predicted of the "soul" (nephesh). (Psalms 42:6; Psalms 43:5); but the dejection and fainting of the spirit is a more sorrowful con­dition. Yet how consolatory that God knows our path! His eye is ever fixed on its perplexities. He sees its hidden pitfalls and snares. Psalms 142:4. Look on my right hand (R.V.).-It was the Jewish custom for the advocate as well as the accuser to stand on the right hand of the accused (Psalms 110:5; Psalms 16:8; Zechariah 3:1). Observe the contrast-no man knoweth; no man careth: Thou knewest my path (3). Refuge failed me; Thou art my refuge (Psalms 142:5). Psalms 142:5. I said, Thou my refuge ... my portion!-The loneliness and isolation of the soul from all human love often makes it turn the more urgently to God, who can be loved without satiety, and whose love is unchangeable, unselfish, and eternal. How often does God diminish and break off our portion in this life that we may be driven to seek it again in Himself! (Lamentations 3:24). Psalms 142:6. I am brought very low.-How well did these words befit the lips of our Lord when He descended into the dust of death for us. He was brought very low when he became obedient to the death of the cross. "Stronger than I," but not than Thou! His weakness is stronger than men (Psalms 105:24; Jeremiah 31:11; Luke 11:22; 1 Corinthians 1:25). Psalms 142:7. Bring my soul out of prison.-Is there not an allusion here to the history of Joseph? "Lead me out of distress," as Joseph from prison (see also Psalms 102:10, Psalms 102:13; Isaiah 42:7; Acts 12:7-9; Acts 16:39). The compassing of the righteous indicates their sympathy with the Psalmist when they press in to offer their congratulations as gar­lands and crowns. God’s mercy to him would be a source of joy to others, who would bind the story on their brows as a festal crown ("shall crown themselves," R.V., marg.). Psalms 143:1-12 HEAR MY PRAYER 0 LORD! The spirit and language of this Psalm are so in unison with the earlier Davidic Psalms as to confirm the genuineness of the superscription. It is the last of the penitential Psalms. The pause divides the Psalm exactly, and it may be viewed as consisting of four stanzas, each of three verses. Psalms 143:1. In thy faithfulness.-When we are in Christ, the sterner attributes of God are on our side. A dying woman said, "I rely on the justice of God"; adding, however, when the words excited sur­prise, "justice, not to me, but to my Substitute in whom I trust" (1 John 1:9). Psalms 143:2. In Thy sight shall no man be justified.-The holiest of men have least confidence in themselves (Job 9:3; Php 3:7-9). Bernard of Clairvaux said, "So far from being able to answer for my sins, I cannot answer even for my righteousness." There is a sense in which God will never "enter into judgment" with us, because the great white throne has nought to say to those who are in Christ Jesus. Being justified, who is he that condemneth? (Romans 5:1; 3:34). Psalms 143:3. As those that have been long dead.-The dead are soon for­gotten by the living; and David felt that long haunting of the caves and dens of the earth was like a living burial, which was bearing him from the homes and memories of his fellows. Psalms 143:4. Overwhelmed! ... Desolate!-Those who are capable of the gladdest heights of joy are also capable of the saddest depths of depression. David was permitted to touch each, that he might be able to give expression to all kinds of emotion-to every phase of feeling. So was it with our great High Priest, "tempted in all points like as we are." But how unutterable the sorrow of this fainting, desolate heart! Psalms 143:5. The days of old ... The work of Thy hands.-Memory­-Meditation-Musing. Psalms 143:6. I stretch forth my hands.-Stretch forth your hands; and you will certainly touch God. My soul thirsteth! This thirst is blessed (Psalms 42:1-2; Psalms 63:1; Isaiah 44:3). To have it is to be satisfied. There is no natural desire which has not its satisfaction; in the woods, birds do not hunger for food which is not to be had; and so the very existence of this thirst is a proof of the being and sufficiency of Him for whom it yearns, and in whom it is allayed. Psalms 143:7. Hear me speedily!-Prayer gets more earnest as it proceeds. Speedily does not imply impatience, but vehement yearning. We sometimes think our spirit is going to faint-when there is strength enough left in it to suffer still, and in suffering to attain the strength of steel. But God is very pitiful, and keeps his finger on our pulse while we pass through the operation (Isaiah 57:16). Psalms 143:8. Cause me to hear! ... cause me to know!-God’s "loving-­kindness" speaks continually in the ears of his people: but they may be deaf to it-hence the prayer, "Cause me to hear!" (Job 33:16; Job 36:10; Isaiah 50:5). It is well to hear it in the morning, before other thoughts enter to engross our attention. Our prayer will be fully answered when the morning of eternity breaks. When you are uncertain about your path, lift your soul into the presence of God, until He saturate it with his light and guidance. Psalms 143:9. I flee unto Thee!-Satan outwits himself when he drives us to our God (Psalms 27:5). Psalms 143:10. Teach me to do thy will.-It is more important to be taught to do than to know. The Good Spirit’s leadings must be good to follow (Nehemiah 9:20; Ephesians 5:9). The land of uprightness is, literally, the level tableland. Psalms 143:11. For thy Names’s sake!-God’s credit and glory are involved in the succor and deliverance of his saints. Psalms 143:12. I am thy servant.-God makes Himself responsible for the safety of his servants: therefore to be his servant is a better posi­tion than to be an Emperor or a Czar. Psalms 144:1-15 "LORD, WHAT IS MAN!" Dr. Alexander says, "the Davidic origin of this Psalm is as marked as that of any in the Psalter." It is partly compiled of passages taken from other Psalms, as Psalms 8:4, and 13:13-15. But the last verses (Psalms 144:9-15) are a valuable addition. This Psalm forms a point of transition between the Prayer Psalms and the Songs of Praise. The cloud of adversity is breaking; the beams of the sun are already struggling through. Psalms 144:1. The Lord ... teacheth my hands to war.-In all spiritual warfare we need to be taught. Our weapons are only mighty through God (2 Corinthians 10:4). Is there not an illustration of this in 2 Samuel 5:17-25? (See also 2 Samuel 22:25-26). Psalms 144:2. My Goodness, and my Fortress.-Each of these seven titles for God is a pathway which leads into his very heart. The all· subduing grace of God is indeed a theme for song. The Breaker is ever going before us (Micah 2:13). The Goliaths among men cannot stand before Him, or his weakest servant. Psalms 144:3. Lord, what is man!-Man would be insignificant indeed if he were mot the favored of Jehovah (see Job 7:17; Psalms 8:4; 2 Samuel 7:18-19). Psalms 144:4. As a shadow that passeth.-The shadows of the clouds darken miles of sea-and anon they are gone. So evanescent, and so im­palpable (Psalms 102:11; Psalms 109:23; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Ecclesiastes 8:13). Psalms 144:5. Bow Thy heavens, O Lord!-David calls to mind what is recorded (in the past tense) in Psalm 13:9; and here asks God to repeat former deliverances. Psalms 144:9. I will sing a new song!-New songs are demanded by new mercies. Let us give God freshly baken loaves for His table (1 Samuel 21:6). Psalms 144:10. Giveth! . . . delivereth!-Comp. Psalms 33:16. Psalms 144:11-12. Our sons as plants; our daughters as comer stones.­-In times of war the children are often the first to suffer from privation and hardship. So the king asks for deliverance, that the sons may grow up as vigorous plants, and that the daughters may be as the exquisitely polished corner-stones which con­nect the walls of a palace, or even as pillars. Nothing is more important than the nurture of a beautiful family life; and for this the deliverances of God on the behalf of its head are all-important. Let the daughters who read these words seek the polishing which comes of God’s cuttings. The Prayer-book and other versions substitute the word temple for palace. Psalms 144:13-14. That our garners may be full.-In this picture of national prosperity, consequent on devotion to the cause and ser­vice of God, we are taught to realize the immense blessing which follows godliness, even in this life (1 Timothy 4:8). Breaking in refers to the violence of the thief; going out to enforced emigra­tion, like that which took Elimelech and his family to Moab (Ruth 1:1-2). The Hebrew word rendered oxen (aluphim) may be translated captains or governors. Psalms 144:15. Happy the people whose God is the Lord!-True happiness is only to be found among the people of the Lord, and in the service of the blessed God. Psalms 145:1-21 "I WILL EXTOL THEE!" This Psalm is a song of thanksgiving and praise on the part of the house of David-and of the Church-after all their tribula­tions have come to a close. It is an acrostic Psalm, the verses beginning in the Hebrew with the successive letters of the alphabet. Somehow the couplet for the fourteenth letter, Nun, has dropped out of the text as it has come down to us. The Septua­gint, however, and other ancient versions (with one Hebrew manuscript), supply the omission thus:-"The Lord is faithful in his words, and holy in all his works." The place of this verse is between Psalms 145:13-14 in our English Bibles. The word all is throughout characteristic of this Praise-song. The Psalm was the Te Deum of the Old Testament, and was perhaps the germ of that great Christian hymn. The Jews were accus­tomed to say that he who could pray this Psalm from the heart three times daily was preparing himself best for the praise of the world to come. Gilfillan, writing of this and the following Psalms, says:­-"They are the Beulah of the Book, where the sun shineth night and day, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land. Coming at the close after all the mournful, plaintive, penitential, prayerful, varying notes, they unconsciously typify the joy and rest of glory." Psalms 145:1. I will extol Thee, my God, 0 King!-Praise will be the employment of eternity. There prayer, and faith, and hope, will not be possible; but we shall bless forever. Our days of praise shall ne’er be past, While life, and thought, and being last, And immortality endures. Psalms 145:2. Every day will I bless Thee!-Let us not wait for eternity, but begin to-day ; and let us practise on our harps every day, in­termitting none, but in dark days as well as in bright! There is always something left to bless God for; at least, there is always Himself. Said the poor old woman at her meagre meal, "All this, and Christ!" Psalms 145:3. His greatness unsearchable.-The sense is, "His greatness cannot be fathomed." Out of Christ, men can only find out about God; but they cannot find HIM out. Psalms 145:4. One generation ... to another!-The generations as they pass transmit, each to the next, the story of God’s love and power; and so the record can never die (Psalms 44:1; Psalms 78:3). Psalms 145:5. I will meditate of the glorious majesty of thine honor (R.V.). Psalms 145:6-7. Men shall speak! ... they shall utter!-What a tumult of voices! As if the time shall come when the hearts of men shall boil with holy love, and their voices rise in a mighty murmur of sound till they sing. Psalms 145:8. The Lord is gracious!-Founded on his own proclamation (Exodus 34:6-7). We set to our seal that God is true. Psalms 145:9. The Lord is good!-Even to the worst; even towards the most insignificant. Tender mercy is the blue canopy which arches over all. Psalms 145:10. All thy works shall praise Thee!-Creation praises God, but not with intelligence: hence the saints are called upon to interpret her, and to express in language what she would say but cannot. Psalms 145:13. Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all eternities, is a sound translation. It will survive the mightiest kingdoms of this world and "stand forever" (Daniel 2:44). Psalms 145:14. The Lord upholdeth all that fall.-What a contrast to the preceding majesty! (Psalms 145:5-7; Psalms 146:8). Psalms 145:16. Thou openest thine hand.-To supply the wants of creation He has but to open his hand. In God the largest appetite is satisfied. Psalms 145:17. The Lord is righteous.-In all his dealings with us may we have the faith to dare to say this! Psalms 145:18-19. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call.-What pathos! What exquisite comfort! How nigh He comes! Yet none but the devout soul hears his footfall. He will fulfil the desire. He first in­stils the desire, and then fulfils it. Psalms 145:21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord.-Holy praise is contagious; it spreads from lonely hearts to all flesh (Revelation 5:11-13). Psalms 146:1-10 "WHILE I LIVE WILL I PRAISE." In the Septuagint this Psalm is ascribed to Haggai and Zechar­iah; and, if they were not the actual authors, these Psalms were probably composed during their times. The term "Hallelujah" (Praise Jah!) is not characteristic of the Psalms which date from the times of David. Psalms 146:2. While I live will I praise the Lord.-Our being is to run parallel with God’s forever: but we shall never come to an end of his fulness; and so new discoveries will ever incite to new songs. Psalms 146:3. Put not your trust in princes.-This was quoted by the Earl of Strafford, on hearing that, in spite of his royal and solemn pledge, Charles I. had given assent to the Bill of Attainder. The son of man in this passage cannot refer to the Lord Jesus, for none would dare to apply to Him the succeeding words: "in whom is no help." The Hebrew is distinct: Confide ye not in a son of man (see Jeremiah 17:5; John 2:25). The Prayer-book version has: "nor in any child of man." Psalms 146:4. Thoughts-i.e., "purposes" (R.V. marg.).-At the moment of death the most definite projects of human life are at an end (Luke 12:16-20) . Psalms 146:5. The God of Jacob.-Jehovah is thus spoken of twenty-one times in the Old Testament, and six times in the New Testament. If God helped Jacob, He will help the least and meanest of us. The reasons for this happiness appear in the following enumeration. Psalms 146:6. Who made heaven, and earth, the sea, etc.-Nearly twenty times the creative work of God is thus referred to in the Bible. Even if we believe not yet He abideth faithful. Who keepeth truth. He is true to his promises and covenant-engagements. Psalms 146:7. Who executeth judgment for the oppressed.-We need not avenge ourselves; for God will vindicate us (Psalms 103:6; Romans 12:19; 1 Peter 2:23). Psalms 146:7-9. The Lord looseth the prisoners.-These verses are an epitome of the mission of the Comforter (Psalms 68:5-6; Psalms 107:10, Psalms 107:14; Isaiah 35:5; Isaiah 61:3). Psalms 146:8. The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind.-What a true portraiture is this of the ministry of Christ through the ages (Luke 4:18; see also John 9:1-33). Mark these present tenses! This is his unceasing work. Victor Immanuel-Emancipator! Psalms 146:9. The Lord preserveth: He relieveth.-There are traces of this in all the old Hebrew legislation (Deuteronomy 10:18; Deuteronomy 14:28-29; Deuteronomy 26:12-13; Psalms 68:5). To turn upside down is to defeat the designs of the wicked. Psalms 146:10. The Lord shall reign for ever.-The eternity of the reign of God is contrasted with the brevity of man’s (Psalms 146:3-4); and is a perpetual theme for praise, because it carries with it the blessed­ness of all souls and all worlds. Psalms 147:1-20 "IT IS GOOD TO SING PRAISES!" It is supposed that this Psalm dates from the re-establishment of Jerusalem (Psalms 147:2), and the re-building of its walls (Psalms 147:13). It might have been composed for the occasion mentioned in Nehemiah 12:27. Psalms 147:1. Praise ye the Lord! Heb. "Hallelujah!" Praise ye Jah!.-­The first verse is compiled from three other Psalms- Psalms 92:1; Psalms 135:3; Psalms 33:1. The R.V. (marg.) suggests a beautiful alternative reading: "For He is good; sing praises unto our God, for His is gracious." Psalms 147:2. The Lord doth build.-Though Nehemiah and his companions wrought, yet they realized that the Lord was the true builder (Zechariah 6:12; Matthew 16:18). Psalms 147:3-4. He healeth the broken in heart.-Another of these mar­vellous contrasts. God of all the stars; yet healer of broken hearts, needing such gentle touches (Psalms 51:17; Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 66:2). The Creator and Monarch is also Father. One "broken heart" is of more value than the stars. Bigness is not greatness. Psalms 147:6. The Lord lifteth up the meek.-What reversals are here! Hannah and Mary, and a host of saints have celebrated them in song (1 Samuel 2:7-8; Luke 1:48, Luke 1:51-53). And in our Lord there is the most notable example of all (Acts 5:30-31). Psalms 147:8. Who covereth the heaven with clouds.-To the devout heart there are no second causes; God is all, and in all (Psalms 104:13-14). Psalms 147:9. He giveth to the beast his food.-"Shall God give a ton of herrings to a whale for breakfast, and will He not care for me and my children?" Psalms 147:10. He delighteth not in the strength of a horse.-These clauses represent the cavalry and infantry, on which nations are ac­customed to rely. God’s deliverances are not given to these, but to those who trust Him utterly. Psalms 147:14. He maketh peace.-Here is the hope of distracted com­munities. God is the great Peacemaker (Job 34:29; Proverbs 16:7). Psalms 147:15. He speaks, ... His word runneth.-"He spake, and it was done" (Psalms 33:9). Psalms 147:16-17. He giveth snow.-The snow is like wool, not only be­cause it is white, but because it acts as a blanket; and, being a non-conductor, conserves the latent heat of the soil. The hoar frost resembles the fine grey ash of wood burned in the open air. Who can stand before his cold? Think of the retreat from Moscow! Psalms 147:18. He ... melteth them.-"So it was on the day of Pentecost. The winter of spiritual captivity was thawed and dissolved by the soft breath of the Holy Ghost." And such gracious spring-tides come to us all by the direct and sovereign grace of God (Song of Solomon 2:11-12). Psalms 147:19-20. He showeth his words.-We may plead for this-that He would manifest Himself and his Divine truth to us as He does not unto the world (John 14:22-23). Psalms 148:1-14 "PRAISE HIM, ALL HIS ANGELS!" The universe is summoned to praise God. When Mr. Janeway was dying, he said: "Come, help me with praises!-yet all is too little. Come, help me, all ye mighty and glorious angels, who are so well skilled in the heavenly work of praise! Praise Him, all ye creatures upon earth! Let everything that hath being help me to praise God! Praise is now my work; and I shall be engaged in this sweet employ now and forever." Similarly in our loftiest hours we turn to these Psalms, and find that their expressions befit the tumultuous rush of our emotions. Psalms 148:1. Praise ye the Lord!-Gloria in excelsis! Psalms 148:2. Praise Him, all his angels! (Psalms 103:20-21).-Not angels only, but all other created intelligences are to sound out Jehovah’s praise. Psalms 148:3. Praise Him, sun and moon!-Here is the fabled music of the spheres. Psalms 148:4. Praise Him, ye heavens! and ye waters!-The very clouds, dark and sombre, or steeped in glory, praise Him. And all the immensities of space are vocal; so that, storey upon storey, the whole is one temple of unceasing adoration. Psalms 148:6. He hath stablished!-Two things are here: the permanence and the order of creation, which shall not be impaired, though the Lord shall make new heavens and new earth, any more than man loses his identity when passing through the dust of death. What a marvellous miracle is continually in process around us the renewal and maintenance of creation! And remember that all is directly due to our blessed Lord, to whom these praises are ascribed (Colossians 1:15-19). Psalms 148:7. Dragons, i.e., sea-monsters (R. V. marg.). Psalms 148:8. Fire, and hail!-The tempests which sweep our lives have, all of them, music in their hearts. There is a chord in the rush of every storm. Let us praise God in unison! All stormy winds only fulfil His command. Psalms 149:9. We speak of the silence of the hills. But they too have a voice; and every tree claps its hands, or sings in its myriad leaves (Psalms 95:4; Isaiah 55:12). Psalms 148:10. Beasts, and all cattle.-The lowing of the cattle; the song of the birds; the hum of the insects-all are indispensable notes in the great hallelujah chorus. Psalms 148:11. Kings and all peoples (see Psalms 72:11; Proverbs 8:15-16). Psalms 148:12-13. Young men and maidens; old men and children.­-"The Psalms are Church songs, and all who from her congregations should join in them." Psalms 148:14. "A people near unto Him."-"Far off ... made nigh" (Ephesians 2:13). Psalms 149:1-9 SING A NEW SONG! This Psalm, like the rest of these closing songs of Hallelujah, belongs to the days of Nehemiah and Ezra, when the long-restrained joy of the restored people broke into vigorous mani­festation (Ezra 6:22). The praises of the "King" are, throughout, the theme and substance. Psalms 149:1. In the congregation.-We must not sing lonely songs. For this, if for no other purpose, we should frequent the meetings of God’s people, to share the enkindlings of common worship. Psalms 149:2. Let Israel rejoice! ... let Zion be joyful!-Our first creation and our second; our making and re-making; our natural and our supernatural life, with all that belongs to them of provision and nourishment-suggest themes of constant praise. Psalms 149:3. Praise his name!-The Kingship of Jesus is a matter not of terror, but of great and abounding joy. We never learn the secret of true gladness till Jesus holds court in our hearts; then the joy-bells ring, whilst the sounds of rejoicing are heard (Psalms 118:15). Psalms 149:4. He will beautify the meek.-It is a solemn question with which to close each day, "Art thou pleased with me, 0 blessed Master!" And this is the one prayer for every morning, "May I walk to-day so as to please God!" (John 8:29; Colossians 1:10; Hebrews 11:5). Psalms 149:5. Let the saints be joyful!-This may mean either that the saints already enjoy a foretaste of glory-or that they may be glad in anticipation of glory. But, though we devote our nights as well as our days to it, we shall never reach the limits of praise. The nights of the exiles’ grief are exchanged for nights of song (Job 35:10). Psalms 149:6. In their mouth ... in their hand.-Whilst we praise God with our lips, let us never lay aside the sword, but imitate the servants of the good Nehemiah (Nehemiah 4:17-18). Then the devil will be resisted, the flesh crucified, and the world vanquished, to the music of unceasing adoration (Ephesians 6:17). Psalms 149:7. To execute vengeance.-Not their vengeance, but God’s. But the Divine method of vengeance was also nobly illustrated in the sending of a Pentecost blessing on those who had been the mur­derers of the Lord (Acts 2:23-33). Psalms 149:8-9. To bind their kings.-The law was very stringent in its denunciation of such as refused to acknowledge God (Deuteronomy 7:2; Deuteronomy 32:41). And there is coming a time when He shall put down all rule, and authority, and power; for He must reign (1 Corinthians 15:24-25.) This Psalm may await the consummation described in Revelation 15:2-3. Then we will sing it, as Israel its song of deliverance on the shore of the Red Sea. Psalms 150:1-6 "PRAISE GOD IN HIS SANCTUARY!" The last Psalm is a tumultuous outburst of praise. The sea of adoration is swept by mighty tempests of feeling, which roll the billows forward to break in thunderous acclaim upon the shore. "The Psalms," says Dr. Chalmers, "have their final and most appropriate outgoing in praise-that highest of all the exercises of godliness." "As the life of the faithful," says Hengstenberg, "and the history of the Church, so also the Psalter, with all its cries from the depths, runs out in a Hallelujah." "There is nothing in the Psalter," says Dr. Alexander, "more majestic or more beautiful than this brief but most significant finale; as if in emblematical allusion to the triumph which awaits the Church and all its memo hers, when through much tribulation they shall enter into rest." "We have the place (Psalms 150:1); the theme (Psalms 150:2); the mode (Psalms 150:3-5); and the universality (Psalms 150:6) -of the praise to be presented to Jehovah. This Psalm is said by a Jewish tradition to have been sung by persons who came to present the first-fruits, while the Levites met them singing" (Psalms 30:1-12). Psalms 150:1. In his Sanctuary.-The sanctuary is the earthly temple; the firmament of his power the heavenly. Earth and heaven blend in common acts of praise. Every true act of worship on earth excites a response in yonder world-the home of praise. Psalms 150:2. Praise Him for his mighty acts.-For the enumeration of these, we should turn to such recitals as Psalms 105:1-45., Psalms 106:1-48, or to Colossians 1:15-21. Psalms 150:3. With trumpet, psaltery, and harp.-We are not concerned as to the nature of these instruments. But let us remember that each of our emotions and faculties may be a musical instrument in the best sense. Praise Him with the sound of your love! Praise Him with hope and faith! Praise Him with meekness and patience! Praise Him with courage and strength! Praise Him in Christian work! Praise Him when tied by pain and weariness to a sick-bed! Psalms 150:6. Let every thing . . . praise the Lord!-Pull out the mighty stops in nature’s organ! Let the bright Seraphim in burning row, Their loud uplifted angel-trumpets blow. Let the gnat make music with the vibrations of its wings! Let every creature which is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea (Revelation 5:12-13) be heard saying, "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Hallelujah! Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 72: 05.00. BLESSED ARE YE - TALKS ON THE BEATITUDES ======================================================================== "BLESSED ARE YE" TALKS ON THE BEATITUDES BY F. B. MEYER PREFACE IT was, so the Evangelist tells us, from the mountain slopes above Capernaum, that our Lord delivered the sermon, of which the Beatitudes form the noble and sublime introduction. Now, it is with mountains that we are wont to associate far-reaching views which stretch to the golden horizon, and the streams which descend, with musical roar, to water the plains. In these respects, how remarkable the resemblance between this Octave of Blessedness, and the mountain on which the Lord was sitting, when these gracious words proceeded from His mouth! For sublimity, for comprehensiveness, and for power of enriching the lowlands of human life, it is hard to find a parallel even in His words. It is impossible to exhaust them. The maturing experience of Christian manhood is as unable to explore all their wealth of meaning as the open-eyed wonder of the young disciple. And the simple purpose of this booklet is to show some of the pathways that conduct into the heart of these mountains of God. F. B. MEYER. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 73: 05.01. "BLESSED ARE YE" ======================================================================== I "BLESSED ARE YE" Matthew 5:10 THE EIGHT GATES INTO THE CITY OF BLESSEDNESS AFTER a year’s ministry in Judaea, the records of which are scanty, the Lord Jesus went down to inaugurate His public ministry in Galilee. Rejected, because of the Bethesda miracle, by the Scribes and Pharisees, He threw Himself on the masses of the people. Threatened with death, He took steps to make His kingdom permanent by gathering around Him His closest friends, and by selecting from them twelve to be with Him, and to go forth to preach the glad tidings of the Gospel of Peace. The night before the morning, which was to be thus signalized, was spent by Him in prayer. He assured Himself, during those lone dark hours, more fully of His Father’s purpose; received definitely at the Father’s hands those that had been His, but who were now to be transferred to Himself; asked with a new tenderness that they might be worthy of their high calling as the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem. Thus He girded Himself beneath the quiet stars for what awaited Him on the morrow. As the dawn broke He called unto Him whom He would. The band of the disciples furnished those who were now chosen apostles. From those who had been attracted to Him by His marvellous personality, as well as by the indication of the Baptist, He selected the twelve who were summoned to be foremost in peril and temptation, as they were to be nearest and closest in sympathy and friendship. Finally, with these beside Him, He descended the mountain slope to a little level place, where a vast crowd awaited Him, gathered from the whole surrounding country, and beseeching His miraculous healing for their sick. "And He healed them." Then the multitudes settled down to hear this marvellous discourse, the inauguration of His kingdom, the unfolding of His Galilean ministry. It was a great occasion. Below, the lake; above, the morning sky; around, the hills, on the flanks of which lay long lines of fleecy cloud; the air fragrant with the scent of flowers and new-mown grass, and thrilling with the expectation of the expectant throng. The newly-healed and their bearers, friends and critics, apostles and disciples, hanging on those lips that spake as never man spake. This was the Sinai of the New Dispensation. But how great the contrasts! Moses was a servant; here the Son. Moses spake amid the peal of thunder and the quivering of the earth; here it was a perfect spring morning, and the only sounds were those of nature, or the murmur of the towns below stealing around. Moses bore ten awful words, graven on granite tables; but these were gentle, tender words, written on fleshly tablets of the heart. Moses was storm-girt and terrible; but grace and truth came by this wondrous Man, whose words reach down to the weakest, humblest. Moses spake of the curse; but He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed. It was meet that the Master should open His public ministry with beatitudes.--It was thus He finished it. " It came to pass, while He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven." His last words bent back again to His first words, as in a bridal ring; and all were goldened with the radiance of eternity. And since He has been hidden from our gaze, unseen though loved, His voice from out the throne has spoken many a beatitude beside, recorded for us in the Book of Revelation. How ill do they understand our Master, who fear Him as hard and austere. He is inspired by motives of the purest benevolence; and if He use the knife it is only to cut away what conflicts with our purest bliss, and of which we would be eager to be relieved, if we knew, as certainly as He, what makes for our peace. "His every act pure blessing is, His path, unsullied light." Blessedness is the attitude of Deity.--Before Jesus came men were content, or happy, or mad with hilarious excitement, but not really blessed. This was a new word for them, or it was an old word, new minted. They knew nothing of this deep sweet secret of enjoying even in this world something of the very life of the Deity. No climber had as yet made his way to the lake that lay far up among the hills, mirroring Infinity and Eternity in its pellucid surface. Only He who had come down from heaven, and during His earthly ministry was in heaven, knew of its existence, or of the path that led to it. God is significantly called " the Blessed God." From all eternity, His vast and glorious nature has been as blessed as the vault of heaven seems full of ether. And Jesus came down from heaven to discover to us this fact, and to make us understand our privilege. Since we have been made in the likeness of God, we are capable, each one, of a similar blessedness. One spirit with the Lord, we are privileged to share the very blessedness that fills His heart. Not in quantity, but in quality; not in measure, but in essence, we may know what the blessedness of the blessed God is. It is for us now and here.--Not away in some distant world of bliss, where our circumstances shall be entirely favorable, and the mystery of sin and death ended, but in whatsoever situation we may be found at this present hour. Our real troubles are not in our circumstances, but in ourselves; and there have been thousands who, in precisely those straits which now cost us such anguish, have been deeply and infinitely blessed. If we had lived Paul’s life, in our present state of heart, we should have known nothing of his rapturous experiences; and if he could live in ours to-day, however tempest-tost and troubled, he would find in it the elements of such exceeding rapture, that whether in the body or out of it, he would not be able to tell. Jesus came to show that blessedness did not consist in our outward environment. Indeed, He distinctly taught that we might expect to suffer additional distresses for His and righteousness’ sake. But amidst all He was intent on teaching that, if we possessed certain moods and were animated by a certain temper, we might be truly blessed. He shows in these matchless words that blessedness is possible in the saddest lives, if only we will bear ourselves simply, bravely, truly, purely. Blessed are the poor in spirit .... Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10). This blessedness is for all--These waters run in the valley, accessible to the rootlets of the tiniest flower, and to the cup of the child. I used to think that God had put His best gifts on a high shelf for us to reach up to them. I now find that the best are on the lowest shelves, on the level of the nursery floor, that the babes may get them. There is a capacity for blessedness in each and all, just as there is a capacity for beauty, for love, for joy. The water of the well of Bethlehem was for David alone, but the water of the deep well of God’s bliss, which our mighty Saviour has won for us at awful cost, is for each poor outcast who comes, pitcher in hand, to take it freely. There is no respect of persons with God. He does not exclude any, He welcomes all. Whosoever thou art, thou art bidden to this feast; thou mayest eat angels’ food; thou mayest be blessed in thy poor measure, as the Eternal God is in His; thou mayest be ever with Him, and all that He has be thine. Sunshine and wild flowers are for village children equally as for the sons of peers; and the blessedness which thrills the holy ones within the vail, may shed its glow and fragrance on thy heart also. There are eight doors into the blessed life.-Like the gates of the New Jerusalem, they stand open day and night; and one, at least, faces each of us. We have but to walk out of ourselves and into that open doorway, and so into the blessed life. It is impossible to be a Christian and not within easy reach of one of these open doors, because if we cannot lay claim to purity, meekness, or mercifulness, we can at least class ourselves among those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, and long to be filled; or among those who, in their deep consciousness of poverty, count themselves to have no part or lot in the matter; or among those that mourn, because they cannot mourn enough, and beat their breasts because they cannot weep purer and more unselfish tears. Thou art not pure in heart: then that door into blessedness is blocked against thee; but thou art sore sorrowful that thou art not pure: then go into the kingdom through the door of mourning and contrition. Thou art not meek, thy proud spirit frets within thee, never prouder than when assuming the garb of humility, not to be outdone by others in pretensions to holiness; but thou art consumed by a hunger for righteousness, which refuses to be satisfied, then pass in through that door and be blessed. Eight is an octave; and is the number of resurrection.--Seven speaks of a completed work, as at the creation, but eight introduces a new week. It was on the eighth day that Jesus rose from the dead. Blessedness is possible only to those who have passed into the resurrection life, because to them only is opened the possibility of attaining to those properties of spirit which have been indicated. It is not enough to look to Jesus on the cross as our Substitute, we must be identified with Him as our Head, and realize that, through our union with Him, we have been transferred to " the heavenlies," where He lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Ghost. We must belong, by spiritual affinity, to the age of Pentecost. We must know the infilling and anointing of the Holy One. We must accept the death of Christ, as isolating us from the life of worldliness and fleshliness, and introducing us into the power and grace of the Divine Spirit. When this is fully realized, and Christ is formed within us by the operation of the Holy Ghost, we shall become conscious of the uprising within, like the slender snowdrops through the hard mould of winter, of those dispositions which are the keys and doors to blessedness. Blessedness has many aspects.--It contains the promise of victory and supremacy: "theirs is the kingdom." It breathes comfort over the troubled and perplexed: "they shall be comforted." It gives the earth as a heritage, so that all things become the property of the soul which is united with God. It satisfies and fills. It strews life’s pathway with the mercy of man as well as of God. It involves the faculty of vision. It stamps its possessor as a child of the Highest. It sheds the oil of joy on the head, and casts the mantle of praise over the spirit of heaviness. Such are the creeks, bays, and inlets of that inland sea. All these may be thine. As each of the conditions tends to induce all the rest, so does each of the rewards pass ultimately into the possession of the obedient and believing soul. Poverty of spirit leads to mourning, and this to meekness, and this to an inappeasable hunger, and this to mercifulness, and this to purity of heart, and this to peacemaking. Similarly, we begin and end with the kingdom of heaven--that is, our experience climbs upward as a spiral, and ends where it began, only in a fuller and richer experience. It is the same day, but there is a difference between the light of the meridian and of dawn. But between these two experiences of the kingdom lie comfort, possession, filling, mercy, vision, peace, and joy, and the one inevitably unfolds into another, as one hour into the next in the upward climbing of the sun. Christ reverses men’s most cherished notions.--But lately I stood beside a lake, in whose calm waters, as they lapped the shore, I saw the foliage of the brake, which fringed the margin, reflected. But everything was reversed. What was highest on the land was deepest in the water, what was lowest on the land was highest in the water. The tree-tops lay fathoms deep, the daisies and anemones were close at hand; and I saw that this was a parallel of what is happening around. What is much esteemed by man is reckoned little of in the estimate of eternity. The gold for which we strive, and on which we count, is employed to make the pavement of the New Jerusalem. Whilst the humility which washes disciples’ feet, the meekness which takes an insult quietly, are the royal and leading features of that heavenly world. The King rides on an ass, and an ass’s foal. Of the pride, and circumstance, and power, which men put first, Christ makes nought; of the meekness and humility, which men despise, Christ makes all. He lifts poverty out of the dunghill, and makes it sit among the princes of the heavenly realm; and Mordecai is exalted above Haman. Christ realized the characteristics and blessedness of which He spoke.--He was poor in spirit, and classed Himself among the babes: our King was meek and lowly of heart; He hungered after God, and spent the nights in endeavoring to appease His hunger; so merciful that publicans and sinners were attracted to Him; so pure that He always beheld the Father’s presence; ever making peace, and incessantly persecuted. Oh, lovely pattern of all Thou didst inculcate! All unconsciously Thou wast limning Thyself in these sentences. His, too, was this blessedness. Storms of evil-speaking and evil-doing might assail Him; but deep in His heart the life of God lay warm, as nature hides the secret of the coming year deep in her breast, whilst wintry storms sweep over the sky. Listen to Him; learn of Him; be like Him; receive Him into thine heart; let Him be revealed within thee, so shalt thou also be conformed to these qualities, and participate in this bliss. Most Blessed Christ! Those whom Thou dost bless, are blessed indeed; Lead me, I beseech thee, by Thy good Spirit, into the enjoyment of these blessings which Thou hast prepared for them that Love Thee, and which pass the mind of man to conceive. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 74: 05.02. THE KEY TO THE KINGDOM ======================================================================== II THE KEY TO THE KINGDOM Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."-- Matthew 5:3. HAD Salome and her sons remembered this beatitude, they would never have asked Christ to make them sit, one on His right, and the other on His left in His kingdom. They would have seen that it was not for Christ to give thrones by an act of His royal prerogative, but that places of power were conditioned by the preparation of heart in those who aspired to hold them. The throne is given to those for whom it is prepared; but they must previously have been prepared, and the preparation of heart involves the poverty in spirit from which the golden ladder of beatitudes climbs upward to blessedness. Earthly thrones are generally built with steps up to them; the remarkable thing about the thrones of the eternal kingdom is that the steps are all down to them. We must descend if we would reign, stoop if we would rise, gird ourselves to wash the feet of the disciples as a common slave in order to share the royalty of our Divine Master. WHAT IS THIS POVERTY OF SPIRIT? I. We must distinguish between poverty of spirit and mean-spiritedness.--None so poor in spirit as Jesus, yet, in all His bearing, with Pharisee, and Scribe, and Sanhedrin, there was an heroic bearing, a strength and intrepidity of spirit, a royalty of mien, which filled them with astonishment, and compelled the involuntary homage of his foes. " Behold a man!" said Pilate, as He came forth from the cruel scourging which was enough to take the manhood out of its victims, but in this case had left His majesty undiminished. " Perceive ye not," said the Pharisees among themselves, " how we prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after Him." And this trait has always characterized the followers of Christ. They have counted themselves poor, weak, the offscouring of all things, but they have never been deficient in those brave, strong, nobler qualities of the soul which have enabled them to stand unmoved amid the hatred of their fellows, as some gaunt rock amid the ceaseless buffeting of the waves. 2. We must distinguish between poverty of spirit and circumstances.--Many have turned away from what is fair and beautiful and right in nature, art, intellectual attainment, and the acquisition of property. They have said to themselves, Let us fling away the wealth and treasure of our life, so shall we be poor in spirit. But, surely, a man may strip himself of all his belonging; his heart atrophied for want of objects to love; his mind wasting for want of knowledge; his imagination starved for want of nourishment; his life shortened for want of the necessaries of physical existence, and yet he may be as far as possible from true poverty of spirit. Bethink Thee, Lord, while Thou and all the saints Enjoy themselves in heaven; and men on earth House in the shade of comfortable roofs, Sit with their wives by fires, eat wholesome food, And wear warm clothes, and even beasts have stalls, I, ’tween the spring and downfall of the light, Bow down one thousand and two hundred times To Christ, the Virgin Mother, and the saints; Or in the night, after a little sleep, I wake; the chill stars sparkle; I am wet With drenching dews, or stiff with crackling frost, I wear an undrest goat-skin on my back; A grazing iron collar grinds my neck; And in my weak, lean arms, I lift the cross." That is the boast of a man who has failed to discriminate between the voluntary poverty of circumstances and the humility of the spirit. All through such a life, the proud self asserts its vehemence, demanding recognition, and bringing, not the blood of the Lamb, but the firstfruits of its toil. You may bestow all your goods to feed the poor, and give your body to be burned, and yet not come within a thousand miles of true poverty of spirit; whilst, on the other hand, you may be rich in this world’s goods, your heart warm with human love, and your mind, " like storied windows richly dight," receiving the many-colored light of truth, and yet carry ever the poverty of spirit which is as much the habit and girdle of the soul as the horsehair tunic which some of the greatest of the popes have worn next their skin beneath the splendid pontifical attire. 3. We must also distinguish between poverty of spirit and self-depreciation,--There are people, most objectionable, as I think, who are always saying, I am nothing and nobody. They insist on taking the back seats, and declaring that they are not worth your notice. And yet you feel that they are as proud and desirous of the first places, as those who in the Lord’s parable took the best positions at the feast. Indeed, the pride that apes humility is more detestable than that which casts off all disguise. We sometimes act humbly because we are proud of a reputation of humility. We sit near the door that we may have the pleasure of being asked to the front. We assume a seraphic smile when most annoyed, because we are so eager to pass muster with the saints. Oh, for the humility which does not count itself humble! for the face which shines and we wist it not! for the simplicity of the little child that does not turn back with admiration on itself! For true poverty of spirit we must turn to our blessed Lord, who, though He was rich, yet, for our sakes, became poor. In His case the spring of his action was altogether outside His own lovely and glorious nature, and was found in His Father. He did not forego the use of marvellous power, or the flow of unrivalled language, or that wealth of a noble nature with which He was endowed by the very constitution of His being. But all was held subservient to the will of His Father. No ambition lured Him forward, no fear held Him back, no desire to win power apart from the paths marked out by the Father was allowed to divert Him from the chosen track of obedience. May we dare to say that Christ as man denied the exercise of His Divine attributes, that He might speak the words the Father gave. Him, do the works that the Father wrought through Him, and fulfil the plan of life which the Father unfolded step by step. In absolute poverty of spirit, He received from God the impulse, power, and grace of daily living. Poverty of spirit, therefore, is probably indicated by two characteristics. It has no pride of possession, and it is unconscious of ability to meet the demands made on it by the exigencies of its ministry. Poverty of spirit has no pride in its possessions. --At the beginning of the Christian life, we earnestly endeavor after the acquisition of certain virtues and graces. We have read of them, or seen them exemplified in others, until they have cast over us the spell of their fascination. We strive for them, and sometimes congratulate ourselves on their partial attainment. Surely, the soul says to itself, as it compares the present with the past, I am purer, humbler, gentler than I was! There is an arraying of the soul in treasures and jewels, as when the young girl takes from her drawer one ornament after another, which has been given by admirers and friends. Full often this self-complacency is shattered by some terrible fall, or by repeated failure, till we come to see that we have no more claim to possess goodness than a room to possess light. These things are not our own, but received from Jesus, and enjoyed only in proportion as we abide in Him, and He in us. I am not good, but Jesus is in me the source of goodness; I am not humble, but Jesus dwells within me, bringing every proud thought and imagination into captivity to Himself. I am not strong, but I receive Him who is made unto me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In absolute dependence upon the Saviour for the constant supply of His own nature through the Holy Ghost, we exemplify that growing sense of need which is one of the sure signs of the humble and contrite heart which God will not despise. Poverty of spirit is unconscious of ability to meet the demands made on it by the exigencies of its ministry.--Men come smitten by a great need. "I am in mental perplexity--explain my difficulty." "I am bound hand and foot by the devil--loose me." "I am needing more of the Holy Ghost--teach me." " My child is grievously vexed with a devil--deliver her." In reply the poor in spirit say, " We have nothing which will suffice for needs like yours. Silver and gold have we none, but there is one thing we can do, we can pray, we can put you in union with God, we are willing to become the channel through which God can meet your need." Was not this precisely the attitude of the apostle who said, that he held the treasure of God in an earthen vessel; though sorrowful, he was always rejoicing; though poor, he made many rich; though he had nothing, yet he possessed all things? HOW MAY WE BECOME POOR IN SPIRIT? First, never look on any virtue as inherent to your character, but attribute each gift and grace to the dower of the Almighty. Be content to be a branch. If the fruit hangs ripe and full. magnify the properties of the root to which it must be attributed. Live by the Son, as He by the Father. The light that shines on sea and shore might rather be credited to the earth which is made beautiful by it, than that any grace of the Christian character should be credited to you or me, as though it were in any sense our own. What hast thou that thou hast not received? Secondly, contrast yourself not with those below you, but with God above. We are too prone to compare our white robes with the stained garments of others, rather than with those robes which were whiter than a fuller could white them. Thirdly, look on all the good in your neighbors. There is much more than we sometimes suppose, even in those who do not profess to be religious. Look not every man on his own things, but on the things of others. Let each account the other better than himself. There may be reasons why others, have fallen short of the highest attainment, which if they had operated in our case would have dragged us to a lower depth; whilst, if others had had our advantage they would almost certainly have stood far in advance of anything that we have attained. Fourthly, consider yourself a trustee of God for others, so that whenever any demand is made on you for help, teaching, deliverance, you may confess before God your utter incompetence, and humbly claim that He should pass through your hand the wealth of bread which the poor traveller, who has come to your house, craves. AND WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN? When Jesus spoke-and the same holds still--the kingdom was in mystery. It had not been manifested, nor, indeed, will it be until our King, now in hiding, is crowned King of the world. It consists not in meat and drink, but in righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Ghost. It is the synonym of dignity, for those who have the kingdom must be the children of the King. They are sons, heirs of God the Father, joint-heirs with the King Himself. It is the condition of great influence, for the kingdom of God means peace on earth, goodwill toward men. To our Lord, the throne meant a greater ability to bless men, and that is the only reason why men should desire to sit on the right or left of His throne. To seek the kingdom for purposes of ostentation, self-emolument, and pride, were a vain and worthless ambition, despicable and contemptible, but to desire it that men may be rightly influenced, that the laws of right and healthy living should be laid down and maintained, that the poor should be avenged, and the wronged vindicated, this were a purpose worthy of God Himself. This is why the poor in spirit long for the royalties of the kingdom. Lastly, it is the equivalent of large wealth. A kingdom in liquidation is an anomaly. We are wont to associate with the ideal king wealth like that of Solomon, of whom it is said, that in his days silver was as stones, and cedars as sycamore trees, and that he exceeded all the kings of the earth in wealth. Abundance! Largeness! Unbounded resource! Inexhaust-fineness! Such are the words that characterize the ideal kingdom. So in the spiritual life. We find Madame Guyon saying: " This vastness, or enlargedness, which is not bounded by anything, increases every day; so that my soul, partaking of the qualities of her spouse, seems also to partake of His immensity." And Thomas a Kempis in the Imitation: "They that willingly and freely serve Me shall receive grace for grace. And if heavenly grace and true charity, there will be no envy, nor narrowness of heart, neither will self-love busy itself. For Divine Love overcometh all things, and enlargeth all the powers of the soul." This is very wonderful. " Not after the manner of men." The soul which is ever seeking to aggrandize itself, and augment its stores, will miss the true royalty of life, the treasures by which men are enriched. But he who in the utter abnegation of the self-life shall cast himself as a broken and emptied vessel before God, will learn to say with Hannah-- The bows of the mighty men are broken. And they that stumbled are girded with strength, They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; And they that were hungry have rest. The Lord raiseth up the poor out of the dust, He lifteth up the needy from the dunghill, To make them sit with princes, And inherit the throne of glory." Thou, O Lord, didst become poor that through Thy poverty we might be made rich: enrich me, pray Thee, with this same poverty of spirit, that I may be a joint-beir with Thee in Thy kingdom. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 75: 05.03. THE SECRET OF COMFORT ======================================================================== III THE SECRET OF COMFORT Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."-- Matthew 5:4. THE Son came out from the infinite blessedness of God to give man the key to perfect blessedness, not only in the life hereafter, but in this, so that in human hearts, also, the tide might rise, which is ever full in the heart of the Infinite One. Blessedness is more than gladness, pleasure, the rapture of possession--perhaps words cannot define it--but the heart knows when it enters upon its heritage. The conditions of human life, which men naturally dread, are shown by Jesus to be the elements out of which blessedness becomes possible. He goes carefully through the various experiences to which our race is heir--our tears, poverty, hunger, temptation, persecution--and shows that these are the material out of which blessedness is produced, as the moisture of the air is necessary for the production of the glories of sunrise and sunset. So comprehensive and far-reaching is this beatitude, that attempts have been made to limit its scope and diminish its range of blessing. Surely those only can be meant who sorrow with a godly sorrow that needs no repentance! It is remarkable how persistently men have interposed such reservations on the munificence and largeness of God’s gifts. They assure one another that God cannot mean all He says, and that it will be a profound mistake to trust too absolutely in His assurances. But, in spite of it all, notice the calm strength of these words, " Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Surely it means that every sorrow carries in itself a clue to blessedness, and that there is no sorrow for which there are not healing and help in the Gospel of Christ. In this soil grow all the herbs which are suitable for the healing of broken hearts. For all mourning He has the oil of joy; for every heavy-laden spirit a garment of praise. Let no mourner turn away from these words, as though they meant all else but him; and were too wonderful, too rare, for those to participate in whose sorrow is ordinary and common. Like all the blessings of the gospel, they are for whosoever will. They may be safely trusted to the uttermost. Whoever thou art, and whatever the awful sorrow which is gnawing at thine heart, thou shalt be comforted. The seed of a harvest of blessedness is hidden in these dark pods. An eternal weight of glory is within thy reach, which will make thy present affliction, when reviewed from the distant future, seem light in comparison. Even though, till now, thou hast not professed thyself a Christian, thy grief may be the means of leading thee to the source of everlasting consolation. Only do not wrap thyself around with the heavy garments of proud disappointment, do not shut thyself up alone with thy grief, do not let it harden and corrode thee, but humble thyself under the mighty hand of God. THERE ARE FIVE FOUNTAINS OF TEARS. That opened by bereavement.--Sometimes the blow is sudden and unexpected; we had no idea that that light farewell was to be the last, and that the face would never turn back to give another sunny smile where the path passes out of sight. Sometimes the dear one fades as autumn leaves or the waning moon, visibly, gradually, inevitably. As long as there is life, we are too eager on its careful tending to give way to tears; but when all is over, in moments of reaction and despair, the fountains of the great deep are broken up. Then Rachel weeps for her children, and refuses to be comforted, because they are not; Martha and Mary weep to heart-break at their brother’s grave. For such there is comfort. Not in talking about change or diversion; not in platitudes about the common lot of man; not in invoking Time to festoon the ruin by hanging drapery of flowers and creeping plants; but by opening the heart to God, that He may instil, first by drops, then by slender rills, and afterward by torrents, His own blessed peace. It is God that the bereaved soul needs most of all; and if bereavement leads to Him; if the soul, deprived of its natural support and comfort, turns its thought and desire to the infinite light; if it is led to feel the futility and failure of all that earth can give, and seeks the treasures which are hidden in the hand of God for all who come for them; if the spirit, in its brokenness, seeks the tender touch of the Good Physician for its wounds and bruises, then comfort will arise, the Comforter will come, Jesus will say, "I am glad for your sakes I was not there, to the intent that ye may believe." The face is the mirror of the heart, and how often in the calm, gentle look on the countenance, the reposeful manner, the tender thoughtfulness for others, which characterize those whose life has been bereft of its light and joy, we recognize that this beatitude has been fulfilled. " Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Not in the full life, but in the emptied one; not in the sunny path, but in the shadowed one; not in the house dight for the wedding, but in that where darkened attire and subdued undertones tell of recent sorrow, will you find that rare plant growing most prolifically, which Jesus called blessedness. That opened by care and disappointment.--We enter life with such high hope. Not more gay is the colt, careering across the field, startled by the scream of the engine and the rush of the train of carriages! How soon are we caught, and curbed, and put to the collar! Can it be that the lightheartedness, the spring, the absence of care, are forever ended? Ideals blurred and disappointed, years eaten with the canker-worm, sunny mornings overcast by thick clouds! Poverty in circumstance, feebleness of health, disappointment in love, the heart bereft of love, the spirit broken by harsh tyranny, the constant limitation of small means, dread of the pauper’s dole. How countless are the ills to which we are subject in this world! From how many sources are the salt drops contributed to the brine of the ocean of grief! But Christ says that blessedness may be found even here. There are compensations in grief, and care, and disappointment. How many have confessed that they had never known the love of God, if human love had not disappointed them; had never found the true riches, unless they had lost the heaped-up stores on which their hearts were fixed; had never realized the meaning of the Eternal and Divine, till the transience and vanity of earthly things were no longer the text of the preacher, but the experience of the heart? It is in moments of heart-break at the failure of all our hopes, that the Interpreter comes near to show unto man what is right for him. Then God is gracious unto him, and is heard saying, " Deliver from going down into the pit, let his life behold the light." Life without pain and trial is like a Chinese picture, with no depth or shadow. That opened by the undertones of life.--Even in lives which do not share in the causes of grief already mentioned there is a dark undercurrent, a sense of sadness, and oppressive melancholy. Low and plaintive chords hide in every instrument, subtly underlie the most rapturous outbursts, and perhaps touch us more than they. There are shady, lonely, forbidding spots, the lairs of fever and malaria, in the loveliest woods, on the fairest summer days; expressions of unrest and dissatisfaction cross the sunniest faces; wailing notes sweep over every harp strung by earth’s poets. " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." It is the old complaint, and as true as it is old. But this is well. There may be blessedness here. The heart of man must have some bitters in the cup of life, or he would drain it to intoxication and death. There must be freckle in the leaf, and stain on the flower, or man would forget that they were made to fade. Broken cisterns drive to the Fountain of living waters. The vanity of all discloses the conclusion of the whole matter. The creaking tree impels the bird to build in the clefts of the rock. That opened by sorrow for sin.--This is the work of the Spirit of God. Trouble may make us rebellious, passionate, hard; but when the Spirit of God comes to us, already broken and crushed by trouble, and speaks to us of the love of God, of the ideals we have missed, of the stains and rents with which we have defiled our robes, of the hurt we have done to those entrusted to us for our succor and comfort, of the tears we have caused to flow, of the stumbling-blocks we have cast before the weak, of the talents we have buried, of the thorns we have sown, tears of godly sorrow flow freely, and of these there is no need to repent. Let man’s heart be brought by the Spirit of God under the cross, and in contact with the broken heart of Christ; let us look on Him whom we pierced; let us realize what sin is in the sight of the love and grief of God, and the strongest will battle in vain with the tears that rise unbidden to the eyes. But each tear is the seed-germ of blessedness. Blessed mourning this! It is better to mourn for sin than for its consequences. It is not difficult to do the latter. When we are reaping the bitter penalty of mistake and crime, it is easy to be regretful. "Oh, that I had not done this! Would that I had been more thoughtful and careful! Might I but have my chance again!" So we all exclaim often enough. But this is not sorrow for sin. That is deeper, nobler mourning far. Its tears are purer. In it is no taint of selfishness or dread of penalty. The convicted sinner weeps with unfeigned anguish, as he sees what his sin has meant to God, to Divine Love and human, to those who have passed beyond his recall, or must forever be influenced for the worse by his irrevocable past. And God carefully gathers up these tears, puts them in His bottle, writes them in His book. That opened by the anguish of the world.-No true man can witness this unmoved. Every breath of air is laden with cries and sighings and prayers for help. " The whole world groaneth and travaileth together in pain." Children in an agony of fear beneath the heavy hand of drunken mothers and fathers; women wronged, maltreated, deserted; young hearts thrust relentlessly back from those whom they had been wont to count true; the slave in the Arabian dhow, the Armenian subjected to nameless indignity and torture, the cancer-ward, the madhouse, the torture-chamber of disease--Ah, nay God, my very soul writhes as I write, when wilt Thou bring this scene of woe to an end! how long ere Thou dost arise to say that there shall be no more delay! But it is blessed to mourn thus, for they that share with Christ in His griefs for men shall share His triumph when He sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied; when He shall have destroyed the works of the Devil, and put down all rule, authority, and power. And even now there is blessedness in arising to relieve, so far as we can, the sorrow around us, for it is in helping others that we cease to brood over our own misfortunes, it is in wiping the tears of men that we forget to weep. All that brings us in contact with the Man of sorrows, and acquaints us with His grief, is wholesome and blessed. If you would know Jesus, you must find Him, where Jairus is weeping over his daughter, and the widow is following her boy to the grave, in the porches of Bethesda and the dark shadows of Gethsemane, and such sorrow as we have been describing takes us there. How bravely and nobly does Christ speak. All others sit as still in the presence of uncontrollable sorrow as Job’s comforters did; or they endeavor, with well-meant words, to divert the troubled heart from its sources of anguish, but he says, do not be afraid of sorrow, or evade it, or count it as a wilderness; face it; bow yourself under the mighty hand of God; look up into His face, and believe that all has been permitted with the tenderest purpose; ask Him to tell you His secret: trust Him through all: out of the wrestle of the dark night will come the salutation of the Prince at the break of day. In the judgment of Christ there is no grief that cannot be consoled, no mourner that cannot be comforted, no woe out of which the oil of joy cannot be extracted. Let us dare believe this, and turn to Him, though our faces be wet with tears, and our backs torn and bleeding, believing that He has balm enough, anodynes, and cordials, to turn the shadow of death into the morning. A sense of the love of God, that it is in, around, over, and beneath us; always and everywhere; in every circumstance, glad or sorrowful; in every experience, patent to the world, or hidden in our hearts. The secret of humility, which resigns itself to the circumstances of life, because it has learnt to trace them, either to the appointment, or permission, of a love that cannot err, or be unkind. The realization of the unseen and eternal, which encompasses our little life, as the blue ether does our world, dipping into its valleys, lying about its mountains, and encompassing its path. The presence of the Comforter.--" I will send Him unto you," the Master said. How vast the change He wrought. Before He came, the disciples were benumbed in hopeless grief. Paralyzed with pain, they sat crushed and hopeless in the upper room till the glad hour, when Jesus was revealed as risen, living, glorified, by the blessed Paraclete. Then their sorrow was turned into joy; and there was fulfilled the Saviour’s assurance that He would see them again, and their hearts should be glad and their joy none should take away. It is from the darkness of the pit that men see the stars; and in the darkness of sorrow we behold the face of Christ, revealed by the Holy Spirit. The hope of Heaven.--There we shall meet again the beloved and sainted dead; whilst tears will be wiped from off all faces by the hand of God. The adversities and pangs of earth submerged in the exceeding joy. All sin, and failure, and shortcoming forever terminated. The mystery of evil explained; the entail of sin ended: Death and Hades cast into the Lake of Fire: whilst-- Truth, and peace, and love, shall ever shine About the supreme throne Of Him, in whose happy-making sight alone, When once our heavenly-guided soul shall climb, Then all this earthly grossness quit, Attired with stars, we shall forever sit Triumphing over death, and chance, and thee, O Time. Thou, who hast ascended on high that Thou mightst give the Holy Spirit to comfort us in all our sorrows and afflictions; impact him to me also, that I may be able to comfort others with his tender consolations. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 76: 05.04. THE HERITAGE OF THE EARTH ======================================================================== IV THE HERITAGE OF THE EARTH Matthew 5:5 "’Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."-- Matthew 5:5. THIS is the third regiment in the Lord’s great army, the third gate into the blessed life, the third step downward to the throne. But what sort of character is indicated? And how do the meek differ from the poor in spirit? There is evidently a distinction. The Lord said that He was meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29); whilst the apostle plied his converts with motives borrowed from the lowliness and meekness of Christ (Ephesians 4:2). But what is that distinction? The key to it is suggested by a passage from that memorable last epistle, in which Paul the aged gave his final instructions to the young Timothy, and especially as to his behavior toward those who opposed themselves. " The servant of the Lord," he says, " must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves " (2 Timothy 2:24-25). Here meekness seems specially demanded, when we are summoned to meet the opponents of our faith or the traducers of our personal testimony. May we not say, therefore, that poverty of spirit and lowliness of mind are one and the same thing, and denote the attitude of the spirit toward God, when conscious of the immeasurable distance between His majesty and its minuteness, His purity and its sinfulness; whilst meekness is the attitude of the spirit toward men, and especially toward the wrong of the world--to the evil that men perpetrate on each other, and especially on the saints of God? Lowliness will always be a characteristic attribute of true saintliness. The very elders fall down before the throne, and cast their crowns at the feet of God in utter self-abasement. But, in heaven, though meekness will always shine with its mild ray in the prismatic band of perfection, there will be less room for its, exercise, for those that oppose will have been taken out of the way, whilst the enemy and avenger will have been forever stilled. Meekness is consistent with strength of character.--It is not always thought so. Meekness is often used as a synonym for weakness, and meek people held in a considerable degree of contempt. There is no epithet that men of the world would more quickly and vehemently resent than the appellation " meek." A young officer would rather have a paving-stone hurled at him than this. A molluscous flabbiness, a contemptible namby-pambyism, an absence of backbone and muscle are the ideas which are generally summoned to our mind, when a man is classed among the meek. Here, as so often, the superficial judgment of the world is falsified by a wide acquaintance with human character. Moses, the meekest of men, was the strong leader of the Jewish exodus, the Justinian of the Hebrew commonwealth, the Washington of the Jewish state. "The meek Paul was as strong in bearing persecution, as he had formerly been in inflicting it, and stood like a rock against the insidious and persistent attempts of the Judaizers. His strong common sense laid the broad foundations of the Church in such wise that Jew and Gentile could meet as one. His strong intellect has laid the march of religious thought for eighteen centuries. And who shall say that Jesus Christ was not strong, viewing His nature only from the human side? Lamb though He was, He was the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The meekness with which He received the insults of His foes did not veil the strength which extorted the involuntary homage of Pilate. What strength to resist the soft seductions of the tempting voices that bade Him spare Himself! What strength to carry out the purpose of redemption, though He knew well all it would involve! Man’s misconception of this strength of meekness is largely due to the gentle guise which she adopts, the restraint which she exercises over herself, her soft footfall, her modulated tones. They do not pierce through the hiding of her power, and realize that there is even greater power required for the restraining of the manifestations of power, than in letting them have free play. It is a stronger thing for a man of vehement and impetuous temper to speak and act gently in the face of great provocation, than to blurt out indignant words and bluster like a north-east wind! The soft hand that restrains the fiery steed, is obviously as strong, and stronger. Ah! passionate souls, that pour out showers of glowing coals at every provocation, ye little know how evident is your weakness, where ye vaunt yourselves of strength, and how much more evident your strength would be if ye made the unruly passions within heed the strong sway of a steadfast purpose. The meek man resists the incitement of personal resentment.--When wrong approaches us, it awakens two sentiments in our hearts, the one personal, the other more general; the first is the quickest and keenest, the other manifests itself generally after years of learning in the school of experience. It is natural for us to be stung to the quick by a feeling of resentment under rebuff, or slight, or rudeness, or wrong. It is, perhaps, rather an acquirement when men so identify their wrongs with the evil of the world that they pass from the consideration of personal indignity, absorbed by the view of the sea of tears and blood which is weltering around the world, visiting every shore, invading every home. With the meek man this order is reversed. When wrong is done to him, he is led by the grace of God to mourn over it, as an indication of the misery of the soul that perpetrates the wrong, and of the great weight of injustice and tyranny beneath which the world groans. In other words, he suffers like a child of the Great Father; understands something of the anguish of God’s heart in contact with the wrong of the world; leaves God to vindicate and avenge, and prays for the speedy coming of the day when all wrongs shall be righted, and tears wiped. The meek man joins his prayers with those of Christ, the supreme Sufferer, that the Father would forgive those who do more evil than they know. The meek man is a quiet man.--The Apostle Peter beautifully joins these two virtues together when he says that women are not to seek their adornments in jewels or dress, but in the garb of the meek and quiet spirit. The meek spirit is quiet. It bears and suffers in silence. It does not retail its wrongs, save in the ear of God, and then it does not ask Him to requite, but to convert. It weeps more for the wrong-doer than for its wounds, though they may bleed freely. It anoints its head, and washes its face, and appears not to men to suffer. Nipped by the sharp frost, it does not waste regret over its tender shoots, but strikes its roots deeper down into the dark loam of mother-earth. And out of this quiet confidence comes the heroic strength which bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things, till it conquers by the sheer force of patience. Nothing will so soon stop cannon shot as sand. The meek man rather bears wrong.--When the apostle was urging his converts not to go to law with one another, he said to them, " Why do ye not rather take wrong?" What a mistake it is to allow the passion that would do us harm to ignite a kindred passion! Let us understand that the evil of speech and act which would injure us is set on fire of hell, and nothing could better fulfil the purpose of our great adversary than that the passions should pass from the wrong-doer to the wronged, and from him again to others. When the brazier is full of coals, and it is overturned so as to ignite a house, we have an illustration of the way in which a man whose soul is filled with rancor, malice, and envy may spread his thoughts and feelings. This is the great peril for us all. Men of quick temper are extremely inflammable. They are like touchwood to the flame, gunpowder to the spark. The meek man, on the contrary, meets wrong with a passive resistance which quenches its fire; with a calm and gentle answer he turns away wrath. With a resolute refusal to be inflamed, he establishes a quarantine through which the first germs of the epidemic cannot pass. The spirit of meekness resembles the eucalyptus: it is antiseptic, especially to the spread of passion. If we could only surround every angry man with a ring of meek souls, his passion would burn itself out with comparative small damage. The meek man believes that the evil wrought to him is permitted by God for wise purposes.--As David climbs Olivet, Shimei comes out to curse him. Abishai urges to be allowed to still his vituperations forever, but the meek king says, " God hath said, Curse David. Let him curse." In those strong and bitter words David detected another voice, the voice of One who loved him as a Father, whilst He held his sin in utter detestation. Oh, it is well always to look for the appointment or permission of God l His appointment in the chastisement which comes in the course of providence, His permission in the stripes which come to us from the hands of the children of men. It is easy to be meek toward Judas and the mailed band when we can say, Shall I not drink the cup which my Father hath put into my hands? The meek are marvellously guided.--"The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach his way." The passionate soul is unable to detect the movements of God’s guiding pillar. Passion raises a storm which blurs the heavens and ruffles the calm waters of the lake. In the eagerness with which the many waters of the soul argue and advise, the still small voice of the Divine Counsellor is drowned. When, therefore, you have been wronged, be calm and still. Wait for God. He will indicate the way He would have you take, the answer He would have you write, the acts of love with which you should retaliate. The meek shall be vindicated.--It is foretold of the Messiah that He shall " reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." Not only hereafter, but now, is the judgment-seat set up, at which the oppressed plead their cause against their oppressors, and the Lord hearkens and hears. It is remarkable how perpetually wrongs perpetrated on the defenceless come back, like the boomerang of the savage, on their persecutors. Into the pit they dig they fall. Adonibezek cuts off the thumbs and toes of seventy kings, and his own are cut off. The Jews crucify Jesus of Nazareth, and so many of them are crucified by the Romans that wood fails for the crosses. The Rover sinks the Inchcape bell, and perishes on the rock from which it tolled. The meek shall inherit the earth.--Even now the meek soul gets the best out of life. The world does not think so. It thinks that the meek must be worsted because they will not stand upon their rights, nor wield the sword in self-defence, nor meet men on their own terms. But, as ever, Christ’s words stand the .test of experience. The meek find more pleasure in simple joys than wrong-doers in all their wealth. Pure hearts find wells of peace and bliss in common sights and sounds. There is no twinge of conscience or bitter memory of wrong-doing to jar on the sweet consent of holy song ever arising in nature. The lowly valley of Bunyan’s Shepherd Boy had as much delight as the Delectable Mountains themselves. Do not be greatly concerned when wrong is done you. Possess your soul in patience. Hide under the wing of God. Do not let anything rob you of your power of being glad with children, birds, flowers, humble and innocent joys. Without doubt the time is coming when the world itself will be conquered by the meekness and gentleness of Christ and His saints. The gentle dawn will master the blustering night; the soft-treading spring will quell the storms of winter. The knights of the cross, clad in the soft garments of holiness and gentleness, shall yet dissipate the dark squadrons of sin. Wouldst thou have this meekness? There is no fountain from which it flows save that opened in the heart of Christ, and communicated by the Spirit of God, whose fruit it is. How meekly the Spirit of God has borne with the strife, rejection, contradiction of men. What consummate meekness was ever manifested by our holy Lord! Let us abide in Him, asking that He will repeat in us His characteristic grace, and enable us to breathe again upon the world the spirit by which He was animated in life and death. O meek and gentle Saviour, who, when Thou wast reviled, revilest not again, when Thou didst suffer, threatened not, give me thou Spirit, that I may be calm and strong in the endurance of wrong, and overcome evil with good. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 77: 05.05. HUNGRY-THIRSTY-FILLED ======================================================================== V HUNGRY--THIRSTY--FILLED Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."-- Matthew 5:6. THIS characteristic of hunger and thirst arises naturally out of the foregoing ones. Up to this we have considered the passive side of Christian character--the poverty of spirit that lies low before God, and dares not think of itself more than a redeemed sinner may--the sorrow that mourns in secret over the evil of the world and of the heart--the meekness which has learned to take rebuff, rebuke, and injury calmly and quietly. But now the active element begins to assert itself. The man whose face has been buried in the dust, or stained with tears, or covered with marks of contumely and reproach, now lifts it toward God, crying, with David, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God." You misjudged him. You thought that he was altogether deficient in force, and unable to exert himself; now you discover that the whole strength of his nature passes through channels which elude the common view of men, and shows itself in vehement passion toward the Unseen and Eternal. The desire of the regenerate soul is not simply toward God, but for righteousness. To be right, to do right, to conform in all things to the outlines and spirit of God’s ideal, to have a conscience void of offence, to be uncondemned by the heart--this is the desire of the soul. It is not enough to be conscious of weakness and ignorance, or to mourn for sin, the true penitent desires to learn the secret of walking before God in holiness and righteousness all his days. Our one regret should be that our desires after God and His righteousness are so fickle and faint. There is pain in hunger; nothing is more terrible than to suffer thirst bred by the heat and sand of the desert. But how rarely do we meet with biographies and experiences that come within measurable comparison with these natural cravings for food and drink! Why is it? May we not ask how to increase and augment this hunger for God, so that we shall not need to exert so strong an outward pressure on ourselves to observe times of prayer and worship, but shall leap out in desire toward God and the remembrance of His name, desiring these as the hungry man counts the moments to his meal? Let us take it to heart that we know so little of those passionate yearnings for God which have dwelt in all holy hearts, and the lack of which is one of the most serious signs of declension in the inner life. May God create in us hunger and thirst like that which Jesus knew, even though it should introduce a new and constant pain into our lives, that we may be led by it to know the blessedness that the knowledge and love of God can bring. I. THE SPIRITUAL APPETITE. It results from the constitution of our nature. --We cannot go deeper than nature. We cannot go behind or beyond it, for nature is what has been born (Lat. natura), born out of God’s thought by God’s power. When we speak of nature we must pass in thought from her to her parent God, and find a sufficient answer to all questions and difficulties by saying, " God has so willed it, therefore it is as it is." All the strong basal instincts of human nature must be traced back to the make of our moral being as it was planned by Almighty wisdom, and wrought by infinite power. Do you ask why a belief in the immortality of the soul, and the hereafter, is found in every nation under heaven? Why lying, theft, and murder are accompanied with the blush of shame, and the desire of concealment; why, in the oldest settlements of man, there are traces of the altar and temple: and why human hearts are irresistibly drawn toward each other, finding indissoluble and indestructible affinities? It is only possible to answer by saying, "These things are as they are from the very nature with which God has endowed us." They are necessary, constitutional, essential, as much so as the features of the face, and the general principles of mathematics and arithmetic. We hunger and thirst, because our physical nature has been so created that it must needs go out of itself for its supplies of nutriment. No one of us is self-contained, or independent of the great world of which we form a part. The difficulties and questions of how it came to be so do not alter the fact. Similarly, God made our souls for Himself. Deep within us, He has put necessities and desires, that crave for satisfaction from the Unseen, Eternal, and Divine. We have a vision of the land of righteousness and blessedness from which we have come. Trailing clouds of glory, our race has descended into this murky atmosphere, but it can never forget the note of perfect music which it once heard, the vision of perfect beauty which it once beheld. Man is haunted by the thought of God, his original home; and however low he is plunged in sin and wickedness, he does not utterly forget; and there will be a time in his life when the gagged, imprisoned, drugged soul, will arise and come forth and begin to cry with exceeding bitterness, "I have perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;" " Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness;" "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant." It produces pain.--There are many sources of pain; but perhaps primarily God has instituted it to compel us to take measures for our health and safety. The intense suffering produced by the decaying tooth is intended to force us to conserve an implement so necessary to mastication. The pain of hunger and thirst is designed to force us to take food, without which the body would become exhausted and die. How tenderly the love of God deals with His children when He forces them by pain to take measures for their own preservation! So in the moral sphere, we should be thankful, when we are discontented with ourselves, when in self-abhorrence we cry out for God’s unsullied righteousness, when we turn from the tortuous policy with loathing, when we go about smitten with infinite unrest. Treasure such an experience, for thus the grace of God leads back to Himself. The " vanity of vanities" of Ecclesiastes, so often wrung from Solomon’s soul, was the one symptom of returning health. It is universal.--As we have never met man or woman incapable of hunger or thirst, so there is no human soul which is not capable of possessing God, and does not need Him for a complete life. Often the spiritual appetite is dormant, as that of a man debauched with drink. The child, whose stomach is cloyed with sweets; the invalid, who has long suffered under the pressure of a wasting illness, may have no appetite, but at any moment it may awake. Thus with the hunger of the soul for God. It awoke in the woman that was a sinner, in the thief on the cross, and Zacchaeus the publican. Take it bitterly to heart if it has not gnawed at your complacency, and destroyed your peace. Be very anxious if you know no yearnings for a better life, no desires after righteousness, no dissatisfaction with the present, no tireless search for God. These are grave symptoms. Reduce all the activities of man to their ultimate reason, and it will be discovered to be as Jesus said--What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Wherewithal shall we be clothed? Perhaps in these northern climes we might add, How shall we be housed? These elemental necessities are the motor forces of the world. Similarly, all the feverish quest of men in music, art, the love of beauty, the pursuit of the chief good, to say nothing of religion, may be traced back to the desire of the soul for something which it has not attained. It cannot be satisfied in itself. It does not always know what it needs, any more than the babe does who feels the pains of hunger, and cries passionately or bitterly. During the great famines in China and India, the natives have fed on a kind of edible earth, making it into loaves. It has stayed their cravings, but they have grown gradually weaker till they have lain down to die. The nardoo plant of Australia closely resembles flour, but lacks the nutritive property, and those who feed on it, though insensible of hunger, after a few weeks die of starvation. Thus men who seek for that which is not bread, who refuse the fair loaf of God’s gift, which is Christ, and feed on ashes, may succeed in stilling the cravings for the unseen and eternal, and yet perish of that fatal lack of God. II. THE NURTURE OF SPIRITUAL APPETITE. We know too little of it. We cannot always say with the Psalmist, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord;" nor yet " My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments at all times;" nor with Job, " I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." Here are a few simple directions for the stimulating of our desire for God. Beware of the other food you take.--When children are unable to take the meal their mother has provided, she suspects them of having visited the confectioner’s shop on their way home from school, so that their appetite has become cloyed and sickly. May it not be that before we can have an eager taste for God’s Word, we shall have to put away some of the reading in which we now indulge, and which is little better than garbage? Sensational novels, frivolous talk, indulgence in appetite and sense, quickly incapacitate us for enjoying God. Take exercise.--The more we do, the more food we require, and the more we enjoy it. Manly sports; long, vigorous walks; muscular exertion of any kind, will supply the source of hunger which will make the roughest food palatable; and it is they whose hand is seldom off the plough, who sow beside all waters, and are instant in season and out of season, that are most glad when the bells call to rest and food. Take a tonic.--There is no tonic for spiritual appetite to compare to the biography of a holy life. It is well to have such an one constantly at hand. Frequently the story of the exercises of a man’s soul before God has started others on a more passionate quest for the Holy Grail. Get up into the mountains.--The best appetite invigorator is the keen, bracing air, which breathes around those natural altars of the world which God has reared, where the pines grow, and the glacier moves slowly down, and the sounds of the valley seem far away. There is nothing so healthy as to go up with Christ into the high mountain apart when He prays. The tides of blood are aerated by the purer atmosphere; the eye sparkles with clearer vision; the appetite of the soul becomes keener. Let us never rest with low levels, attenuated aspirations, or the mean standards which content our fellows. The only hope of the young artist is that he should not be content with the standard that prevails in the provincial town of his birth, but aim after that presented in the highest masterpieces. The only hope of the cygnet, born in the farmyard, is that it should not be content to paddle in the pond which suffices for the ducks. The hope of the soul is to refuse comparison with those beneath, and to keep the eye fixed on the righteousness of God as it is revealed in the life and words of Jesus. " Not as though I had already attained, but I press on." Let us see to it that we apply the highest standards of right to ourselves, to our relations with our fellow-men, and to our attitude before God, so that we could be content to live alone with God, as the one all-satisfying food of the soul. Hudson Taylor said the other day, "I have been forty years in China, it is forty years since I first landed on her shores, I have done but little there, I have learnt much, and this of all things--to live alone with God, to know God Himself, to know that His heart is love, and that His heart actuates His hand to help." Here is an ideal after which we may well aspire. III. THE CERTAIN GRATIFICATION OF THIS APPETITE. God never sends mouths, the old proverb says, but He sends with them the food to fill them. Young lions never seek that which His hand does not open to give. The fish, and the fly at which it snatches; the bird, and the berries on the hawthorn bush; the babe, and the milk stored in its mother’s breast, are perfectly adapted to each other. The instinct for immortality, and the mansions which Christ has gone to prepare; the desire for the city, and the city which hath foundations; the lively hope to which we are begotten by the resurrection of Christ, and its fruition, are in perfect harmony. Whatever you and I have longed for in our best and holiest moments, may have its consummation and bliss, because God has prepared for our perfect satisfaction. No hunger without food to match it; no wing without air to match it; no fire without water to match it; no babe’s cry without the mother’s love to match it; and no soul hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of God without God to meet and match it. Do you ask what is the bread of God, which can satisfy the insatiable craving of man’s heart? Jesus says, "I am that Bread of Life, he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; he that believeth in Me shall never thirst. I am the Bread of Life which came down from heaven, of which a man may eat and not die. The bread that I shall give is my Flesh that I shall give for the life of the world. He that drinketh of the water that I shall give shall never thirst." Christ is made unto us righteousness. In other words, the man who has Christ, and gets right with Him, who is brought into adjusted relationship with Christ, almost unconsciously gets right with himself, with men, with the great system of law, and with God. Do not fret about the infinite demands that surround you. Do one thing. Let Christ be Alpha and Omega. With Him as foundation-stone, your building shall stand four-square to God and man. Are you filled? Do you know what it is to be satisfied? Have you ever been filled? Has it ever occurred to you to ask what the apostle meant by saying that the disciples were complete in Him? If not, and you truly desire these experiences, God will supply all your need out of His riches in glory. To ask, is to have. To seek, is to receive. To hunger and thirst, is to be satisfied. Lift up your heart unto the Lord, and say, "Fill me." Cry for Him with an exceeding great cry. For bread He will not give a stone or a serpent for fish. Believe that you receive simultaneously with your request, and you will know the blessedness of the pain which has brought you to God, the blessedness of being satisfied from God, the blessedness of desiring more of God; and yours shall be the song of the Virgin Mother--" He hath filled the hungry with good things." " My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 78: 05.06. IT GOETH FORTH AND RETURNETH ======================================================================== VI IT GOETH FORTH AND RETURNETH Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."-- Matthew 5:7. NOTICE where our Saviour puts this beatitude, the heart of which is mercy. It follows that longing after righteousness which is the characteristic of the righteous, because mercy is the white flower on the stem of a righteous life. Indeed, the absence of mercy in our temper and disposition shows that our righteousness is that of the ceremonialist, as that of Saul, who was blameless as touching the righteousness which is of the law, but utterly devoid of those Christian virtues which indicate the presence of the truly holy heart. The religion which is devoid of mercy is that of the exterior form, but destitute of the inward power. It was therefore with a Divine insight that our Lord put mercy after righteousness--first, because a man must be right before he can be merciful; and second, he must be rightly adjusted with the Fountain of mercy so that the Divine quality of mercy can pass unhindered through him, and approve him to be a son of the All-Merciful. Search your heart, and see if you have learnt forgiveness for the sinning, and pity for the sorrowful; not otherwise can you account yourself righteous after God’s fashion. Mercy is the exclusive prerogative of Christianity. The schools of ancient morality had four cardinal virtues--justice in human relations, prudence in the direction of affairs, fortitude in bearing trouble and sorrow, temperance or self-restraint; but they knew nothing of mercy, which is not natural to the human heart. It is an exotic which Christ brought with Him from heaven. As long as the Lord Jesus tarried amongst men, He poured forth mercy in its double form of forgiveness and succor, to those that hated and to those that were wronged; and when He passed back to the Father, the Church took up His blessed work, and came to the world, as the dew distilling on the parched pastures, to become the saviour and regenerator of society. She found the most horrible practices in vogue, which she stayed; the most preposterous customs, which she tempered; amusements and games, which she discountenanced and finally abolished. She extended her beneficent sceptre to captives, and women oppressed with innumerable wrongs, and little children. Regardless of her own sufferings, she existed apparently for the sole reason of ministering to those that wronged and oppressed her, as well as to those who were being trampled under foot by greed and lust and hate. Thus mercy sprang out of the ground in response to the righteousness which looked down from heaven. I. THE QUALITY OF MERCY. It is evidently a phase of love, for each of these beatitudes enshrines some aspect of the Love of God in the soul of man. The first is Love in her humility, with such great thoughts of the possibilities within her reach that she counts herself not to have attained. The second is Love in tears, bewailing the lovelessness of the world. The third is Love suffering wrong in the hope of vanquishing it. The fourth is Love impelled by insatiable desire for fuller satisfaction. The fifth, of which we are now treating, is Love retaliating on wrong. The sixth is Love burning with a faith so pure that evil cannot withstand. The seventh is Love so equable that it can quiet and steady anger and strife. The eighth is Love misunderstood and persecuted. Each is therefore a facet on which the sunlight falls, and from which it is reflected at a new angle, and with a new beauty. Let the Love of God dwell in you richly, and as it passes out from you to strike the many evils of the world, each phase of sin will elicit and reflect some special quality. Some day it may appear that sin was permitted, in order to set forth the perfect beauty of Divine love, just as clouds unravel the contents of the light into rainbow hues. There is a distinction between Meekness and Mercifulness.--Meekness is the passive, mercy the active side of Love. The meek man entering into union with the love of God, which is ever-suffering beneath the wrong of the world, and knowing that the power of evil will presently be broken by meek forbearance, suffers with the long-suffering of God. But mercy goes farther. It takes measures with the wrong-doer. In mercy our love issues forth toward the perpetrator of injury, pitying, bending down with tender hand and gentle touch, pouring in oil and wine, and endeavoring, by the coals of fire it heaps on the offender, to melt his obdurate heart, and bring him to a happier state. Mercy seeks out the wrong-doer, if so be that it may lead him to repentance, notices the first symptom of return and meets it, welcomes him with kisses, undoes the injury which he has wrought to himself, and reinstates him in the old place. There is also some difference between mercy and forgiveness. Love is the parent and root of all. Grace is love coming forth to meet those who had forfeited all claim upon it. Forgiveness is love assuring the wrong-doer that the past is forgotten. Mercy tries to ameliorate the condition of the sinner. Whenever wrong is done you, think less of what you suffer than of the state of his heart, its darkness and misery, who has done the ill, and when you have conceived of it, seek to alleviate it. This is mercy. II. THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH AWAKE MERCY. First, Sin rain Psalms 51:1-19 we have the plaintive cry of a broken heart. " Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions, against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice." Forgiveness is not enough, the broken bones cry out for mending. Forgiveness does not necessarily include reparation of the hurt, which wrong-doing inflicts on the wrong-doer. The drunkard may be forgiven, and yet have to bear the results of injury to his body and nerve; nevertheless, when such an one is forgiven, he may also count on the mercy of God, pitying that trembling, palsied hand, and that wrecked constitution, and endeavoring so far as may be possible, to undo the havoc, and to bring again his flesh as fair as that of a little child. Thus mercy rejoices against judgment. Second, Suffering.-- Luke 10:37 tells of the mercy of the stranger to which even the Scribe bore unwilling testimony. " Which of these," asked the Lord, after He had vividly portrayed Priest, Levite, and Samaritan, " proved neighbor to him that fell among the thieves?" And the Scribe was compelled to admit, " He that showed mercy on him." In such a state of things as that which surrounds us in any great city, we must be careful to allow our mercy to flow freely forth. Nothing is worse than to be always checking it from fear of imposition. Better to be deceived and wronged now and again, than to be always withholding the hand. We must take care, of course, not to harm men by encouraging them in idleness and lying fraud. It is the truest mercy often to withhold the dole of charity from those who would misspend it. We must see to it, also, that we are not content with the impulsive act of benevolence, which flings some coin to the outstretched hand to save itself the trouble of investigating the need, and ascertaining the best way of meeting it. Mercy may refuse to give on the spur of the moment, that it may help permanently and efficiently. We must be very careful, also, not to entrust the giving of our alms to the paid hand of agents and professional almoners. Organized charity is a symptom of Christianity which retains the name of Christ, but from which His Spirit has fled. If mercy is to rise spontaneously and perennially, it must be nurtured by personal contact with sorrow and suffering. Its own hands must bind the sores, and smooth the pillow, and arrange the disordered room, and watch through the night-vigils. Third, Ignorance and Infirmities.-- Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 10:15. Our Lord Jesus is a merciful and faithful High Priest . . . touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and able to have compassion on the ignorant and erring. Mercy does not wait for sorrow and need to appeal to her. She goes to seek them. She does not wait for the injury to be wrought on her, before being prompted to retaliate in heaven’s own kind, but her lovely form casts a light as it passes through the squalid street, climbing the creaking staircase, and pursuing the victims of the great wrong of the world where they hide their festering sores. Oh, beautiful is the light on Mercy’s face, when she beholds some scene of want and woe, from which the refinement and culture of the world would turn, disgusted and loathing. This is work that she loves. Here she is in her element. She needs no teaching, for the heaven-born instincts of her heart prompt her. Her voice is musical with the tones of the Incarnate Saviour. Her hand is deft and soft. Her tread is beautiful as it passes along the mountain track; rugged, storm-swept, difficult to the foot. To have seen her would make you think that you had met one of the daughters of the family of God. III. THE BENEDICTION. It has been noticed that the three first beatitudes touch the lower plane of our experience by which need has to be met with its opposite. Hence the blessedness consists in imparting the appropriate satisfaction, but the fifth, sixth, and seventh--that is, the three which lie on the hither side of desire--are those of the saint, whose blessedness consists in having more of the quality already possessed. Hence, mercy is the appropriate reward of those who already show it. Have you ever noticed the way in which these attributes of the blessed life demand the coming of the Comforter? Matthew 5:1-48 demands John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33. The commandments of the forty days demand the gift of Pentecost. The traits of Christian character must be burnt in by the Baptism of Fire. There must be a power yet to be revealed by which these rare and precious exotics may be made to bloom on the wintry soil of the soul. The law of love is given in all its fulness on this mount of beatitudes, as the law of righteousness amid the thunders of Sinai, that being hopeless of ourselves, we may be shut up to faith in the Holy Ghost, who alone can work in us the fruit of the Divine life. " The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness." The merciful alone experience all the mercifulness of God.--It was after Job had pitied and prayed for his friends that his own captivity was brought again. " See," says the apostle, " the end of the Lord, that He is full of pity, and merciful." If we go through the world ministering to others, God will come and minister to us. His angels will come around us with their gentle ministry, doing for us as we have sought to do for others. " Blessed is he that considereth the poor, the Lord will remember him in time of trouble." In one of His most striking parables our Lord depicts the forgiven steward, who took his brother by the throat, demanding payment, as forfeiting the clemency which his Lord’s mercy had brought him. " Shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, as I had mercy upon thee? And he delivered him up to the tormentors." That cannot mean that God ever withdraws His mercy from the soul He has once forgiven, because God cannot change His mind, but it means surely that the unmerciful cannot claim God’s mercy. If, therefore, thou hast not forgiven, thou hast not been forgiven. Each time you utter the Lord’s Prayer--Forgive, according to the measure of my own forgiveness --you really say, Do not forgive me because I have not forgiven, and I dare not ask Thee to do for me what I have not done for my brother sinner. Be sure that in coming days you will need forgiveness, more, perhaps, than you realize, for you do not know yourself; but, at such a time, the failure to show mercy will arise, and, lifting its voice, will plead against you and overpower your plea for forgiveness. The merciful may count on mercy from their fellows.--None are treated so mercilessly as the merciless. With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. Let any one be censorious in criticism, vindictive and malicious, quick to resent a wrong, bitter and uncharitable in speech, relentless in demanding reparation; and the time will come when that soul will need mercy from its fellows, and meet the stolid stare of indifference. " And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me." On the other hand, those who are tender and gentle in their judgment, patient and forbearing in disposition, peaceable and easy to be entreated, quick to forgive the wrong-doer, and to repair the wrong, will never be in need of mercy, but in hours of darkness and peril, forgotten acts of kindness will arise from long-buried seeds, and mercy which had gone forth to bless others will return from its long journey and many errands, in time to comfort and requite the heart from which it started forth. " Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." How great has been Thy goodness to me, O Lord, who am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies; make me tender and forgiving to my fellow servants, as Thou hast been to me; that their hearts may, in turn, be softened, and taught the law of mercy and long-suffering. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 79: 05.07. THE BEATIFIC VISION ======================================================================== VII THE BEATIFIC VISION Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."-- Matthew 5:8. OF all the eight beatitudes, none arrests us with a greater sense of sublimity and majesty than this; and none, in its possession, more absolutely distinguishes the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like some inaccessible Alpine peak, covered with virgin snow, this conception of the pure heart towers up amid all the great words of this marvellous discourse. To be pure in behavior and life was admitted by the Stoics to be the sign and token of true manhood; but to be pure in heart has been deemed an inaccessible and untenable position. Even if it were Christ’s by the peculiar constitution of His nature, it cannot, so men argue, become the attribute of natures which were conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity, and are impressed with the evil impulses of generations of self-indulgence. To know sin only to abhor it, to keep so strong a hold on appetite that, like some spirited horse, it shall only fulfil its legitimate purpose, to be always blameless and harmless, to wear ever the white flower of a stainless life, to allow no lewd visitant to cross the threshold of the soul, to permit no foul picture to remain for a moment on the lens of the inner eye, to love all men and women with a pure and unselfish affection in which there is no taint or stain--this is an ideal which, if it flitted before the minds of men like a bright vision, was not attained until Jesus came with that omnific word, which said to the leper, " I will, be thou clean," and in that early miracle gave a sign of the characteristic of His life, in saving those who had been deeply dyed in the ditch of sensual indulgence, and making them bright jewels in His crown. Thus pure white paper is woven from rags, and diamonds manufactured out of charcoal. PURITY OF HEART WILL ENSURE PURITY OF LIFE AND CONDUCT. This connection has been too often overlooked, and the order forgotten. Many have insisted on the careful regimen of the body, frugal diet, vigorous exercise, cleanliness of person; and have reiterated the ancient maxims of the Stoical philosophy--Touch not, Taste not, Handle not, though discovering, as the apostle said, long ago, that these things have indeed a show of will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body, but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh. No, the secret of purity lies deeper. Begin with the outward, and you may or may not affect the inward temper of the soul. Begin with the inward temper, and the effect on the outward will be immediate and transfiguring. Purity of heart means the control of the imagination. Away from the realm of sense there lies a world of illusion, the atmosphere of which is brilliant but deadly, its scenery bewitching but corrupting, the inhabitants wicked spirits, some of whom are robed in exquisite costumes veiling their deformity, whilst others are at no pains to hide their loathsomeness. Thither imagination can at will transport us. Like a swift shallop it can convey us to those mystic shores; and disembarking we can take our part in unseemly revels, whilst our face is buried in our hands, in the attitude of prayer, or our outward presence is sharing in the amenities of the home-circle. But no heart can be kept pure, unless the fancy is kept sternly under control. It must not be permitted to bear us away into the world of unholy and sensuous dreams, or to introduce into the temple of the soul any picture which would taint or defile. Purity of heart means the rigorous care of the affections. We must love. Not to love is to lose God and heaven out of life; not to love is to miss the inner secret of blessedness; not to love is to deny the exercise of our noblest powers. We wrong the nature with which God has endowed us when we refuse to love. But our affections resemble the tendrils of clinging plants, they reach out altogether in wrong directions, or too profusely in right ones. So our love strays to those to whom we ought not to give it, or overflows with undue extravagance to those who have a claim to something but not all. Nothing is more hurtful than a friendship which monopolizes all the thought and force of the lovers, to the exclusion of all others, and especially of God. We must love God in others, and them in God, only where His will permits, and to the extent which is compatible with His claims for the first place. Whenever you feel your heart giving out strongly to another, be very careful to consider whither the strong tide is bearing you, and stay whilst yet it is possible to resist its current. The intention of the soul must be single.--To do God’s will, whatever it costs; to follow in the line of His command, whatever it involves; to live within the limits He has laid down, whatever be the solicitation to outstep them. The eye must be single. The soul must resolve within itself that it will absolutely yield to God, though the surrender involve the loss of all beside. Impurity, when traced to its source, will often be found to arise from a lack of decision that God’s way and will shall be paramount, and that nothing shall be permitted, even for a moment, to conflict with them. The attitude of the will is also all-important.--This, after all, is the key to the position. The will is the custodian of the soul. Conscience pleads as the prophet and priest of God; the affection and emotions put in their passionate plea; memory recites the results of past experience; the imagination presents vivid portrayals of the consequences of certain acts; the judgment sits upon the bench, sums up and gives its decision; but, after all, it is for the will to act. We may almost say that it holds the destinies of life, at its belt swings the key with which it opens and none shuts, with which it shuts and none opens. The will is like the front wheel of the bicycle, which gives the direction to the movements of the machine; it resembles the steersman of the packet, standing weather-beaten behind the wheel; it is the prime minister of the inner court, its executive and marshal. Oh, that thou and I, my reader, may choose purity above all, setting our will toward it with understanding tenacity, preferring it above our chief good, ever prepared to surrender everything if only this may be our lot, to count no sacrifice too great, no cliff too steep! Dost thou not think that God would meet us, and accomplish that on which our decisions were fixed? Could He lead us to such high resolves, only to disappoint and mock? Is not the conception of such a state a prophecy of what God is prepared to realize? Surely it is not in vain that His Spirit has indited the prayer, " Cleanse Thou the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly serve Thee, and worthily magnify Thy holy name." THE LAW OF PURITY IS CLEARLY REVEALED. It is the great gift of the gospel to teach men that Purity is possible--possible for those who have suffered most from the law of a depraved heredity, possible to those whose habits of evil living and thinking have been most debased, possible for those who have striven in vain to keep the marble palace of the inner life from being defiled by the tides of ink which sweep through the world. Let any one follow the Divine prescription, they will find the vision of the pure in heart is not a dream, but that the Lord Jesus is prepared to do for the inner life what He did for the leprous flesh. He can effect in our experience that temper of soul which knows evil only to abhor it, which is conscious of the presence of the tempter only to loathe his suggestion, which detects the hideous form beneath the dazzling garb of one who appears to be an angel of light. Remember the words of the apostle in which he reminded his converts that they had been delivered from the powers of darkness, and been translated into the kingdom of light and love, the kingdom of God’s dear Son. And what is the prime condition of this heart-purity? The answer comes back clear and sufficient from the lips of Peter, when speaking of God’s work through him amongst the Gentiles. " God," says he, " which knoweth the heart, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith." And how does Faith cleanse the heart? There are many ways in which she performs her holy office. She brings the soul to the Cross, and bids it behold the dying Saviour, and asks how, in view of such sorrow and anguish, borne to put away its sin, it can ever dare to open those wounds again, or add one stab of pain to that infinite agony. She applies to the soul the precious blood of Christ that cleanseth from all sin, and there is nothing which so effectively produces inward purity as forgiveness based upon the sacrifice of the Redeemer. The ease with which the penitent and believing heart can claim forgiveness does not conduce to sin, but begets a holy fear which makes it increasingly abhorrent. She has the marvellous power of handing over to Christ every suggestion of the Evil One. Whilst the fiery dart is flaming through the air, and before it reaches the soul, Faith catches it upon her shield. When the sooty hand is reached out to pluck her white flower, Faith suddenly interposes the protective covering of the purity of Christ. To hand over to Jesus every approaching temptation, each evil suggestion, all haunting fancies, when as yet they are in the air, and have not put their foot within the threshold of the soul, is the lesson which faith teaches. But better than all, Faith appropriates the Purity of Christ. In the moment of temptation she lifts her thought and prayer to Him to claim that His purity should so fill the soul with its perfect heat and light, that there should be no room for impurity to lurk in any corner. Perhaps it would be better to say that Faith appropriates Christ as its purity, rather than the Purity of Christ. A person must always help us better than an attribute, and Christ Himself is made more to us than any single quality of His nature. The whole is greater than its part. It has been discovered that there is no bacillus that can withstand sunlight, and certainly no impurity can remain in the heart which is perfectly filled with the presence of Christ, maintained there by the grace of the Holy Ghost. Darkness cannot coexist with light. Let the light in, and the darkness needs no other method of expurgation. It seems to me needless to stay to argue whether the root of sin is extracted or not; the one point is to let the refiner of silver pass our nature through the baptism of fire of which the Baptist spoke, when he foretold that the Lamb of God should baptize with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. When once the refining fire has passed through the heart, and is maintained within it, purity will be as natural as breathing to a man, as singing to a happy child. THE GUERDON IS TRANSCENDENTLY ATTRACTIVE. " They shall see God."--To see the king’s face was the object of ambition to loyal courtiers and subjects in the old days, when the Queen of Sheba congratulated the servants of Solomon on being able to stand always before him. And to Absalom it was the keenest sign of disgrace that he was not allowed to see the face of the king, his father. This is the thought that probably underlies this beatitude. Only the pure in heart can stand in the inner circle, searched by those eyes that are too pure to look upon sin. Only garments which are unstained can pass muster in the throne-room of the Supreme. This truth was symbolized in the purity of ablution, ceremonial and dress, which prevailed in the ancient tabernacle; and it remains true forever that without holiness no man can see the Lord. If, then, you and I would dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and abide under the shadow of the Almighty; if we would dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life, we must be pure in heart. The pure in heart see. They are seers. They get at truth first-hand. They see God in nature, beneath each flower, and tree, and waterfall; they see Him in every incident of providence; and circumstance does but reveal His plan and is as the slight gauze that conceals His movements; they see Him in human love, and tender voices, in the caress of the little child, and faithfulness of the true woman; they see Him in Scripture which burns like the bush of the desert because He is there; and their most cherished aspiration is to behold His face in righteousness, and to be satisfied when they awake with His likeness. It is good to have the eye of the soul cleansed, that it may see what prophets and kings have been unable to discover by the exercise of the intellect. It is of this spiritual lens that the apostle speaks when he says, He that is spiritual discerneth all things, though he is himself discerned by no man. Even here and now we see God, but what will not be our rapture when this gross veil of flesh and infirmity is rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and we are permitted to stand before the throne, because the garments of the soul have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb! In Thee was no sin, my Saviour; Thou wast the guileless, spotless Lamb of God; baptize me into the fire of Thy purity, and let me walk with Thee in pure unspotted robes. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 80: 05.08. SWORDS INTO PRUNING-HOOKS ======================================================================== VIII SWORDS INTO PRUNING-HOOKS Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the sons of God."-- Matthew 5:9. THE utterance of this beatitude indicates the state of the world, as indeed all the beatitudes do. From these photographs of the characteristics of the children of God we may learn the characteristics of the world out of which they have come. We know that we are of God, because we have learnt something of this poverty of spirit, this Divine sorrow, this meekness, this hunger, this mercy, this purity; but we know, also, that the whole world around us is as the direct antipodes of these holy qualities. We are learning to be poor in spirit, but the world is proud; we mourn, with bitter tears, over our own sin and the sins of the world, but the world sins without tears. We know what it is in some small measure to bear insult patiently, but the world proudly resents insult. We are conscious of a Divine hunger and thirst after the eternal righteousness, without which the unrest of our heart will never be content, whilst the men around us are satisfied if their senses and appetites are satisfied. We know something of what it is to have the love of God pouring through us in merciful kindness toward the evil that would work us injury, whilst the world knows no mercy, but men take their brothers by the throat, saying, " Pay me what thou owest." We know a little of that yearning for the snow-clad peaks of purity, whilst we recognize that the world lies in the power of the Evil One, and we have only just escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust. The strong emphasis which our Saviour lays on peacemaking shows the world around to be full of peace breaking, and so devoid of God’s halcyon rest. Is it not because men have lost the Fatherhood that they have lost the Brotherhood? The tender love of the father to the child, and the father’s love recognized by the child, is the great bond and tie of the home-circle, widened to include the universe. But since men have lost the consciousness of the love of God, and have lost, in consequence, the responsive love which should go forth to Him from their heart, they are consumed by the greed, lust, jealousy, hatred, and suspicion which are at the root of the peacelessness of the world. Therefore God calls us, His little children, to His side, in Jesus Christ, and He says, " Children, I have a great work on hand in the world; all the universe beside is in peace except your little planet and its surrounding atmosphere, in which the devil and his angels have their seat; but I can never rest until My peace has overcome the strife and war and discord of the human family and of the devil realm that prompts it: come, therefore, and I will send you forth, and your feet shall be beautiful upon the mountains as you publish peace. My sons and daughters, help Me to bring peace again to man; be peacemakers, and so inherit the blessedness of God." Now we will notice, first, the qualifications which are necessary to the peacemaker; secondly, the method in which he shall do his work; thirdly, the abundant recognition which it will secure. I. THE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE PEACEMAKER. This beatitude follows the one in which our Saviour shows the bliss of the pure heart: " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The order of these beatitudes is extremely instructive, and one leads to the other like the steps of a great staircase ever upward to the climax. Obviously purity of heart must precede peacemaking; and for this reason--that it is only the pure of heart who can see God, and it is only in so far as we see God going forth to make peace that we can follow His example. As it was true of Christ, so it is true of us, all true living must be the reflection of what we see the Father doing (John 5:19). This is a very profound thought, and it certainly underlay the entire ministry of our blessed Saviour, so that everything He did was the reflection of the movements of His Father’s nature. When He wrought in the creation of the universe He was working out the creative thought of His Father; and when He stepped out from His Throne and the angel’s anthem told of "peace on earth, and goodwill toward men," it was only that He might achieve upon our sin-stricken world the deep yearning of the Father’s heart for the pacification of its children. When, finally, our Lord Jesus Christ died upon the Cross it was not the act and deed of His loving heart, apart from the Father, but just the repetition and reflection, in terms that man could read and understand, of yearnings and pity in the Father’s heart, of which they were the translation. And so all through this wonderful era in which Jesus Christ is still working amongst men to achieve the Divine purposes. Amongst the many arguments, then, by which we may endeavor to stir ourselves and induce others to become peacemakers, probably the loftiest is the one which leads the Christian constantly to inquire, " What is my Father doing; what is my Father caring for; in which direction are the energies of the Eternal Nature now proceeding’, for if I can only discover these, the truest policy for myself, for my blessedness, and the blessedness of others is that I should concur with and advance, so far as I can, those mighty movements." Therefore the purity of heart in which a man sees God seems necessary, as the prerequisite for the peacemaking which is occupying our thoughts. And if, day by day, before we started forth on our daily pilgrimage, we were only pure enough in heart to stand before the presence of the King and to ascertain in which direction He was most strenuously occupied; to learn from Him what great design He had in hand; then, as sons of the Father, and as brothers of Christ, we should become interested in that in which He was interested, and enthusiastic over that upon which He had set His heart. We should go forth day by day, saying, " Whither are Thy steps leading, O Prince of Peace? We, Thy young brothers and sisters, would fain place our footprints where Thine have left their impress. There are homes that Thou art entering to allay fear, unrest and disquietude, we will follow; where there are hearts that are tossed like the restless sea, over which Thou art about to speak Thy ’peace be still,’ we will breathe it also; and where healing, rest-giving ministries have to be performed to men, then we will be there, too, to further Thee in Thy work." There is not much hope of any of us, with our limited resources and powers, accomplishing much of this great work of peacemaking in the world if we look only to ourselves. But our power is immensely multiplied when we have learnt to see God; to live in communion with Christ; to open our being to the blessed Holy Spirit, the Dove of Peace, that we may co-operate with God, and, watching Him, may do in earth what He is doing in heaven. " Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." " Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God." See how the two are associated. Secondly, we must be prepared for sacrifices. God made peace by blood. It is a very wonderful conception of redemption, which is presented to us in the New Testament. As Shakespeare says, " God who might have vantage took, found out the remedy." It is so wonderful to think that when all our world and race were at war with God--He, so far as He could, and at infinite cost, put out of the way the cause of hostility. But He could only do it at the cost of blood. I confess that I have no plumb-line to fathom all that is meant by making peace through the blood of the Cross. We know that the blood is the life; and that, when on Calvary, the blood of God’s Lamb was shed, it was as though the life of the Son of God were poured out. He was the substitute and sacrifice for sin, though probably there was something deeper even than this in the draining out the energy of the flesh, that being utterly exhausted, helpless as to His natural life, He might be lifted up to become the Second Adam, and to give life to men. These are deep conceptions. There is an objective side in which the death of Christ deals with God’s broken law, and a subjective side in which the death of Christ somehow deals with our flesh life; but all we need to emphasize now is the fact that when God made peace it was based on righteousness, and the demands of righteousness were met at the cost of infinite suffering, of which the emblem is shed blood. Melchizedek was first the king of righteousness before he could be the priest of peace. If righteousness means meeting the claims of a broken law, which had been violated, and which man could not meet, then the cost of laying the deep foundation of righteousness on which the temple of peace was to be reared, could only be at infinite cost, the cost of blood; and if we are to make peace with men it will have to be at heavy cost to ourselves. If there is strife between ourselves and others, as we were once at war with God, it may be needful for us, at a great cost of tears and anguish, to remove from between them and us the obstacles to peace. It will cost us something to make and maintain peace. We shall have to sacrifice our pride, reputation, the maintenance of our fancied rights, to say nothing of ease and self-indulgence, if we shall repair the wrong of the evil-doer, and readjust broken relationships. The ambassadors of peace throughout the world have had to expend their very life blood in their endeavor to make peace, consistently with the demands of righteousness. For the most part they have met those demands, that on this basis they might build the temple. Thirdly, we should ever carry within us the peace of God. God is the centre of peace, " the God of peace," from whose nature the undulations of ever-widening circlets of peace are spreading through the world. We were once at enmity, but we have been graciously attracted back to Him, and as His children have become filled with His peace. " Let the peace of God rule in your heart." We shall never be able to make peace in the world until we have learnt the secret of peace ourselves. Let Jesus Christ utter His word " Peace be unto you." Let Him show you His hands and His side. Let Him breathe upon you the spirit of peace, and say, ".Receive the Holy Ghost." Let that peace stand sentinel at your heart’s gate. Be careful to watch against the intrusion of anxiety, care, and worry, and whenever these things come, treat them as Nehemiah did the Tyrian fishwomen, whom he kept outside the gates of Jerusalem because it was the Sabbath. Do not let the cries of the world’s fever and tumult break the Sabbath-keeping of your heart. Live in peace. Rather suffer wrong than allow peace to be broken on your account. Follow peace with all men. Carry always in your heart the serene calm and on your face the placid look. Let there be no jarring irritated note in your voice. Let all your movements be consistent with the rhythm of God’s perfect peace. Go through the world with soft tread, carrying everywhere the atmosphere of God’s home. And then at night, having done all, by your act, your look, your word, your behavior, to instil peace into this troubled world, return back to your Father’s bosom, as a little child who has been at school all day amid rough companions, but joyfully returns to his home at night. So go back to the God of peace and steep your weary soul in His infinite restfulness, and tell Him all your anxiety for yourself and others. Lean your head back upon His bosom and rest there, and the God of peace will give you peace, and enable you to go forth again on the morrow upon a similar mission. So we shall shed the peace of heaven over the sorrows and troubles of earth. II. THE METHOD IN WHICH HE SHALL DO HIS WORK. There are three or four avenues in which we are to perform this blessed office. First, with regard to our own adversaries--to those who are hostile to us and seeking to harm us. Never lose your peace with such, but see if there is anything you can do, consistently with the claims of honor and justice, even though at heavy cost to yourself, to remove the cause of trouble. Take out of the way, so far as you can, the obstacles to peace. It is better to suffer wrong than to allow some thorn of misunderstanding and ill-will to rankle between yourself and another. St. Paul was very clear against believer going to law with believer; he insisted that it was far better to suffer wrong. .And as to our relations with others, it is probably better, after due remonstrance, to suffer than to avenge ourselves. The only thing which really justifies us breaking the outward reign of peace by physical force or by appeal to law is when some evil-doer is carrying out a policy of tyranny, oppression, and high-handed wrong against the defenceless and helpless. In other cases, when there is a cause of misunderstanding, seek out thine adversary, tell him his fault between thee and him alone, try to put away the cause of stumbling and offence, and if worse becomes worst, suffer. Secondly, we have to go forth incessantly pouring oil upon the troubled waters. Not stirring up strife, not suggesting suspicion, but allaying discord, and putting loving and charitable constructions upon things which irritate and annoy. Very often the peacemaker, by a suggestion he makes, by the new light he casts upon a word or action, will allay the irritable feeling which was leading to a breach of peace. We may often mediate between two parties at strife, when our heart is perfectly pure and our eye single and our judgment well balanced. Thirdly, we must endeavor to spread counsels of peace. Judged by human standards of computation, the progress of peace among men is terribly slow. It is more than eighteen hundred years now since the angels sang their carol, and yet peace seems still to have fled the world. See the nations of Europe armed to their teeth. Take the daily paper any morning, and glance down the telegrams. Recall the incessant struggle in Parliament and the Law Courts, on the Stock Exchange, in the money markets, and in business. Look into the churches which profess the name of Jesus, and consider the discord and jealousy everywhere. There is plenty of work for the sons of peace to do everywhere, and often their hearts fail and are discouraged. Judged by our standards the dawn is so long in breaking. Men’s swords flash so defiantly and suddenly in the air, while counsels of peace are slow as the flower of the cactus-plant. But the morning will break. Meanwhile, every new convert to the great cause of international arbitration, every quarrel that is composed, every passion that is calmed, every sword which is transformed to a pruning-hook, is another step in the great cause which we espoused, when we first ranged ourselves on the side of Christ. Fourthly, we must urge men to be reconciled to God. It is only when the heart is right with God that it is right universally. To be wrong with Him, is to be at war with all beside. The ill works out. Diseased blood means boils, and blains, and sores. The unrestful heart is the source of disturbance everywhere. Our one message to man is: God is at peace with you, be at peace with Him. He is reconciled, be ye reconciled. Sonship will involve brotherhood. No such effort is ever lost, no such word ever falls to the ground, no endeavor to make peace leaves the peacemaker poorer. You either have the satisfaction of seeing your work accomplished, or the peace of God comes back like the dove to Noah’s ark--" your peace shall return to you." III. OUR REWARD. "You shall be called sons of God." The emphasis is on the word called. We are sons to start with--we could not enter into the Father’s plans if we were not; but we shall be called sons of God. As it is said of Christ, that He was proved to be the Son of God with power by His resurrection--He had been the Son of God before, but He was declared to be so on that day. So, as we go about amongst men, carrying peace in our hearts and shedding it abroad, they will say, "That man is a child of God." Men do not believe in one man’s talk, or in the other man’s profession, but they do believe in a quiet holy endeavor to make and keep peace. It is easy to recognize this Godlike virtue of peace, because the world has so little of it. It shines like a star amid a stormy sky full of cloud-wrack. Christ, speaking of His peace, said, " Not as the world giveth, give I unto you." There is no peace outside Christ, and directly peace really soaks into the Christian man’s heart, and flashes through his life, and shines through his every movement, it is the most convincing proof that Christian people have got something the world cannot bestow or even imitate. They are called sons of God. There is a time coming, and it cannot be far away, when all God’s sons and daughters will be gathered to the Father’s home and tread the courts of His palace. Let us try to imagine that the present " little while " has vanished, and our Lord has come, with all His saints, to His bridal feast. See the regiments of His followers, as they pass--First the poor in spirit, followed by the bands of the meek, of them that mourn, of those that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Here are the merciful, and here the pure in heart, and here the peacemakers. And as this last regiment passes by, mark how the bright throngs of spectators cry, ’" These are the sons of God, they are likest God, they show His name written in their foreheads." There is nothing apparently in all the universe so Godlike as this endeavor to make peace, not by glozing over the surface, but by dealing with those causes which underlie the quarrel and strife of the world. O God of peace, grant me Thy peace unspeakable, that I may abound in peace, through the power of the Holy Ghost. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 81: 05.09. MARTYRS AND PROPHETS ======================================================================== IX MARTYRS AND PROPHETS Matthew 5:10-12 "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness" sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," etc.-- Matthew 5:10-12. THIS beatitude completes the octave, but there is no special reason why our Lord should not have finished with the seventh, because the eighth is altogether so different to the foregoing. They rather deal with character, this with condition; they with the internal quality of the Christian soul, this with its external relation. So far as we understand the first seven, they might be developed in the spirit, apart from all the world beside, immured in some secluded not to apart from the world; but this indicates that our Lord’s conception for His Church was that it would be constantly in the midst of the world; not of it, but in it; and therefore in perpetual collision and antagonism with its evil. He seems to have been sketching His own life. These beatitudes tell the story of our Saviour’s personal life, as, indeed, it is the story of His life as developed step by step in the believer’s heart. They are therefore objectively and subjectively historical. They are objectively historical, for we know that our Lord Jesus was poor in spirit, emptied Himself, mourned and wept for the sin of man; was meek; hungered and thirsted for righteousness; was merciful and pure in heart; and that He came to make peace. All these qualities in our Saviour’s experience brought Him to the Cross--brought Him into collision with the evil of the world, and in three years to Calvary. Thus the beatitudes afford a true history of the progress of our Saviour’s life from the emptying of the incarnation to the laying down of His life for men. They are also true of each one of us. We begin by being poor in spirit, broken in heart, and lowly in mind. We pass through phase after phase of added knowledge of God and of His truth; and as we do so we approximate always more and more to the climax of the Cross, and just in proportion as we are like Christ in the attainment of these lovely qualities, we become like Him also in our suffering and sorrow even to death. How clearly our Lord Jesus Christ predicts the effect which these qualities will have upon the world. It is as if He said, " It is impossible for you to be thus and thus without incurring a very avalanche of hate, but in the midst of it all, you may retain the blessed placidity and rest which I have promised. There is no need that the benedictions which I have already uttered to those who are merciful and meek and pure in heart, should forsake you when you stand at the stake or are nailed to the Cross, for the blessed life is altogether independent of outward circumstances; it may be deeply seated and rooted in the soul when all without is in turmoil and war." One of the Scotch martyrs, when they were putting the faggots at his feet, said, " Methinks they are casting roses before me." Another of the martyrs, when he was about to die, said, " I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." And it is said of the great Argyle, that when his physician felt his pulse, as he laid his head upon the block, he could detect no fluttering, but the quiet steady beat of health and peace. Since, then, the qualities our Saviour characterized in the beatitudes were inevitably driving Him and all His followers into collision with the world, it was very delightful and beautiful of Him to say, " In the midst of all this you may be blessed; yea, you may rejoice, your heart may leap and bound with exceeding joy." And the more we think about it, the more sure it seems that all those who died for the faith had some special grace given which enabled them to be more than conquerors, and it will come still to those who are accounted worthy to suffer for Christ amongst men. Let us notice, first, why we are persecuted; secondly, the manner of the persecution; thirdly, the blessedness which is possible amidst it all. I. THE CAUSE OF PERSECUTION. It is twofold. First we are " Persecuted for righteousness’ sake," and then He says, " And shall persecute you for My sake." Evidently men must feel that His cause was righteousness; that He was the righteous Servant of God, and that righteousness was no longer an abstraction or sentiment, because He had embodied it. This is a great distinction, and makes it so much easier to suffer for Him. It is well enough to suffer for a cause, the cause of justice, truth, and righteousness, but how much better to think of suffering for Him! It is an inspiration to realize that righteousness is Christ, and that whenever men suffer for righteousness they do really suffer for Him who is the Prince of Righteousness and the King of Truth? Wherever there is right in the world for which men suffer, the cause of Jesus Christ is somehow implicated in it. But how wonderful that Jesus, at the very beginning of His ministry, a Nazarene peasant, standing amid a number of peasants on the Mount of Beatitudes, should identify the cause of righteousness with Himself in this marvellous combination. " For My sake," He said. Now why is it that the world hates and persecutes us for His sake? There are just these reasons. First, that the more there is of Christ in us, the more we condemn the world, and there is nothing the ungodly man so dislikes as to have the search-light of unsullied purity flashed in upon the workings of his heart and life. Jesus Christ is to the ungodly what the sun at noontide is to the diseased eye; what the bounding joyousness of the child is to the weakened nerve. And hence it is in proportion as we are living in the power of Jesus Christ, and are bringing to bear the influence of our character and life upon other men that they wince beneath the impinging ray; they shrink from it; it causes them pain, and they turn naturally in indignant hatred on those who have thus inflicted upon them suffering. Secondly, the more there is of Christ in us, the more we offend the pride of men and women around, who desire to have the admiration which we have, or which true godliness has, but which they are not able to win, through their inability to pay the price for it. Hence jealousy and envy immediately begin to work. Remember how Aristides was hated, because he was always called " The Just." Men who were notoriously unjust envied him the love of his fellow-citizens. And so there will always be a great jealousy on the part of the ungodly toward those who love Christ. Thirdly, the Christ-spirit in any one of us is always aggressive, and compels us to attack the vested interests of wrong-doing. The Lord Jesus never contemplated that His children should go quietly through the world exerting only a negative influence. He expected that there would be a constant positive effect proceeding from His Church, that, like salt, it would sting. But when the craft is in danger, when the receipts fall off, we naturally rouse the indignation of those who suffer in consequence. The search-light brought to bear upon the diseased conscience, the constant feeling that the Christian possesses a character which the ungodly cannot emulate, and which wins an admiration they cannot receive, together with the fear that worldly position and possessions are threatened by the progress of the Christ-spirit--all these things tend to make men. And yet the source of hatred really lies deeper than all this. It seems as if there is a malignancy of hatred in evil against the good which cannot be perfectly explained by any of these reasons, and which must be attributed to that eternal war and hatred which exist between Satan and all his legions, and Jesus Christ and the armies of heaven. There is a great war in the universe, a fire raging beyond the range of our sight, and we may be pretty sure the signs of it will break out whenever we manifest on earth something of the purity and beauty of Jesus Christ our Lord. These are the causes of persecution. II. THE FORMS WHICH THIS PERSECUTION TAKES. Our Lord characterizes it in three distinct ways --first, in word; secondly, in act; and thirdly, in imputation of evil. In word men reproach us; in act they persecute us; in imputation of evil they " say all manner of evil against us falsely for His sake." We need hardly dwell upon this. We know something of the hiss of the serpent. We have all suffered more or less from the unkind word. We know what it is for stories to pass round and round, for we ourselves have been only too prone to take them upon our lips and pass them forward. The word and the act, how many have suffered, how many are suffering? Think of the eight hundred Quakers--to take one of the smallest religious sects--who in the reign of Charles II. suffered for their religion, and the one million pounds exacted from that body in payment of fines for conscience’ sake, and of all the countless numbers who have suffered for the cause of Christ. And then as to the imputation of evil. I do not think any of us should shrink from it. We are very anxious about our character, but if we live close to Christ, men will impute to us all manner of evil. They will impugn our motives, misrepresent our actions, and circulate malicious stories about us. The nearer we live to Christ the more certain it is it will be so; that if they called Him Beelzebub they will call us the same. My belief is that we should be very careless about these things, and that the only time when we should defend our character should be when aspersions on it may injure the cause of Christ; that as far as we are concerned we should be content to lose our character and be counted the offscouring of all things. When these reports are circulating, and these stories being told, and these unkind words being hurled from lip to lip, we should immediately turn to our Master and tell Him we are content to suffer with and for Him. Ask Him to intercede for and to vindicate us, if it is His will we should be vindicated, and if not, to give us grace to suffer patiently and wait. We are so eager to stand well; we are so sorry if the least thing is said against us; we are so irritated if we are misunderstood and misrepresented; we are so anxious to write the explanatory letter to the paper or the private individual. It is a profound mistake. We should be content to trust God with the aspersion, to leave to Him our vindication, and meanwhile to plod on, doing our work quietly day by day, as in His sight, only being more tender and thoughtful and careful of those who have done us wrong. That is the true Christian spirit. III. THE BEATITUDE. Why is it that we are blessed, and how does the blessedness come? The Master says that they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake have the kingdom, and that was the very promise with which He commenced this series of Beatitudes, " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It would almost seem, therefore, as if we had come back to where we started, but it is not quite so. It is quite true that the poor in spirit have the kingdom, and that those who are persecuted have the kingdom, but we must remember that just as steps in the spiral staircase always come back upon their starting-point, but upon a higher level, so we come back to the kingdom, but upon a higher level than we were when we started with the poor in spirit, and it may be that this series is constantly repeating itself in higher rounds. It may be that we shall begin to-day, by poverty of spirit, to climb up the spiral staircase toward this eighth beatitude, and then starting again from this eighth beatitude we shall pass, so to speak, through a higher series, passing through the same notes but in another key. We shall never get away from mourning, only we shall mourn for deeper reasons. We shall never cease to be learning the lesson of meekness, but it will be a deeper down meekness than ever before, one that dyes our very heart fibre. We shall always be seeking purity, but we shall have new conceptions of purity, and as we know these things in a more perfect degree we shall be persecuted more, and so every time we will come back and back and back to where we started, but higher up. Persecuted for righteousness’ sake and yet possessing the kingdom. Our Lord Jesus Christ was looking over the wall of time; there were patent to Him things which none but He knew of. In the tenth verse He speaks in the past tense, but in the present tense in the eleventh verse. " Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," as if at that moment He saw all the spiritual witnesses to the truth of God who had suffered from the time of Abel, and He says, "I see them, and they have already entered upon the royalties of the eternal world, and sit on thrones and judge;" and then turning to His disciples He said, " Blessed are ye when men shall revile you: for your reward is great in heaven." In future, when we are persecuted, I think it will help us if we seek to look into the future, as Jesus did, and realize the greatness of our reward, for every reward that we receive in heaven will carry with it greater opportunity of blessing in the ages that are yet to be. That was why the Lord spoke about thrones. The thrones on which we are to sit imply that we shall be able more widely to help those needing help; to serve God more efficiently; to minister before Him, and carry His blessed gospel, perhaps to regions of the universe where it has never been heard. We shall indeed be blessed if the persecution of this world shall make us more fit to serve and minister in the next. Notice how the Lord Jesus puts the martyr upon the same footing as the prophet. He said, " So persecuted they the prophets," as if the martyr were a prophet. It is a profound thought, but a very true and deep one. The prophet stood among his fellows witnessing to the unseen and eternal; the martyr or the sufferer does the same. So that the fagots on which the martyrs of Christ have been burnt have lighted up the souls of men almost as much as the words of prophets have done, and have cast a glow upon the centuries. Prophets witness to the unseen and eternal by their words, sufferers do it by their agonies. If we, day by day, are willing to suffer for Christ in the workshop or in the home, we are drawing aside the veil of the unseen and eternal, through our fiery trials people are catching a glimpse of the faith and heroism and strength of Christianity, and we are witnessing to the reality of things unseen by ordinary vision, but which animate us to endure. To Thee, my God, I flee, to hide from the rebuke and hate of men, who daily pursues, oppresses, and wrest my words; hide me in the secret of thy pavilion, I entreat Thee, from the strife of tongues. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 82: 05.10. THROUGH THE GATES ======================================================================== X THROUGH THE GATES Revelation 22:14.--R.V. "Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."-- Revelation 22:14.--R.V. THIS has been truly called the last beatitude of the ascended Christ. It is characteristic of our dear Lord that, as He had shown us the way of Blessedness from the Mount on which He taught His disciples, so He should complete the cycle by this last crowning and significant benediction, which embraces certain conceptions that could not have been presented, because they would not have been understood, until the Cross had been borne, and the Blood shed. It is interesting to note the very great alteration which the R.V. makes in the text, therein following the most approved ancient MSS. Formerly the words read thus: Blessed are they that do His commandments; and though it was clear that it would be impossible to do so, apart from His grace who bought us by His blood, and now waits to succor us by His Spirit--yet the stress of the verse was evidently on that obedience to commandment which savored strongly of the old covenant. To make entrance into the City of God depend primarily on obedience, was not perhaps what we might have expected, after all that is said in the Epistles about our absolute indebtedness for all to the unsearchable riches of God’s grace. Of course such obedience is due to the operation of God’s grace; of course, also, the work of God in the soul can only be attested and vindicated by its effect on our outward life; but we must feel that there is greater propriety in this final stress being laid on the redemption which was purchased for us by the Blood of the Cross. There seems a fitness in this emphatic reference to what Christ has done for us on the Cross, as distinguished from what we are called upon to do for Him. I. THE HOMOGENEOUSNESS OF OUR SAVIOUR’S LIFE. The angels that stood beside the little group which gathered on the Ascension Mount, said emphatically: This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come, in like manner. Evidently they had no thought that the passage of the centuries, less or more, would alter Him in one trait of His character, or in one aspect of holy helpfulness to the sons of men. However long the interval between His departure and return, however important the events that might transpire in the meanwhile, however lofty the dignity to which He might be exalted, He would always be the same Jesus--the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Some years ago I was privileged to make the friendship of a distinguished Indian missionary who, out of his intense devotion to the country which he had adopted for his Master’s sake, wore the native dress, ate the native food, and even sat in the native fashion. On his return to England on furlough, he still maintained these customs; and on my remonstrating with him, and suggesting that what might be suitable for India was unnecessary in England, he replied: " If I were to alter my style of living on my return to England, the natives might suppose that I had only put on the appearance of likeness to themselves, whereas I wish them to realize that for the love of Christ I have actually identified myself with their interests, and have become an Indian." This will assist us to realize how close is Christ’s identification with us. His Incarnation is not a semblance merely, like the robes of light in which He girds Himself. He has become one with us in a very real and literal fashion, and now that He has passed from our view He is not less the Son of man because He is the acknowledged Son of the Highest; and He pursues the same course of thought, action, and ministry, as when he sojourned on our earth, sat on the mountain, walked beside the lake, or floated across its heaving bosom. What an illustration of this fact is presented here! He was sent to bless (Acts 3:26). When He opened His mouth and taught, He said, Blessed, blessed, blessed (Matthew 5:3, etc.). His hands dropped with the spices of blessing when He placed them on the latch of men’s hearts. Never was He happier than when He wove some benediction into His ordinary talk (Luke 7:23). He blessed the food men eat, and transformed a common meal into a sacrament. He was in the act of blessing with outspread hands, when He was severed from those who loved Him, and borne upward to heaven (Luke 24:50-51). The last view men caught of our Saviour’s person, was in the act of blessing, with outstretched hands, as when the priest came out of the temple and blessed the waiting congregation. It is in harmony, therefore, with all we know of Jesus, to find Him uttering such a benediction as this; and it is also in conformity with what He tells us will be His greeting to those who have faithfully obeyed and imitated Him: " Come, ye blessed of My Father." Wherefore let us doubt not, but steadfastly believe, that this same Jesus is the same loving Saviour who, in the days of His flesh, so lovingly blessed all who came to Him, and who, from His throne in the glory, still stoops over our lives, with His hands full, pressed down and running over with the blessings which He desires to pour into our lives, making us most blessed forever, and filling us with joy by His countenance. II. THE FORCE OF THIS METAPHOR. "’Blessed are they that wash their robes."--This book is dominated by Hebrew methods of thought, and in the robe we must detect an allusion to character, which is to the soul what our clothes are to the body. Character is the robe in which the inner man arrays himself. Indeed, the word " habit " (and character is just the collection of our habits) is used alike of the material dress, and of the inner and moral life. When Joshua is described as standing before the Angel, clothed in filthy garments, and when the prodigal returns to his father in rags, we can but understand that their character is reflected in the condition of their dress: and that each is far removed from the purity of heart and behavior without which none can see the Lord. By nature the robe of our souls is splashed and foul. " All our righteousness," the prophet says, "are as filthy rags." And if our righteousnesses are such, what must not our wickednesses be! Not that all have gone to the same excess of riot, nor have dyed their robes to an equal degree of blackness; but that there is only One of the sons of Adam that has escaped some spot or stain or wrinkle. The Lamb was without blemish, and without spot: all else need to wash their robes of some pollution that has left its finger-mark upon them. The meek were not always meek; the pure not always chaste; the poor in spirit not always humble; and if it were not for the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, the cleanliness of God’s home were forever an inaccessible ideal. But, as this book so constantly tells us, there is a glorious possibility of becoming cleansed. " These," says the Seer, " have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb." And if they succeeded in this, we may, so long as "the Blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth from all sin." 1. Be willing that the Holy Spirit should have entire control of the deepest springs of thought and motive, so that never again you may harbor the least thing that may grieve Him who bought you by His blood to be wholly His. Dwell much on His infinite and ineffable claims; and beware lest you count the blood by which you have been redeemed an unholy thing. 2. Spend much time in meditation upon that supreme act of the Divine Substitute, in virtue of which He died in the likeness of sinful flesh, that our old man should be annulled and brought to nought, that we should no longer serve sin. And let the cross put a finality to your subjection beneath, the reign of evil habit and desire. " In that He died, He died unto sin once . . . likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin." 3. Ponder much the tenderness of Him who died on the Cross, and is now exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour; His great horror of sin; its cost to Him, and His ability to deliver the soul that trusts in Him from the tyrant evils that have too long devastated it. Thus a great hatred of sin will become your second nature, and that blessed penitence and compunction will be yours, which shall dissolve you in floods of penitential grief. 4. Remember, too, what Dr. Chalmers called the expulsive power of a new affection, and ask that the love of Jesus, as evidenced in His cross, may so constrain you that you may no longer live to yourself, but to Him who died and rose again. 5. Above all plead that promise of His, which so well embraces our deepest desires, and answers them: " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you; I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My ways." Let us claim that God would fulfil in us whatever He may mean by those great words. Oh, to live under the shelter of the Cross, beneath the flow of the cleansing blood, in fellowship with Him who came by water and blood--not by water only, but by water and blood. The Greek word might bear the force: Blessed are they that are washing their robes. That we have been washed once is not enough; we must go again and again to the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. Whenever we are conscious of the least defilement, and before it can breed and spread; whenever conscience accuses us; whenever we have lost our place and feel out of fellowship with God--we must get back again to the Laver, just at the entrance of the Holy Place. Oh souls of men, defiled and unfit for God’s pure eye, will ye not seek the pardon and salvation which emanate from the Cross, and are to be received by faith, that ye too may have the right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city? III. THE RESULTS THAT WILL ACCRUE. "Right to the tree of life."--On the last page of the Bible, we meet with the tree of life, from which in the first pages we are told that man was warned away. But here the restrictions are removed. The Cherubim with flaming sword are withdrawn. God Himself gives us a right to come, and invites to eat abundantly of its precious fruit. Why is this? Why may we take that from which our first parents were debarred? The answer is not far to seek. We have been redeemed by the precious blood from the consequences of our transgression. The proud spirit of independence and isolation from God has been replaced by a tender, humble, renewed spirit. Life will not now be spent in the energy of the self principle, but in living dependence on the true Vine; therefore the Life, which is life indeed, is the glad requisite and possession of the cleansed soul. It has become one of those sheep that hear the Shepherd’s voice, and of whom He said: I give unto them eternal life; I am come that they might have life more abundantly. Right to enter in through the gates into the city.--Excluded from the garden at the beginning, man is welcomed to the city which hath foundations, when the mystery of redemption, of sin and sorrow, is complete. The garden stands for solitude, comparative sluggishness, and evanescence; the city for society, activity, and permanence. Who will not be glad to reach that city, and enter its gates! Like those of Peter’s prison, they will open to us of their own accord! And best of all, we shall have no perturbation or anxiety lest our presence there should be challenged. Pointing to the Blood which has cleansed us, we may insist on our right to be there, through the Blood of the Cross which has blotted out the handwriting that was against us, and opened to us a fellowship, which death cannot annul, with the great multitude of the saints. THE END ======================================================================== CHAPTER 83: 06.00.0. CALVARY TO PENTECOST ======================================================================== Calvary to Pentecost by F.B. Meyer ======================================================================== CHAPTER 84: 06.00.1. PREFACE ======================================================================== Preface "I have chosen you out of the world," the Master said. And again, "They are not of the world." This is the true position of every member of His mystical body--the Church. In the purpose of God, we have passed out of the world which rejected our Lord, and belong to that in which He is supreme. We are not oblivious to the needs of the world which He so loved and loves. Its sorrows and sins lie near our heart; its call for help, like the piteous cry of sailors from a wreck, is ever in our ears; its needs call out our most strenuous energies. But we do not belong to it. We enter it constantly, to be its salt and light; but our true standing is without it, where Jesus is. We need, then, to understand and embrace the principles of the Risen and Ascended Life, which dates from the cross, as its dawn, and climbs in glorious gradations toward the meridian of a day that can never be shadowed by night. Some of these principles are expounded in the following pages. F.B. Meyer ======================================================================== CHAPTER 85: 06.00.2. CONTENTS ======================================================================== Contents I. The Wondrous Cross II. The Resurrection III. Ascension Day IV. Christ in You the Hope V. Spiritual Environment VI. The Exorcism of Self VII. Agonizing unto Perfection VIII. The Peace that Guards IX. The Art of Sitting Still X. The Supreme Gift of the Ascension ======================================================================== CHAPTER 86: 06.01. THE WONDROUS CROSS ======================================================================== Chapter 1 The Wondrous Cross The passing years enhance the preciousness of the cross. We thought we loved it, and, the little hill of Calvary, and the garden with its sweet spring flowers, in those days, now receding far behind us, when we first found refuge beneath its outstretched arms. But as the shadows of life begin to fall, however slightly or evidently from a westering sun, its meaning unfolds itself. There is more than one manner of fruit on the tree of life; more than one point of view from which to behold it; depths as well as heights, lengths as well as breadths. And yet when we speak thus of the cross, we never forget that its value consists in what He was who hung there in dying agony. Not the cross, but the Crucified. Not the tree, but its precious burden. Not the altar, but the Divine Victim who there surrendered Himself without spot to God, as the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world. We use the cross as a comprehensive word for the work which the Son of God accomplished there. The river that flowed through Eden parted into four beds, and the doctrine of the cross may be divided into four great lines of truth, respectively presented by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, by the Apostle Peter, by the Apostle Paul, and by the disciple whom Jesus loved. We do not for a moment suggest that any of these writers confines himself to one aspect of the death that Jesus died. Each of them touches at will every note in the octave of Calvary. But each gives his own tone and color to the white ray of divine light as it radiates from the cross of the Saviour of the world. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews was evidently educated amid the sacred associations that centered in the Temple at Jerusalem. With throbbing heart he had mingled in the vast festal assemblies. He had loved those days of exuberant joy; had felt the thrill of psalm and hymn, sung of the choirs of Levites; had realized the privileges of the blood of sprinkling, of altar and priest, of near access to the holy Presence that dwelt between the cherubim. All these had vanished, as light off the clouds of sunset, when with the rest of his Hebrew fellow Christians he went forth to Jesus, outside the camp. At first they had felt dreary and sad, but suddenly had come to see that in the cross of Jesus they had obtained the spiritual realities of which Leviticus could only give the transient symbols (Hebrews 10:19; Hebrews 12:23-24). And perhaps this is the first aspect in which we view the cross. We account it the brazen altar where Jesus put away the sins of the world. We see there the Lamb of God charged with our guilt and penalty, and bearing it away forever. We have our consciences purged from dead works. We have a right to enter the holy place through His blood. We stand in the presence of the burning glory of the Shekinah, unabashed, unashamed, accepted in the Beloved, and entranced in the music of words that float as music around: "There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." The Apostle Peter is deeply sympathetic with this view. He could not be otherwise, with the Hebrew background of his life. And if we may interpret an expression of his literally, he seems to have been an eye-witness of the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 5:1.). As though he was led by a strange fascination to stand afar off, and see the last sufferings of Him whom, for all that he had denied Him, he loved with all his heart. He repeatedly refers to the sufferings of Christ, and holds them up as our example. But he develops a further view. He speaks emphatically of our redemption (1 Peter 1:18; 2 Peter 2:1). In his thought each disk in the blood of Jesus was a coin of priceless value, purchasing us to be His slaves. As though we had stood in the slave-market of the world, "sold under sin," but He came there with blood as His purchase-money, and bought to make us bond-slaves to Himself. This conception of the death of Christ commonly follows upon that already suggested. We first look upon it as a sacrifice, atoning for our guilt, and bringing us near to God; then we find it to be a masterful argument for consecration of all we are and have. We learn that we are not our own, but bought with a price, and we glorify Him in our body and spirit which are His. But the Apostle Paul lays stress on yet another aspect of the wondrous cross. We have already found there propitiation and consecration; we now find identification (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:8). His perpetual thought is, that as we were in the first Adam when he fell, so we were, by some mysterious law, in Christ when He died, and rose and ascended into heaven. In Him, our Ark, we crossed the waters of death, from the old world, where sin and lawlessness were rampant, into the new heavens and earth, in which dwelleth righteousness. When He hung in dying anguish on the cross, we were there, though we felt none of the pain; when He descended into the grave, we passed thither also, though we shuddered not with the chill air of the vault; when He arose, we felt death behind us forever, and became citizens of a world where the standards of earth are reversed forever, like reflections in standing water. This thrilled the apostle with ecstatic joy. He was free from the condemnation of the law. Its pealing thunder rolled beneath his feet, reverberating in the dark valleys far below, but he had passed to the upland lawns, the blue of heaven above him, the sense of freedom, joy, hope, buoyant in his breast. He was also free from the false standards and judgments of the world. The princes of this world had put their Master out of it, as the Gadarenes before had driven Him from their coasts; and the expulsion of the Lord had been the expulsion of His slave. It was not meet that the one should be without and the other within. And the apostle was glad to see the cross, standing with outstretched arms to forbid all commerce between the believer and the world. Not for him its standard of failure or success; not for him its smiles, or baubles, or rewards; not for him its amusements or blandishments. He was crucified to the world, and the world to him, and he glorified that it was so. He was also free from the dominion of the self-life, to which he so often refers, as "the flesh." This had been his bane, until one day he saw his self-life nailed in effigy to the cross of Jesus (Romans 8:4), as a man may start to see his ugly features reflected from a crystal mirror; and he realized that by the cross of Jesus he had been born into a world where self in every form was under the curse, and where it was replaced by the Spirit of love and life and resurrection. "No longer after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Thus the Apostle Paul was filled with this great thought of his close identification with the death of the Lord Jesus, by which he had passed into the Eternal and Unseen, the Infinite and Divine; had become a citizen of the new Jerusalem, and a resident in the heavenly places, of which the person of the Lamb is focus and center. His eternity had commenced. He was translated that he should not see death. He had passed into a land with which the old life had no extradition treaty. The Apostle John views the death of Christ as it affects our daily walk and conversation. With him the blood cleanseth from all sin. He never forgot that he saw blood and water come from the wounded side; and that Jesus came not by water only, but by water and blood. He says that Jesus washed us from our sins in His blood; that the blessed saints have washed their robes and made them white in His blood; and that we have right to enter through the gates into the city only when we wash our robes in the precious blood. The robes get sadly soiled as we go through the various demands of daily duty and the scenes in which we have to earn our daily bread, and therefore it is most helpful to learn that there is a provision made in the death of the cross for daily purification. That blood never loses its virtue; and whenever, in our walk in the light, we are sensible of the least soil of evil, we may wash and be clean. Thus we learn to walk with God with an uncondemning heart. Not that we are all we ought to be in His holy sight. Even if we are kept from presumptuous sin, we come short of His glory; but we are constantly sensible of the cleansing grace that purges our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Ah, wondrous cross indeed, in thee we find remedy for all the ills of life! Since thou wast cut out of some forest tree, and didst bear thy burden on the place of a skull, guilt and penalty are no more; we are the bond-slaves of the sweetest Master. We have passed as in a new Ark the waves of death, and landed on resurrection soil; and we have learned the secret of walking the world as those who belong to another. An, blessed heavenly ladder by which we have passed into the eternal and heavenly sphere! The tree cast into the bitter Marah waters, which made them sweet to the taste; the slip of wood flung into the river, which caused the iron to forget the attraction of the earth, and swim; the pole on which the serpent of brass was elevated in the view of Israel--all have their counterpart in the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 87: 06.02. THE RESURRECTION ======================================================================== Chapter 2 The Resurrectioin THE resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead has established the belief in the immortality of the soul on the impregnable basis of fact. There was a time when it was a matter for speculation; an argument founded on the analogy of nature; an inference from the nature of the soul. But since the gospel of the resurrection has been proclaimed, life and immortality have been brought to light. We are no longer left to infer that men may rise and live in the hereafter. It is enough to say that a Man has risen, and He the second Adam, the representative Man, the type to which man is being conformed. And therefore, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. The resurrection of Jesus Christ not only established Christianity by putting the divine seal on all that He had done and taught, but it filled the world with a new hope, an ecstacy of delight, a ravishment of joy, which were as great a contrast to the sad forebodings of paganism, and to the uncertainty of religious teachers, as the flowers of May to the gloom of December. We are so accustomed to the assertions of Christianity that we find it difficult to realize how vast was the transformation it wrought on the outlook of the soul of man. Like the women, it had been gazing into a sepulcher; now it greeted the risen Christ and shared His life. The New Testament is therefore full of this gladness. The new wine of the kingdom fermented vigorously in the new bottle-skins that swelled beneath its touch. The voice of Christian song awoke. The walls of the catacombs bear witness to a triumphant hope that laughed at death and leaped forward to embrace the life that beckoned it. At one time an enthusiasm for martyrdom seized upon the Church, and led multitudes to dare the uttermost penalties of their foes that they might sooner drink the cup of immortality. Women and children, youths and maidens eagerly pressed forward, through stake and wild beast, to quaff the water of life where it issues from the throne of God. But there are four main aspects in which the resurrection may be regarded: First, that of the Epistle to the Hebrews. These Hebrew Christians had some reason to fear that the religion of Jesus Christ might be only a phase in the growth of a great religious system, and that it might pass away, as the patriarchal had done before the Levitical, or as the Levitical before Christianity. What security of tenure was there? What assurance that their children might not have to relinquish the Church, as they had been called upon to relinquish the temple? What if, after all, there were the element of transience, the seeds of decay, the little rift of dissolution in this system, of which the name of Jesus was center and circumference, beginning and end! Such thoughts were met and forever dissipated by the argument based on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus which attested His perpetual existence and priesthood. Four times at least the words are repeated, "a priest forever." Twice the emphasis is laid on the fact that our Lord’s priesthood, unlike that of the Levitical priests, is indissoluble and inviolable. They were many in number, because hindered from continuing by reason of death; but He is perfected forevermore, and because He ever liveth is able to save to the uttermost of time, as well as of space, all who come unto God by Him. Religious systems naturally circle around the priest. Christianity finds its center in Jesus. What He is, it must be; and since He is unchangeably the same, it can never be superseded or pass away; it can never wane as the stars of the old dispensation did in the growing glory of the new; it must abide as the one final revelation of God to man, and the way by which man may enter into fellowship with God. The second aspect is that of the Apostle Peter. He is preeminently the apostle of hope. He bids us be sober and hope patiently for the grace to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ, and makes constant allusion to the glorious realities of the unseen and eternal world, on which the Christians of that dark time should set their thoughts. But all his hopes for himself and his converts were built on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He blesses God the Father for having begotten them again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. The hope of the inheritance was founded on the empty grave. The stone that was rolled away became the cornerstone of the new temple of hope. The traveler in Norway, who comes across homes and hamlets perched on almost inaccessible heights, or shut in by the mighty rampart of mountain ranges, will find no difficulty in imagining a community contained within itself, and oblivious to the existence of a great outer world. To such a society that world might be a subject of speculation, discussion, and argument. The villagers might be accustomed to accompany each other to a certain point on the mountain track, when summoned by an irresistible impulse to ascend it, but none of those who passed that point ever returned. Rumors, guesses, ancient legends might declare that there was a world beyond the mountain barriers to which the road led, and where all who had departed were living a fuller and richer life than before; yet still the information within their reach would be mere surmise. Hope would flicker like the will-o’-the-wisp over the marsh. But supposing that one of their number, whom they had known, went along that path, and after being absent for some days returned, and went often to and fro, declaring that the path led somewhere, that there was a better world on the other side, and that they should meet their beloved once more. Do you not see what a change would come over the people’s hopes? No longer shadowy and deceptive, but strong, clear, sure. An anchor so surely fixed as to bear the greatest strain. A light so clear that shadows of uncertainty must flee away. This is the Apostle Peter’s "living hope." There is also the aspect presented in the writings of the Apostle Paul. As in respect to the death, so of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the apostle’s constant thought is identification. "Quickened together with Christ and raised up with Him." "Raised together with Christ, seek those things which are above." If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. It is his one thought that in the death of Jesus he passed from the old world into the new, and that he was living on the shores of the new world, the world of resurrection and life, the world of which Jesus was King and Lord. The apostle, therefore, found in the Lord’s resurrection the daily motive and law of his life. He was always regulating his action by the laws of that new kingdom, which was unseen and eternal and whose laws were laid down by the Lord in His discourses and parables. This makes the difference between the Christian and the man of the world. They are occupied about similar circumstances, but the latter acts on the principles of the world, whose motive is selfishness, and its aim personal aggrandizement; while the former deals with every incident as a citizen of the new Jerusalem, and upon the principles of the Sermon on the Mount. We are risen with Christ in the thought and .purpose of God, but we must open our natures wide to the Spirit of the resurrection, the Holy Ghost, that He may conform us to the ideal Easter-life. The exceeding greatness of God’s power that wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead to His own right hand, is waiting to do as much for us, but we must yield to it. It will enter and transform our spirits, then permeate our souls, and finally, when the Lord shall come, it will reach and vitalize our bodies, which will rise in the likeness of the risen Lord: transformed from corruption to incorruption, from immortality to immortal youth. Lastly, there is the aspect presented by the Apostle John. Before Christ’s resurrection man thought that night and death were supreme, out of which all things were born, and to which they went. Life might be fair and beautiful, but it was evanescent. Each flower fell before the inevitable scythe, or faded. Each day, whatever the promise of its dawn, died on the edge of the western wave. Each child, however beautiful, passed through maturity into death. And so they fabled the Prometheus, the Laocoon, the fall of Troy. Life was profoundly sad to these people, who tried to solve all problems by their intellect, and imagined that at death life became extinct, like the torches they extinguished at the tomb of their friends. The world, they thought, would become one day a sarcophagus of graves, while Erebus and Chaos resumed their ancient sway. To meet this, it was not enough to affirm that the Son of God lived: it was needful to say, also, that He had died, and having tasted the sharpness of death was living on its farther side. It was on this that the Master laid emphasis when He said to the exile of Patmos, "Fear not; I am the first and the last: and the Living One; and I became dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, and have the keys of death and of Hades." The Son of God entered the lists with Death to try the question as to which should be the reigning power in the universe, whether life or death, light or darkness, corruption or immortal strength and beauty. They grappled for mastery, each with the other, in the wilderness, on the cross, and in the grave. At first Death seemed victor. He appeared to triumph over the one Man, as over all other men. The Prince of Life was slain. The hour and power of darkness vaunted their supremacy. And Chaos seemed about to spoil the palace of Life. But it was only for a moment. It was not possible that Christ should see corruption or be holden of death. Life broke from the sheath and hush of death into the rapture of the Easter morn. Death was robbed of its sting, the grave of its victory, and the lord of death of his power to terrify. As the blessed Lord emerged from the empty tomb, leaving behind Him the adjusted cerements of death, stepping forth into a garden where the spring flowers exhaled their rarest fragrance, it was forever established that life was stronger than death, light than darkness, truth than lies, God than sin. In His life and death and resurrection the Lord Jesus has revealed a life which is stronger than death and hell, and which holds them in its thrall, locking and unlocking them at will. This life He waits to give. He binds it as a victor’s wreath about the brows of them that overcome. He carries it with Him as He rides forth, conquering and to conquer, until grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. So utterly subordinate to Christ are death and Hades that He is said to hold their keys. From the jailer He wrenched them, and He keeps them. In a sense they exist, but the one is His slave, and the other the vestibule of His palace. They serve His purpose. They do His will. If He opens the door, neither the hand of love, nor that of skill, can shut it. If He shuts, all the hatred of men or demons cannot force it open. The life of Jesus, which He has and gives, is not only impervious to all noxious influences, but has acquired the mastery of them, which it holds forevermore. Such are the main aspects in which the sacred writers view the resurrection. Let us put their chalice to our lips and share its exhilarating joy. "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust." Far up the heights, listen to the call of Life, bidding us arise and be gone. Let us leave behind the clinging mists of the valley, over which death has cast its shadow, and stand on the uplands where the sons of the resurrection live in a light that never dims, and amid joys which are never old. Let us live as the sons of the resurrection. "You will never see me die," a veteran Christian was wont to say to his children; "I shall only fall asleep." And so it befell. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death. Let us claim our privilege in the risen Lord. It is appointed unto men once to die. We have died once in Him; and now let us venture all on His own sweet word: "He that liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 88: 06.03. ASCENSION DAY ======================================================================== Chapter 3 Ascension Day BECAUSE this great anniversary necessarily falls on another day than the Lord’s Day, it attracts less attention than Easter or Whitsuntide, but it is not less momentous than either. In some senses it is the crown of the year. The mystery of the holy incarnation, the agony and passion, the festal joy of Easter would all lose their significance and power were it not that they led up to the ascension. That scene on Olivet is always an attractive one. The early morning, when as yet the peasants had not begun to pass along the mountain track on their way with market produce to Jerusalem; the sun rising behind the mountains of Moab, and bathing with gold some fleecy clouds, waiting like chariots drawn up to receive their King; the villages of Bethany and Bethphage within sight, and perhaps sending up one or two ardent lovers of Christ, who had been previously invited to join the little group gathering at the appointed rendezvous. Then the gracious Lord, never more tender than then, giving His last instructions, speaking the final commission, and assuring His followers of His unfailing presence. Now His hands are extended over them in blessing; and as His benediction falls on them as dew, He yields Himself to the attraction of His native home, and begins to ascend. But those words of grace still flow from His. lips, and those hands are still outstretched in blessing, until the cloud envelops Him, as though it were the curtain that hung before the portal of the true temple that God pitched, and not man. The ascension could not have been invented. Even supposing (a supposition which cannot be entertained for a moment) that the course of Christ’s history could have been wrought out from the imagination of an idealist, it would not have entered his thought to add the marvels of ascension to those of resurrection. Had he been able to conduct his story through the anguish of Calvary to the wonders of the Easter morning, he would have stayed his hand there. He could not have conceived another climax beyond. He could not have ventured on a farther apotheosis, Or even if he had felt the necessity of depicting a farewell scene between Christ and His disciples, it must have been fashioned on the model of the translation of an Elijah, or the death-sleep of a Moses, within view of the assembled people. No mind could have invented anything so majestic and so un-obstrusive, so sublime and yet so touching, as the ascension. In conception it stands alone for beauty and impressiveness in the entire range of Scripture. It was the realization of God’s original design for man. "Have thou dominion," God said to Adam. Man was meant to be the vicegerent of the Creator, exercising undisputed sovereignty over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, over the cattle and over the earth. David says he was "made to have dominion; and that all things were put under his feet." But that crown of supremacy was rolled from his head into the dust; he yielded to the temptation of Satan, and became his thrall; and the right of dominion passed from his hand to him who had shown the supremacy of his fallen nature over that human nature which had come fresh from God. Therefore, says the sacred writer sadly, we see "not yet all things put under him." Nature, indeed, seems in arms against man. Her storms shatter his mightiest buildings, her oceans engulf his Armadas, her frost and heat defy him, her creatures resist his yoke. And beneath her multiform machinery we are conscious of malevolent influences that turn the winds and tides and seasons and other natural forces against us. But when Jesus ascended, in Him, as the ideal Man at least, this was reversed. All things were put under His feet. He was raised to the loftiest pinnacle of power that the universe could offer, not as God but as Man. And thenceforward it was only a question of time when all that was true of Him should be accomplished in the experience and realization of His brethren. It was the harbinger of the final overthrow of Satan. In one of his grandest paragraphs the Apostle Paul tells how, in the ascension, our Lord was raised far above all rule and authority and power; phrases which, in another well-known passage, he uses of the wicked spirits in the heavenlies. In another place he describes Christ as leading captivity captive, as though the world and Hades, death and Satan, were dragged behind His triumphal chariot like fettered slaves. It may be, therefore, that beyond that cloud hell made one last stand. There was no controversy about the supremacy of Christ as God; even Satan would not have been so mad as to contest His right to return to His throne. But the battle broke out as to His right to take our human nature with Him. From the Fall the devil-power had been supreme. Man had owned Satan’s mastership, doing his behest. This power he was loath to surrender. And he never would have surrendered it had not Christ wrenched it from his grasp, in the hour of His ascension, which secured his overthrow and established forever that man in Christ is stronger than the devil, and that the doom of Satan’s empire is certain and inevitable. Let us not be afraid of Satan. We may be but as atoms in the feet of Christ, but even then we are above the devil, for it is written that God has put all things under His feet. Let us not look up at Satan from below, but descend on him from above. He matched his power against Christ and failed, and he will fare similarly in conflict with all those in whom Christ dwells. "Thou shalt tread on the lion and adder: the young lion and dragon thou shalt trample under foot." It was the entrance of our High Priest into the most holy place. "He passed into the heavens," said the older version. "He passed through the heavens" is the correct rendering of the Revised Version (Hebrews 4:14). As the high priest of old passed from the view of the people, bearing the blood of atonement in his hand, so did Jesus pass from the brazen altar of the cross to become our representative within the veil, a minister of holy things, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. "Christ entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." The high priest entereth into the holy place year by year, with blood not his own; but Christ entered once for all, bearing His own blood, in the marks of Calvary in hands and side, as of a lamb that had been slain. No trembling soul need now fear to draw nigh. Christ has dedicated a new and living way into the holy place. The veil has been rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Sin itself need not make us hesitate, because the blood speaks in the midst of the throne, and we have a great high priest over the house of God. It was the occasion of receiving great and precious gifts. When He ascended up on high, He not only led captivity captive, but He received gifts for men. In His own wonderful being as Man the Spirit had resided since His birth; but now, as the representative of Man, He obtained from the Father the special power to receive and presently bestow the Holy Spirit and such other gifts as His Church needed to equip her for her struggle with the world. Each one of us shared in that glorious bestowment. "Unto each of us was the grace given, according to the measure of the gift of Christ." We may not have acclaimed our share. We may not have asked that the portion of goods should be transferred to us. We may not have participated in the gifts of the Pentecostal age. But they are nevertheless ours, waiting for us in the hands of the risen Lord, just as pardon and redemption once waited before we came to the cross in the exercise of faith. The ascended Christ waits to bestow the gifts of His ascention on those who believe. Whatever you lack as evangelist, pastor, or teacher, you will find in Him. But it is the profoundest of all mistakes to attempt to work for Him or for men in the present age without being equipped with special qualifications He waits to impart. The ascension points our thoughts upward along the same track. We look for a Saviour. This same Jesus shall so come in like manner. By the way He went, He will return. The days are fast approaching when that pathway will glow again with glory as He hastens to receive His Bride to Himself; and then from sea and earth His saints will go to meet Him, caught up as He was caught up, blessing the world as they leave it, but above all eager to see Him as He is, and be forever with the Lord. Till then let us live the ascension life! "Chains of my heart, avaunt, I say! I will arise, and in the strength of love Pursue my Saviour’s pathway to His home above." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 89: 06.04. CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE ======================================================================== Chapter 4 Christ In You the Hope IT is meet that the chief Christian temple in the greatest Gentile city should be dedicated to the Apostle Paul, because it is to him that we Gentiles owe our knowledge of two of the deepest mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The first of these mysteries is unfolded in Ephesians 3:1-21 --that the Gentiles are "fellow-heirs and fellow-members of the body and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus." It was the cherished hope of those who held closely by the traditions of the Mosaic law that they could turn the new wine of the kingdom into their old and broken bottle-skins, and fill the Jewish temple by making it the vestibule of the Christian Church. It was to oppose this idea that the apostle spent a life of privation, persecution, and incessant suffering. He saw clearly enough that a new spirit was working among men which could not be confined within the restraints of a material and typical system. In season and out of season he protested that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ was a new entity in the world, that the one condition of entrance was faith, that there was no preference given to the Jew over the Gentile, that in Christ Jesus was neither Jew nor Greek, and that its gates stood wide open without partiality to all who found in Christ an asylum from the storm, satisfaction for the heart, government for the will. The second of these two mysteries is disclosed in Colossians 1:1-29, and is perhaps the more wonderful. As the apostle fulfilled his stewardship for us Gentiles, his own mind was filled with wonder and rapture at the transcendent glory of the secret that he was commissioned to tell; and surely his face, as he dictated the burning words, must have been suffused with heavenly light, as though it had caught the glow of the sunrise. The immanence or indwelling of Christ is the characteristic fact of Christianity. Our Lord became incarnate, died, and rose again that we might become His home and temple. Christianity is not a creed, but a life; not a theology or a ritual, but the possession of the spirit of man by the Eternal Spirit of the living Christ. A man may have all else, be orthodox in creed, correct in practice, observant of forms of worship, but if he lack the divine life he has not yet seen the kingdom of heaven. In regeneration the living Saviour actually becomes the tenant of the regenerated nature; and as the life of the animal is superior to that of the plant, and the moral and mental life of man superior to that of the animal, so the life born in the Christian soul distinguishes its possessor from all other men. The first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam a quickening Spirit. The reason why the indwelling of Christ is so little recognized by the majority of Christian people arises from the inwardness of its shrine. Below the senses, keen to appreciate every change in the world around; below the tastes and preferences, the fears and hopes, the resolutions and desires which characterize the soul-life; below our self-consciousness, self-energy, and all that goes to make up our individuality; in the depths of the spirit, the part of our nature in which we touch God most closely, the holy of holies of our being, Christ finds His residence and comes to dwell. Are we not conscious at times of uprising thoughts that defy speech, of hopes that overleap the narrow horizon of our life, of yearnings and impulses and inspirations that surge up from inner depths? All these witness to the existence of that marvelous capacity for God which characterizes the spirit of man; and it is there, in the innermost depths of our being, that the living Christ enshrines and hides Himself. It is not wonderful, then, that, with all our searching, we cannot find Him out. He enters like the gentle zephyr. We can detect no footfall in the passage or on the stair; we cannot discern what He is doing any more than we can follow the workings of nature in the roots of the trees in spring; and because His presence will yield to no test that our senses can devise, we are apt to think it is not there, and to suppose that it cannot be for us to say with Paul, "Christ is in us--in me, the hope of glory." We must therefore avail ourselves of that wonderful faculty of faith which is the key to all Christian living and alone can give us the assurance of things hoped for, the test of things not seen. Faith does for the spirit what the senses do in our natural life. As eye and ear and touch reveal the presence of those we love, so faith is eye and ear and touch to the spirit. She sees Christ, touches the robes in which He veils Himself, hears the golden bells that ring at every movement of His feet; and raising her voice with unhesitating certainty, assures us that He is present; as much so as though there were no heaven for Him to fill, or myriads of spirits waiting to draw their all from Him, as the flowers beside the brimming stream fill their cups from its tides. It is well, therefore, by faith to reckon that this is so. Let us often say aloud, "Christ is within; God is here." Let us reverently enter the shrine of our inner life, and commune with Him there. Let us believe that He waits within us to be at any moment just that which we need most: patient in the impatient; calm in the restless; strong in the weak; wise in the ignorant; loving in the unforgiving. But let us fear above all the energy and assertion of our self-hood, so constantly arrogating to itself importance, and rushing forth through all the avenues of our life. It is only as we die to the world around us, and to the self-life within us, that we realize the glory of this mystery. If we were more tranquil in our behavior, quiet in our movements, self-possessed, willing to wait only upon God, pausing before answering, lifting up our hearts before opening our letters, seeking direction before making engagements or forming plans, we should be conscious of the rising up within us of another life than our own, a purer, stronger, richer life, reproducing something of the glorious life He lived once among men. What a glory the knowledge of this secret will bring into face and life! The orchid root breaks into the glory of the flower; the light ray is unraveled in the hues of the rainbow; the Christ was manifested in the glory of transfiguration, and His secret indwelling reveals itself in a glory that never shone upon sea or shore. This mystery also enriches our lives: "the riches of the glory of this mystery;" that is, the man who enters into its realization becomes sensible that he can meet the demands of his life with a wealth of resource, an exuberance of energy, with a glow of enthusiasm which had been previously foreign to him. It was the knowledge of this that made the martyrs glory in the fires, and has made it possible for the weakest and poorest of mankind to enrich the world with thoughts and words that can never die. It is much to have a rich environment from which to extract the nutriment our natures need; but it is more to possess the indwelling of Christ, in whom all the fulness of God dwells, and to feel it rising up in us night and day, and only asking us to cease from our own works, that He may be all in all. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 90: 06.05. SPIRITUAL ENVIRONMENT ======================================================================== Chapter 5 Spiritual Environment TWENTY years ago the word environment was rarely used. It might occur in scientific treatises, but it was almost wholly unfamiliar to readers of magazines and newspapers. Now it is impossible to escape it. It is the stock phrase with the social reformer, the essayist, the religious teacher. It is perpetually in vogue. And this is due to the fact that we have come to see the immense importance of environment for healthy life. There may be a perfect and vigorous germ, but if the circumstances of its growth are not propitious it will inevitably droop and die. Take, for instance, the child of healthy parents, all whose vital organs are perfectly formed: if it lack proper nourishment, if it be reared in sunless or fetid atmosphere, if the water be tainted and its conditions uncleanly, these things will go far to destroy the advantages of its parentage, and to make the tiny flame flicker ominously in its socket. A perfect peach-blossom may nestle in delicate beauty on the bough of a healthy and prolific tree, but it requires a sunny and propiticus atmosphere, full of morning dews, and night of warm rain, and days of radiant sunlight, before it can weave the luscious, thirst-quenching fruit. And it is so with the fruit of the Spirit--the produce of our life--so rare that the Father will intrust its culture to no other husbandman. It is not enough that we have been born again of the Holy Spirit, and become partakers of the divine nature; we must be careful of our environment, or we shall miss the crown and blossom of our life, to secure which the Son of God died on the cross. But what environment could we have better than is around us always? We sometimes wish that we had been privileged to be present in the upper room when the air was stirred with the advent of the Holy Spirit. But this is still the age of Pentecost, and He is as certainly present with the Church and the individual as He was when He crowned each meek brow with fire. We think that to have been beside the Apostle Paul when he wrote the eighth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, or beside Peter when he opened the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles, or beside John when Patmos, girt by the blue AEgean, he beheld heaven’s opened door, would have necessarily done for us what in these degenerate days we have no right to expect. It is more than probable, however, that we might have had these coveted positions and seen nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing, of the spiritual glories that were unfolded to the enraptured vision of these favored souls; while if they were now to share our life, to walk beside us in our streets, sit beside us in our public conveyances, and live beside us in our homes, it is almost certain that they would discern the presence of the Lord, and the realities of the eternal world, with as much precision as they did in the old days, rapidly receding across the ocean of the centuries. The Spirit of God is with the Church. Every day may be to her a day of Pentecost. The living Christ is here amid the golden candlesticks. There is as much of God in the place where these words are being read as in heaven itself. It is not needful to go back into the past or forward into the future to find Him--He is there. All around us is the blessed atmosphere of the eternal and spiritual. It is a mistake to sigh for anything more than this. whatever is needed for the nurture of a noble, useful, and blessed life is as near us as the ocean to the scale of the fish, or the sunbeams to the gorgeous plumage of the humming-bird. But something more is necessary. The environment of peach or animal or child may be all that could be desired for its nurture and beauty, but the organism itself must have the faculty of extracting and absorbing the qualities it needs. Of what use are sunbeams and dewdrops, if the peach blossoms cannot transmute them into the fruit which exists only in rudimentary form? Of what avail the rich provisions that strew the ground, if the infant’s digestion cannot avail itself of their nutriment? And so we must do more than live in the greatest age that has ever passed over our world. We must recognize it, and be glad of it, and appropriate its treasures, weaving them into the fabric of our soul, the structure of our life. This is where so many of us fail. It is not that our age is degenerate, and our opportunities mean and poor, but that we do not know how to use our environment, extracting from it its priceless gifts, and assimilating them in the inner man. There is as much electricity among the degraded Hottentots as in London, but it is of no avail to them, since they know not how to beckon it from the clouds and yoke it to their chariots. Probably there are forces throbbing around us of which Christ availed Himself in the working of His miracles, but of which we know nothing. They are within our reach, but they do not help us, because we do not recognize them; or even if we were aware of their existence, we should not know how to catch and tame and use them. So the mightiest forces of the spiritual world are nigh us, even in our mouth and heart, but the method of appropriating their blessed properties is largely a lost one to the Church. It is we who require changing, not our environment. Like Jacob, we must be still and sleep, that we may see the shining ladders linking our mean lives with heaven, while angels go to and fro. Like the two disciples, we must share our slender meal with the stranger at the village inn, that the scales may fall from our eyes, and we see the Lord beside us. Moreover, we need grace to appropriate. It is instructive to notice how each living thing takes from the sunbeam what it wants--one its aroma, another its color, a third its luscious taste. So should we extract from Christ whatever we require to complete our character. The short-tempered must take patience; the passionate, purity; the cowardly, moral strength; the domineering, patience; the downcast, comfort. We must not simply pray for them, but take them. This holy boldness is our right. We know that whatsoever we ask, which is guaranteed by any promise of God, we receive of Him, not in some distant time or place, but here and now; and we may so surely reckon that we have received as to be warranted in going forth and acting on the assumption that there has been a real accession of grace to our soul, enabling us to do what before would have been utterly beyond our power. Let us not then sigh for the lost age of gold, since the King of all ages is here. Let us not blame our circumstances or surroundings, which the great Husbandman has arranged with the most careful consideration of what would best promote our welfare. Let us receive as well as ask, take as well as entreat, use what we know God has given, in the absence of any rapturous emotion, and only knowing that He is faithful and cannot disappoint the trustful soul. In brief, let us abide in Christ; let us keep ourselves in the love of God; let us carefully derive from the "all things" which God has given us, as profitable for life and godliness, the whole wealth of helpfulness that we need, and that they were intended to convey. Thus, in a deeper sense than is sometimes realized, "All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 91: 06.06. THE EXORCISM OF SELF ======================================================================== Chapter 6 The Exorcism of Self SELF is the pivot around which the natural man revolves. It is the essential principle of every sin, and has been ever since that first sin, in which Adam preferred what was pleasant to the eyes, and good for food, and calculated to make him wise, to the will and word of God. Sin is the assertion of self. The sensualist asserts that the indulgence of his passion must take precedence of his duty to God and his reverence for the nature God has made. The oppressor asserts that the sufferings of his victims are as the small dust of the scale if only his coffers are filled, his power augmented. The liar asserts that it is more important for his credit to be preserved than that truth should be paramount in the world around. Beneath the purple of the emperor, the ermine of the judge, the cowl of the monk, the broadcloth of the business man, the fustian of the peasant, self-worship has been the mainspring of human activity and crime. At our conversion a strong blow is struck at the dominion of self. We have to be saved altogether by the grace of God, and for the merits of Another. Our own efforts are proved to be useless and worse. Our prayers and tears and righteousness become hindrances rather than helps. Absolute bankrupts, we have nothing to pay. Utterly powerless, we are dragged by Another’s hands from the dark waters which threatened to sweep us to perdition. But though the dethronement of self begins at conversion, it is not completed then, or for long years. In fact, during all the life that follows we are constantly becoming more aware of the subtlety and all-pervasiveness of the self-principle. We detect it in moods and dispositions where we never expected to discover it. It puts off its filthy rags, and attires itself in the somber garb of humility or religious zeal. It busies itself in the work of God. It takes a foremost place in acts of self-denial and devotion. It multiplies its activities. It glories in its unobtrusiveness. It loves to choose the lowest seat. It congratulates itself on its conquests and growing perfection. And all the while, in its self-complacency, it shows that it is a mere mimicry of that genuine holiness which is the direct product of the work of the Holy Spirit. The great antagonist of the self-principle is the Holy Spirit. He lusts against the flesh; and the flesh is sell spelled backward. And if we surrender ourselves to the Eternal Spirit, through whom our Lord offered Himself upon the cross, we shall find that the work of self-destruction will proceed apace. The marble will waste, but the image beneath will grow. The outward man will perish, but the inward man will be renewed day by day. The crucifixion of the self-life will proceed in the heart side by side with the ever-waxing glories of the Easter morning and the ascension mount. The work of the Holy Spirit is antagonistic of self because He is the Spirit of love. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us, and the spirit of love is antiseptic to the spirit of self. They are mutually destructive. They can no more coexist than light and darkness, heat and cold, carbolic acid and the microbes of disease. When Jonathan loved David as his own soul, it was possible for him to view without jealousy the growing influence and power of his friend. "Thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee." How great a contrast to the gloomy monarch Saul! For love of David the three mighties became oblivious to the overwhelming numbers of the Philistine garrison, as they broke through their ranks to draw water from the ancient well which was by the gate of Bethlehem. For the love of the Bridegroom the greatest of woman-born could view with joy the transference of popularity and the interest of the crowds from himself to Him whose shoe-latchet "he was not great enough to loose." The dwindling audience on the river’s bank excited no regret or surprise, since the rest had gone to swell the glory of his Lord. "He must increase, and I must decrease." The loyal heart of Bethany, in its much love for the dear Master, who had revealed to it His deepest secret, was indifferent to the cold criticism of the apostles, and especially to the cynicism of Judas, expended its choicest stores, gladly performed a slave’s office, broke the alabaster box of very precious ointment of His head, and wiped His feet with her hair. And what but love could have nerved the mother to stand beneath the cross, of the women to brave the dangers of an Eastern city at dawn to visit the sepulcher! Ah, Love, what canst thou not do! Thou canst make the timid brave, and the weak strong. The nervous bird owns thy spell as in defense of her young she turns to face her pursuer. The martyr, the patriot, the hero have learned of thee the secret of finding beds of down on stones, and gardens of flowers on barren sands. Thou didst bring the King Himself from the midst of His royalties to the cross, and He counted all things but loss that He might redeem the Church on whom He had set His heart. Then self will be dethroned, the cross of daily-dying will be robbed of its bitterness, the furnace floor will become a flower-enameled pathway, if only thou shalt reign in us supreme! Therefore the apostle said, "The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again." The love that can expel self is not the vague love of principle or theory, but of a person. It is the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. "I saw," says George Fox, "a sea of light and a sea of ink; and the sea of light flowed into the sea of ink and swept it away forever." On one occasion, as Dr. Chalmers was riding on a coach in the Highlands, at a very dangerous part of the road where it overhung a precipice, the horses took fright and were near precipitating the coach and all its occupants into the ravine beneath. The driver vigorously applied the whip, and the horses, stung with pain and dreading further inflictions, forget their fear. He observed that one fear expelled another, and coined the expression, "The expulsive power of a new affection." Fear expels fear. Sunlight extinguishes firelight. The love of a noble woman often redeems a man from the sway of baser passions. And the love of Christ, wrought in us by the spirit of love, will make us free from the love of self. For His sake we can harbor nothing that would cause Him grief or be at all inconsistent with the completest loyalty. It has been argued whether the apostle meant Christ’s love to us or ours to Him. The contention is needless. It is the same sunbeam whether striking the mirror directly or reflected from it to the eye. Christ’s love to us is transforming. A Norwegian lady tells how a little child was brought to her orphanage, so repulsive in its appearance, and loathsome for its sores, that she felt she could not love it. But one day compassion for its motherlessness made her stoop over the wan little face and kiss it. Instantly the most exquisite smile spread over the features, as the consciousness of being loved sank into the heart. From that moment the whole expression of the child became transformed, and it grew to be the jewel of her family. So the consciousness of Christ’s love to us will transfigure us. Only give it time to sink in as you sit at the foot of His cross, and reckon how much He must have loved you, since He dared to die for you, being an enemy and ungodly. Similarly, our love to Christ will work a wondrous change. It will wean us away from all that grieves Him, just as the love of a noble man will draw a maiden from the pettiness of her life, and make her share in his aims, ideals, and companionships. Love possesses a secret magnetism by which she can entice the soul from chosen home and friends to become a pilgrim of hope in company with the twin-soul to which it has leaped, recognizing its twin. Would that thus our souls might leap to Christ and forever sever themselves from the attractions of the world and the dominion of self! "’Love took up the harp of Life, and played on all its chords with might-- Touched the chord of Self, which passed in music out of sight." But perhaps there is a deeper meaning still in these words. Christ’s love may be Christ’s love in us. When Christ becomes a resident and inmate of the inner man, He comes arrayed in all His beautiful garments. There is the sweet savor of His love poured forth as fragrance inthe air, and the scent of myrrh, cassia, and aloes makes the inner palace redolent with perfume. Then out through each avenue of our nature go the telltale tidings of the dear indwelling Lord. Often in passing through the crowded street one is arrested by the breath of flowers wafted from the florists shop, where the sweet prisoners of garden and woodland shed forth the aroma of the hothouse on the chill or dusty air. So when Christ dwells within, His love is exhaled from the heart into the life. Then the one passion is to magnify Him in the body, whether for life or death. We call upon all that is within us to bless His holy name. To live is Christ. We think no more what man may say of us; we care only to secure fresh love to Him, new thoughts of His beauty, His tenderness, His worthiness, His redeeming grace. It is a matter of perfect indifference whether men praise or love or hate. We only care that they understand a little more truly what He can be, what He is, what His love is capable of. To die in doing this were gain indeed. Thus self is exorcised, and troubles us no more. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 92: 06.07. AGONIZING TO PERFECTION ======================================================================== Chapter 7 Agonizing to Perfection THEY are marvelous words that the apostle says of himself. In our own version they are sufficiently startling: "Christ in you, the Hope whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ, whereunto I labor also, striving according to His working, that worketh in me mightily" (Colossians 1:28-29). But in the language he wrote the word striving is agonizing. It is the word used of a racer or wrestler, of a man straining every nerve and muscle for the prize. Similarly, the words rendered working and worketh are really energizing and energizeth. The words gain vividness and intensity while we read them thus: "Whereunto I labor also, agonizing according to His energizing, that energizeth in me mightily." In the spring, when the first flowers herald the advent of the boundless wealth of natural life, we become keenly sensible of the putting forth of God’s energy. It throbs in every flower and tree, in orchard and hedge-row. So it is in the heart and life of each regenerate man. God is in him, and energizes in him; and it is for him to agonize, according to the in working of the Divine Spirit of life. But what was the goal of the apostle’s agony? What object was that toward which the divine energy bore him? Why that straining nerve, that eager strife? To the superficial glance it seems as if he sought nothing else than that each of his converts should be presented perfect in Christ; but the word also conveys an added thought, a touch of deeper meaning. It is doubtless true that the apostle was eager to see each spiritual child stand complete in all the will of God, but it is equally true that he sought it with equal earnestness for himself. And what of this perfection which he so strenuously sought? The thought at the root of the Greek word is end, or fulfilment. The perfect thing is that which fulfils to its utmost limit its ideal. Everything has an ideal, toward the fulfilment of which it strives. There is an ideal for the waterfall dropping from the uplands where the snows are melting; an ideal for the Alp that rears itself in splintered glory against the deep blue of the sky; an ideal for the tree that spreads itself in the parkland, and for the flower that unfurls its secret loveliness in the glade. The ideal is possibly never realized. It exists in the mind of God alone. It combines in perfect and finished beauty, too fair for earth, all the essential properties of grace, beauty, and usefulness, peculiar to the order of which it is the norm or type. But every member of the family of which it is the ideal is impelled by an inward impulse to strive toward its attainment. Though it has never been realized and never can be realized, in texture however delicate, in hue however exquisite, in form however shapely; though ages have striven for it, and failed; yet it is the supreme goal for which each member of the family makes. So there is an ideal man. In nature the ideal exists only in the mind of God, and has never been perfectly realized, because sin has blighted creation, and the creature is made subject to vanity. But the ideal Man has been manifested. Human hands have touched Him, human eyes beheld Him, weary heads have rested near His heart. And each regenerate soul must strive even to agony to realize that ideal, and to be conformed to the image of the Son, that He may be the first-born among many brethren. This is perfection, the fulfilment of the divine ideal, the realization of the divine type. We must agonize for this. All around us there are indications of such agony. See how the forest trees strive to realize their ideal growth, though they are pent in on all sides by their competitors. Mark how the bird will persevere against every discouragement and difficulty to fashion the ideal nest. Consider the ingenuity by which nature tries to gain her end, even when there is malformation and disease, as though she would not be thwarted in her purpose or defeated in her design. Would that such agony were ours! In spite of difficulties, discouragement, natural drawbacks, let us agonize to fulfil so far as possible the divine ideal presented in Jesus Christ our Lord. But the parallel between natural and spiritual growth holds still farther. We have within us the germ of the perfected manhood of Christ. His seed remaineth in us. We have been made partakers of the divine nature. What is that incorruptible seed of which we are begotten again, except it be the germ of the Christ-life? And as the seed of flower or tree, as the young life of bird or beast, aspires to realize their perfect ideal, so that holy thing which has been born into our hearts by the Holy Ghost can do no other than aspire toward an even closer approximation to the likeness of the Lord Jesus. It may not be possible that we should ever perfectly attain unto it. "Not as though I had already attained" must be our perpetual confession--"I follow after." There will be some curl in the leaf, some stain or freckle in the flower, some defect or excrescence. The limitations of our mortality, the taint of our nature, the conditions of the atmosphere, all militate against the perfect attainment of our quest; and those who are nearest it will think themselves farthest away. Still we must agonize toward it, prompted by the inherent nature of that which was begotten in us by the regenerating Spirit. Then, to put the same thought in another form, we are joined by faith to the perfect Man Himself. As the vine-root, hidden far away in the earth, tries to repeat itself in every green frond that waves in the balmy air, and every reddening grape, so does the Christ-life, pouring into our nature from the heart of our Lord, yearn to repeat itself more fully and perfectly within us. Every time we loathe ourselves and repent; every time we catch a new vision of our ideal, and long to transfer it to ourselves; every time we feel within ourselves a kindredship with great and holy souls, we are receiving another pulse of the life of Jesus seeking to express and realize itself. At whatever cost, we must then agonize to answer and realize the divine promptings, "not disobedient to the heavenly vision." Directly we touch Christ, though the touch be slight as that of the woman on His robe, a relationship is established between Him and us, and from that moment His perfect manhood begins to flow into our innermost being, molding it after the fashion of His own. But, to put the truth in yet another form, we have within the same Holy Spirit that fashioned and energized within the human nature of Christ. Through Him He was conceived and anointed; and by Him He offered Himself without spot to God, and was raised from the dead. This blessed Spirit is actually within us, and is striving to conform us to the image of our Lord. In some He has been so often grieved and thwarted that His energizing is reduced to a minimum. But in others He energizes mightily. Probably the more we yield to them, the more mighty do those energizings become. This is where our agonizings must begin. Not to be saved, but to gather up with miserly care and to translate into immediate action those blessed yearnings and energizings. Agonizing that nothing be lost--agonizing to work out in each detail what He works in. Deliverance from the power of sin is not the supreme attainment of the Christian life. It is incidental, though necessary to it. The mother longs to see her child delivered from the disease that scars its skin, or the fever that is burning up its life, but she would not be content for the child merely to be delivered. She longs to see it grow to perfect maturity. So deliverance from sin is but the stepping-stone, the vestibule and threshold of the real life. God’s energies are generally slight and gentle at the beginning. Do not miss them by expecting something overmastering and awful. Follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. But the silver thread will become a stream, the stream a river, the river pulsating with the throb and beat of the ocean tide; launch on the rill, and you will presently feel the tidal currents. Then agonize to get from them all they have to give. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 93: 06.08. THE PEACE THAT GUARDS ======================================================================== Chapter 8 The Peace That Guards CLOSELY associated with the resurrection song is the resurrection peace. On the evening of that first Easter Day the Master’s first words were of the peace which He had won a new power to speak, through those wounds which He showed on His deeply scarred flesh. "He stood in the midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you." It was the old Hebrew salutation, familiar to the patriarchs in that world of which echoes still linger in the speech of the wild Bedawin of the desert; and the high priest, fresh from the very presence-chamber of Jehovah, with the glow of the Shekinah on his face, uttered it in his threefold blessing, for which the congregation had waited patiently. But the words were new-minted when the Lord spoke them amid the rapture of that Easter night. He had promised to give them His peace as His last bequest, but it was only as the Holy Ghost nestled as a dove in the heart of the Church that the full wealth of sacred meaning hidden in the words began to be unraveled and disclosed. It was needful that Rom. 5. should be written to show that the foundation of that peace lay in the agony and blood of the cross, and is only possible to the soul that has been justified by faith in Him who died and rose again. It was needful that Col. 1. should be penned to show that the peace made through the blood of Christ should spread through the universe of God, until it had subdued all rule and authority and power. It was needful that the Book of Revelation should be added to teach the Church, by many an exquisite symbol, such as the palm-bearing crowds, the tranquillity of the sea of glass, the calm of the vales through which the Shepherd leads His flock, the music of the harps, what that peace is which is the heritage of the saints. But nowhere in the office of this peace more clearly indicated than when the apostle says, "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus." The word guard is unique, and indicates the patrol of the sentry who passes to and fro before the outer gate, examining each intruder, and preventing the entrance of any whose presence would menace the well-being of the inmates of the home. It is a sublime conception that God’s sweet angel Peace the child and daughter of His deepest Self, the symbol of His own unutterable repose, should undertake to keep the hearts and minds of His children from the molestation of those passionate emotions and perturbing anxieties which sweep human life, as the winds fling themselves in passion on landlocked lakes, stirring the waters into the fury of storm. The sentry stands between the doorway and the crowd that would break upon the sacred precincts, and wards the people off, who with their clamor and ruthless hands would spoil and destroy. No thief may pass to steal; no foulmouthed ruffian to fill the air with his reviling, or defile the ears of gentle women or little children; no tyrant bandit may enter to assume the headship of the home, and gratify his insolence or passion. Whatever tumult or violence is without, the billow breaks helplessly upon the barrier of soft sand, and beyond, the fields of peace are enameled by the flowers of joy, safe from the intrusion of the turbulent wave. What the coral reef is to the sweet islands of the Pacific, protecting their dainty tropic luxuriance from the mighty billows of the ocean, that God’s peace is to the hearts that nestle within its inclosing walls. It keeps the heart, the apostle says. Now the heart is the seat of the emotions; the center of our affections; the hearth whose ruddy glow sheds light and heat throughout man’s nature; the shrine of the love which we give to God and man. It is there that the furnace of life is hidden, moving its machinery with irresistible impulse. It is there we treasure the memory of voices now hushed, of the touches of vanished hands now still. It is a chamber around whose walls hang the pictures of those who have loved us, and whom we have loved ever since love awoke within us. And just because the affections of our nature are so mighty in their all-pervasive influence upon us, they are the object of Satan’s direst attacks. We love right objects wrongly with the idolatry of love, with the unreasonableness that sacrifices their well-being to the gratification of our own passion, or with an absorbing selfishness that unfits us for life’s other claims. We love wrong objects, casting a wealth of affection on those whom God has placed beyond our reach. Even when we love rightly, it is through our affections that we are visited with those anxieties and fears that fill us with alarm, that ruffle our serenity, and impede our progress in grace, and veil the face of God. This is specially the temptation of youth and age. Of youth, because the young heart is so susceptible to impression, so retentive of the face, the eye, the act, which has won its confidence, and so prone to intrust all its stores in the slight bark of another’s life. Of age, because when the heart has been often widowed, and has seen one by one its treasures engulfed before its gaze, and has discovered that all the stores of honor and wealth given by material things are not to be compared with the gold, myrrh, and frankincense of love, it clings with fond tenacity to its dwindling circle, hearing in every footfall the step of the destroyer, and detecting in every zephyr the portent of the storm that shall engulf the residue of its possessions. If there is a power that can intercept the incidence of what we dread, that can still our hearts’ alarms, that can pacify our anxieties, that can give the hush of God’s own peace to allay perturbing dread! If there is a sentry that can keep the house of our heart free from molesting alarm! If only our affections can be guarded and kept when the storm of passion threatens to rise, or when the margin of moderation is about to be crossed! It were a gift worthy of God upon the one hand, and welcome to man as more indispensable than the very bread of his life. It keeps the thought. If the heart is most easily perturbed in youth and age, the mind is most deeply exercised in the passage of middle life by the strain of life, the pressure of its responsibilities, and the thronging crowd of its anxieties. Thoughts about the result of past mistakes; thoughts that forbode disaster; thoughts of opportunities that will never return; thoughts which become bewildered by their own complexity; thoughts about the mystery of God and providence and life, which turn back baffled from their flight; thoughts about the reasons of things; thoughts that weary, as a strained eye wearies with attempting to penetrate the distance of the horizon or of the sky; evil thoughts, jealous thoughts, vindictive and passionate thoughts. The vagrant thought of the impulse; the wandering thought, alighting upon the heart as the bird upon the roof-ridge; bad thoughts, flung like missiles flaming hot. The mind is like a hostelry where crowds pass in and out, and the pavement is worn by many feet; or an exchange where the products of every land are handled; or a palace made for a king, but invaded by a mob. Is there anywhere a power that can marshal these thoughts? Resisting the entrance of those that have no right to intrude, and promoting the regulation of those that justly claim admission! The apostle says the peace of God can do it. We should have thought that she was not strong enough for so stern a work. But the apostle quoted from his own experience when he said, "The peace of God shall garrison your hearts and thoughts." When the peace is within, ruling there, it reduces chaos to cosmos, confusion to order, as a gentle mother in a family of boisterous children. A twofold law controls the operation of God’s peace: "In nothing be anxious; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." It is not enough to say to men, "Don’t fret, don’t worry;" we must give them something better. Not a bare negative, but a blessed positive. It is not that we are to spend our days in long, entreating prayers; but in the simplest, plainest words, and about everything, however trivial and insignificant, simply to make our requests known. Prayer and supplication, mingled with the fragrance of thanksgiving, must tell out the story of need and desire into the ear of the great Father. Spread the letter before Him; cast the tangled skein at His feet; take to Him the broken fragments of the shivered casket which only yesterday contained the jewels of life; open to Him the wounds from which the bandages have been recently torn, and which are yawning and smarting. It is no use worrying. Do not go about with a melancholy face and whining voice, as if God were dealing more hardly with you than you deserve; do not sit down in despair, as if the joy of your life had fled forever. Just tell Him how things are with you: what you hoped; what you want; what you think would promote your happiness and goodness; what is needed to complete your life: then leave it there. You have committed your cause to the wisest and most tender, to the strongest and truest Friend. Leave there thy gift at the altar. Anoint thy head and wash thy face. Go forth to think and practice whatsoever things are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, and the peace of God will open the way to the God of peace Himself. Upon the heels of His messenger the King will come. When the palace is permeated by the atmosphere of heaven, the Presence that makes heaven will shed its glory through every apartment of the soul. These things pass understanding; they belong to the realm of the unseen and eternal. They are part of those thoughts which are higher than our thoughts, and of those emotions that pertain to the nature of God. But though they cannot be understood; or expressed in mortal language; or told by strain of harp, or glint of summer light, or vista of earthly repose and beauty; though words fail, and Imagination drops from her exhausted hand palette and brush, and Hope herself returns as Noah’s dove, bringing but one leaf from a whole world of vegetation--yet these things may be experienced, realized, enjoyed by the heart that is in Christ Jesus. Out of Christ Jesus, perturbation and alarm; in Christ Jesus, the peace of God Himself. And thus we come to participate in the God of peace (Php 4:9). The attribute of the Person leads to the Person. We no longer receive some gift of His ineffable nature; but we have found Him, we possess Him, we are possessed by Him, in whom love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, and goodness have their home. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 94: 06.09. THE ART OF SITTING STILL ======================================================================== Chapter 9 The Art of Sitting Still "Sit still, my daughter," Naomi said, as the two lone women sat together, while the gray dawn broke over the sky. Each had her special thoughts, thoughts that tended to disquietude and restlessness. The elder was eager to find a home for the young life which had twined itself so tenaciously around her. The younger was filled with hope and fear and wonder, as she stood in the doorway, which seemed about to open into a garden of delight. It is not easy to sit still when young life is throbbing through our veins, and hope beckons us forward, and our natural impulse is to do something to secure the accomplishment of our plans. Months before these two had traveled together from the valleys of Moab, where the girl was known as the Rose. At first, life in Bethlehem had meant a rush of bitter memory, sad foreboding, bitter privation; but of late there had been a turn in the tide. Those strong young arms, filled with the gleaner’s sheaves, had beaten back hunger and want, bringing comfort and help to the aged heart of the mother, for whom all pleasantness seemed to have passed, and whose eyes would wistfully turn at sunset to the long range of the hills of Moab, glowing in the slanting rays, because on their farther side lay the three graves where her life lay buried. How natural that Naomi should strive to win rest and home and love for the one who was more to her than ten sons! It is not on the pathos of this story that we desire to dwell, but on the reason that Naomi gave Ruth for the hush on her throbbing nature, for the stillness and sitting down for which she pleaded. Boaz was known through the whole district as a man of honor, strong as he was considerate, fit to rule others because able to control himself, a man to whom a defenseless woman might intrust herself without the slightest fear of his taking undue advantage of her, one to whom the boys and youths of Bethlehem looked up as their model, and whose pure, simple, and beautiful life was the bread on which his fellow-townsmen daily lived. In former days, Naomi, in common with the rest of her people, had read him as we read a book, and was persuaded that he was a man of his word, one who could be relied on to see to the end any duty which he undertook. "Sit still, my daughter," she therefore said; "for the man will not rest until he have finished the thing this day." It is thus, and only thus, that we too can rest. Every year the stress and speed of life increase. Events, engagements, books, opinions, flash past us, as the country seen through the windows of an express-train. One impression has not time to fix itself on the inner eye before it is succeeded by another, by which it is effaced. It is increasingly difficult to find time literally to sit down, and even if the physical attitude is assumed, the mind is invaded by so many distracting thoughts and suggestions that it is almost impossible to sit still. It is needless to emphasize the immense injury which is inflicted by this unceasing restlessness, not only on the worker, but on the work. Manufacturers of goods requiring the highest finish are compelled to move their workshops from the feverish rush of our great cities to the quiet of country towns, where the current of life runs less swiftly and it is possible to look from end to end of the main street at noon without descrying a single individual. What obtains in respect to artistic fancy and skill is still more true of the highest forms of spiritual work. The incessant demand for fresh matter, for the fulfilment of public duty, for an opinion on every new book or fresh development of the eager life around, is diametrically opposed to that quietude of the soul in which the muddy waters can deposit their heavy silt and become clear again and able to reflect the azure sky. It is therefore the sorrowful confession of many foremost workers that they are able to complete nothing, and all their work bears trace of the pressure under which it has been produced. Besides this, the restlessness of the soul breeds irritability, fretfulness, and nervous depression. The home life suffers. The family circle is broken up. The natural play of disposition on disposition has no opportunity for its wholesome ministry. There is a story told of the children of a certain enthusiastic artist, who were found running in desperate haste, as if pursued, to a remote corner of the house, and who gave the explanation, "Father’s painting a sky!" and perhaps many a home where some prominent worker lodges --for it is little else is shadowed by a similar fear, the indirect result of the overpressure of the age. It is only as we sit still that we can elaborate our fairest work; conceive, like Mary, the idea of breaking alabaster on the head of our Lord; utter, like David, our noblest prayers; or preserve that natural healthy life which is the charm of the home, the secret of healthy influence over others. But there is only one method by which this lost art can be regained: we must shelter ourselves in absolute faith behind Jesus Christ. These two solitary women were able to still each other and themselves by remembering that Boaz had their matter in hand, and that he was both able and eager to carry it through. They might sit still because he would not sit still. They might rest since he would not. Their cause was safe in his hands, and he would see it to the end, whatever it might be. Happy is it when we can thus hand over our many anxieties and burdens to the Lord, and be sure that He has assumed them, bears them in His heart, and will not rest until He has seen them safely to the end. "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Fret not thyself." The habit of reckoning on Christ is the key to a restful life. Not only to depend on His promises, but to count on Himself. A good man, one of those for whom some would even dare to die, is more than his words or assurances, because a case may arise not covered by either of them, and then we can fall back on what we know him to be. Christ is more than His spoken and recorded words. Is there some great perplexity in your life, the result of some indiscretion or sin in years gone by? Is there a lurking evil in your heart, which you have tried in vain to quell? Is there some anxiety about one dearer to you than life, who is drifting beyond your reach? Is there the sickness of heartache and despair? Is there a yearning for all that can be realized of deliverance from sin, the filling of the Spirit, the life and love of God? Go to the great Kinsman, find Him when you can speak to Him without interruption, tell Him all, hand it all over to Him, then go home and sit still. If there is anything for you to do He will tell you what it is, and give you the grace to do it. But if not, sit still, wait patiently, quiet yourself like a weaned child: He cannot forget, He will not procrastinate, He cannot fail. He is allowing no grass to grow under His feet. He is making haste, though He appears to tarry. And presently at the door there will be a shout of joy. Then the bridal bells shall ring out over an accomplished purpose, and your life shall be no more Marah, but Naomi, and bitterness shall be swallowed up in blessedness. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 95: 06.10. THE SUPREME GIFT OF THE ASCENSION ======================================================================== Chapter 10 The Supreme Gift of the Ascension To the simple graphic story of the inspired annalists, the Apostle Peter, moved by the Holy Spirit, adds some significant details, in that great sermon which he preached on the day of Pentecost. He tells us that the ascension of our Lord was due not simply to the inherent virtue of His nature, but to the direct action and interposition of His Father, "being by the right hand of God exalted," as though, through the azure sky, the hand of God were reached down to our low earth, to raise His Son through all heavens to His throne. But there is yet a more striking expression used by the apostle, the full significance of which evades our most searching scrutiny--that in which he speaks of Christ as receiving from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit. It was as if the ascension day, which began in Jerusalem and ended in glory, which exchanged the Mount of Olives at dawn for the meridian light of heaven’s unsetting noon, witnessed also the reception on the part of Christ of a new accession of the power and grace of the Holy Ghost. As Son of God, He had from all eternity been One with the Father and With the Holy Ghost, and it was impossible for Him to receive more than He already possessed; but on His incarnation He evidently entered into new relations with the Divine Spirit, as is clear from many expressions used in reference to it throughout the gospel. We cannot penetrate the mystery of Christ’s nature. It is secret. But we believe that God was manifest in the flesh, and it is from the human standpoint that we approach Him now, as one draws near the lower slopes of some soaring Alp, the upper reaches of which, untrodden by human foot, are veiled in perpetual cloud. We are told that our Lord’s birth was due to the Holy Ghost, and there is little doubt that during the thirty years of His seclusion at Nazareth He was perpetually beneath the teaching and molding influence of the Divine Spirit. But His contract with John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan marked a new epoch in His life. It was His Pentecost. He was then endued and anointed with the Spirit without measure; and from that time He is spoken of as being full of the Spirit, as returning in the power of the Spirit to His life-work, and as standing in the synagogue of Nazareth, conscious that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, and that He had been anointed to preach. All His miracles and words thereafter were wrought and spoken beneath that same inspiration. It was in the Eternal Spirit that He offered Himself upon the cross; through the spirit of holiness that He was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead; and it was through the Holy Ghost that He issued commands during the forty days of His posthumous ministry. He does not appear, however, to have had any special power of conferring upon others that Holy Spirit which, as Man, He had so fully realized. It is true that, after His resurrection, He bade the apostles and their associates receive the Holy Ghost, and the breath of His lips was the emblem of the gentle grace which He communicated. This, however, appears to have been rather an anticipation of the power which He was soon to assume, than to any large extent a manifestation of it. In any case there is a great contrast between the breath of the resurrection evening and the sound of the mighty rushing wind that filled all the house where they were sitting. Up to the time of His ascension, therefore, we may think of Jesus Christ as being charged with the indwelling of the Holy Ghost to the fullest extent possible to our nature, and yet as not possessing in any great measure the faculty of communicating that Spirit to His Church. With the ascension, however, all this was altered. He entered the presence of God as the representative Man, and as the Surety of His people. Indeed, to adopt the frequently recurring thought of the apostle, they rose with Him from His grave, and ascended with Him into the heavenlies. A great multitude, of every nation, kindred, people, and tongue, passed upward with Him as He crossed the confines between time and eternity, between the material and the spiritual, between the seen and the unseen, and in that multitude were included all who were to believe in Him through the word of the gospel. The whole mystical body was represented in the Head; the Church stood in complete beauty before God. It is therefore clear that whatever He received from the Father He did not obtain for Himself, but as the Trustee of those for whom He stood. He obtained the Spirit in a new and unexampled measure that He might hold Him as a precious trust for those who, in the process of the years, would be twice born, once of nature, and once by the regenerating grace of His Spirit. Notice that the word "receive," which almost always occurs in the Word of God in the Holy Spirit, is a phrase employed to denote the process by which our Lord became charged with the Holy Ghost as a reservoir or receptacle from which we were to receive grace upon grace; and the whole Trinity was engaged in that august act by which the divine fulness was made to dwell in the Divine Man. Turning now from the expression which sets forth our Lord’s reception of the Holy Spirit at the hands of His Father, we may notice the expressions used of His communication of this priceless gift to His Church. Peter says, "He poured it forth" (Acts 2:33). A similar expression is used of what occurred in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:45). It is as though the walls of an inland lake were suddenly pierced, and the contents issued forth in torrents. The word "fell upon" is also used of the experience of those first days (Acts 11:15), indicating, doubtless, the heavenly source from which the divine influence came. This is in harmony with the thought of anointing. The holy chrism must needs fall upon us from above, that, passing downward from the Head, it may reach even the garment hem, and sanctify the commonest and most trivial acts of life (1 John 2:27). The word "baptism" is also used, especially by the Lord Himself (Acts 1:5), but it has been thought by some that this expression may perhaps apply only to the gift of the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47), to the outpouring of the Spirit in Samaria (Acts 8:1-40), and to the first reception by Gentiles of the same august gift in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48). There is nothing to prevent our using the expression more widely except that it is not used throughout the New Testament in this general sense, and there is some fear lest the frequent use of the term "baptism," as applied to the Holy Ghost, may lead people to look for something extraordinary, abnormal, and emotional. The word "filling," therefore, is a term which best expresses our experience, as we claim our part in the supreme gift of the ascension. After His Pentecost our Lord was filled with the Holy Spirit; and after their baptism in the upper room the little company that had gathered there is described as being "filled," women as well as men, the rank and file of the Church equally with the apostles. So throughout the New Testament this is the term most often employed. There is this thought connected with the conception of filling which may comfort some whose natures are unemotional, that a well may be filled by the percolation of drop after drop, as well as by the rush of a stream, and that those who are able to claim the indwelling of the Spirit of God in His fulness, without rapture or emotion, or any definite experience, may as surely count on being filled as those who can point to the time and place when they passed through some marked spiritual experience which was attended by deep and rapturous joy. It is sometimes asked whether the gift of Pentecost refers primarily to character or to office in the early Church. But they appear to have been closely conjoined. The chapter which begins with the account of the outpouring of the Spirit ends with the delightful picture of the love and unselfishness, the gladness and simplicity of the Church, and it is after these characteristics have been enumerated that we are told of the evident power that it wielded over men. Stephen is described as full of grace and power (Acts 6:8, R. V.). There can be no doubt that the first indication of the new era which dated from Pentecost was the cessation of rivalry and jealousy, which had marred the relations of the apostles, and the introduction of a spirit of gentle love. At the same time it is unquestionable that one main end in the gift of Pentecost was to equip the Church for the work of evangelizing the world. Jesus did not attempt His public ministry until He was filled with the Holy Ghost; He forbade His disciples undertaking their work in the Church until they had received their Pentecostal equipment. The presence of the Holy Spirit is perpetually associated with power, as in the case of Stephen and many others. And in Ephesians iv. the apostle distinctly associates the ascension with the gifts of prophets, teachers, pastors, evangelists, and other workers in the ranks of God’s people. The filling of the Holy Spirit means holiness, purity, love; but it includes more. If you have the former alone, never rest until by faith in the ascended Saviour you have become, in your measure, filled with power, before which hard hearts shall break, dry eyes shall fill with tears, conscience shall spring from its grave and fill the chambers of the heart with remonstrances, and your foes shall be unable to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which you speak. The work of the Spirit within us precedes His anointing upon us; but some experience the first without going forward to claim the second. It is much to have Him as a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty; but let us ask Him to be unto us also for strength, to enable us to turn the battle from the gate (Isaiah 28:6). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 96: 07.00. CHEER FOR LIFE'S PILGRIMAGE ======================================================================== Cheer for Life’s Pilgrimage by Meyer, Frederick Brotherton Chapters Chapter 1 - Statutes and Songs Chapter 2 - The Night is Far Spent, the Day is at Hand Chapter 3 - It is the Lord Chapter 4 - Our Gentle Schoolmistress Chapter 5 - The Gospel Mold Chapter 6 - Scriptures and Power Chapter 7 - Stilled and Quieted Chapter 8 - A New Covenant Chapter 9 - Christ and Pain Chapter 10 - Good for a Time ======================================================================== CHAPTER 97: 07.01. STATUTES AND SONGS ======================================================================== I. STATUTES AND SONGS Psalms 119:54 THE Jews have never forgotten that they are the descendants of a pilgrim race, From the day that their great forefather crossed the Euphrates, and became the Hebrew, to the present, they have been the nation of the wan­dering foot, found in every land, but at home in none. Their literature is dyed with this con­ception. It abounds with the confession that they are strangers and sojourners upon earth. Abraham made it when he stood up from before his dead, and pur­chased the cave of Machpelah from the sons of Heth. Jacob made it when he stood in the presence of Pharaoh and of the solid memorials of Egyptian great­ness. Hezekiah made it when he com­pared his life to a shepherd’s tent. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews made it when he alleged that the con­tinuing city was yet to come. It is made here: "Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage." But these plaintive confessions are not confined to Jews; they are the heritage of all nations. Few things in our language are more touching than the comparison made by the Northumbrian chieftain, on the eve of the introduction of Christianity, between man’s life and the flight of a sparrow through a lighted hall, coming out of the darkness and storm, and after a brief flight going forth into it again. Under this head, what more suggestive than Chaucer’s "Can­terbury Tales," told in an inn! Earth is but a camping-ground, on which we halt for a little on our journey forward into the great eternity which awaits us. Other generations have been here before us, and have gone, we know not whither; but they are marching on­ward and forward somewhere, and we must follow them, as others us. Indeed, our world has been compared to the site of a Gipsy encampment, where the gray ash, broken pottery, and fluttering rags tell of previous caravans that made it their halting-place for a few nights, and then yoked in the lank steeds and went on to other camping-grounds. The merry-go-rounds will stop, the oil lamps cease to flare, the fair will be done, and we shall be away with the daybreak. These things need to be repeated; we are so apt to forget. The mere fact of returning night after night to our homes and beds makes us think that they are permanent abiding-places, when, in point of fact, we never come back to them where we left them. During our ab­sence at the mill or the school they have been moved farther along the road we are traveling, as Arabs move forward the tents of European tourists in Pales­tine, so that they are awaiting them for the evening meal. Our homes are tents, always moving forward, because we are ever on the march toward our eternal abode. We are exiles beside the river of time, as Israel was in Babylon, and we mingle our tears with its waters as we reflect on the brevity and transience of our days. THE HOUSE OF OUR PILGRIMAGE. What can this be but our mortal body? "The Word was made flesh, and taber­nacled among us"; "I must put off this my tabernacle"; "When the earthly house of this tabernacle is broken up, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." It has been truly said that we are not flesh and blood, but are made partakers of flesh and blood. Each one of us is an immortal spirit, created in the like­ness of God, and for a little while brought under the conditions of mortality as an education for our eternal condition. During our brief sojourn here we reside in the body as our tent. It is the house of our pilgrimage. The tent is frail. "The veil, that is to say, His flesh." Only a veil hangs between us and the great constellations of eternity, between us and the world of realities, between us and the face of God. A breath may wave it, an insect’s sting may pierce it, a thorn may rend it. The tent is not always perfect to begin with. Some of us start on our pilgrim­age with a crazy house, which is always in need of attention and repair. Life is much more difficult under such condi­tions. Paul’s thorn in the flesh made it less likely that he could achieve as much as other men; it was by God’s grace that he actually achieved more. All honor to the men who have triumphed over the limitations and deficiencies of their physical environment, and have become more than conquerors through Him who loved them. We are all proud of a former Postmaster-General, who, not­withstanding his blindness, was able to reach and hold with credit one of the highest positions in the land. The tent has a limited durability. It is not intended to last for more than eighty or ninety years at the utmost. Its average duration is much less than this. With all our efforts for its repair, it inevitably wears out at last. But how important to distinguish between tent and tenant! The one material and tem­porary; the other spiritual and immor­tal. When you come upon a wrecked signal-box, a ruined house, you know that the inmate has moved on. He is living somewhere. This is only the place where he lived and wrought-the lab­oratory of the chemist, the forge of the eager worker, the observatory of the heaven-soaring thinker. So, when the body is all that is left you of the dear one in whose company you were accus­tomed to make pilgrimage, treat it reverently and lovingly, but remember it is the worn-out tent of the spirit, which is clothed upon with its new house, which is from heaven. MY SONGS. "Songs in the house of my pilgrimage." This is startling. The pilgrim’s lot is so changeful. No sooner has he become settled than he must be gone. The enchanting prospect, the sweet beauty of nature in her loveli­est dress, the tender love of friends, the delicious sense of repose-all must be abandoned when the bugle sounds the reveille. So fair is the site that one would fain linger, but there is no alternative than to strike the tent and follow. See, the pillar of cloud is already on its way, moving in stately march over the desert sand! Is it possible to sing, when such partings and settings forth and farewells are ever our lot? The weak heart clings to the past, dreads the un­known-can it sing? The pilgrim’s life is so perilous. Take the experiences of an explorer. The fruits he plucks on the unknown soil may poison him; the flowers may narco­tize him with their scent; miasma may lurk amid the most bewitching scenery; the waters of certain streams may be unfit to drink. He does not know the native customs, and at any time may involve himself, most innocently, in their undying hatred. Every day leads him through strange and difficult circum­stances; every night is spent at a new resting-place. Amid so much that is trying and perplexing, is it possible for the heart to sing? Yet this is what the psalmist says: "Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage." THY STATUTES. A clue to the song will perhaps be forthcoming when we inquire more closely into the nature of God’s statutes. What are they? A statute is something which is established, fixed, permanent. God’s statutes are what He has laid down as the founda­tions of His dealings with men, and which are more lasting than the ever­lasting hills. This wonderful acrostic psalm, which weaves into its texture the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, abounds in references to the divine statutes. Seven times over the psalmist utters the prayer, "Teach me Thy statutes," and toward the close of the psalm he rejoices in the assurance that God has answered his cry and become his Instructor. There are seven other references to the divine statutes, on which we have now no space to dwell at length, though each is full of instruction and inspiration. God’s statutes may probably be com­prehended in three classes: His promises. His procedure, i.e., the method of His government. See how songful each of these is to the loving and obedient heart, though only to such. His precepts yield song. Shakespeare says that music is "the consent of sweet sounds." But it is more, just as poetry consists of something more than harmo­nious words. Music is the language of the unseen and eternal, and song is the accord of the heart with this the utter­ance of eternity. Of course there are evil songs, which show that the heart of the singer is in accord with the dark nether world of evil; but good and holy songs show that the heart of the singer has caught the strains and chords of the bright, blessed world of God and the holy angels. But how should we know the thoughts and principles of the unseen and eternal world, if it were not for the divine pre­cepts? God has set them up on earth, that we might know, through them, the order of the divine realm, and might, by obedience, bring ourselves into accord with it. Take, then, the precepts of the Bible, especially those given by our Lord-His reiterated commands to love, to pray, to sacrifice self. Embody them in every act of the life and every pulse of thought; learn them, obey them, fol­low them; and when the life is married to them, as noble music to noble words, there will come a new gladness into the heart and a new song in the life. What rapture there is in obedience! What comfort and joy in the Holy Ghost! What songfulness in having a conscience void of offense toward God and man! Thus God’s precepts become our songs in the house of our pilgrimage. His promises are conducive to song. Is the pilgrim life so changeful? Lis­ten to His promise that He will abide the same, even to hoar hairs and forever. Is it so perilous? Remember, He has promised to go before to prepare the path, and to follow after as our rearward. Is it so lonely? Have lover and friend stood aside? Have the companions of early years dropped away? Are all the faces growing strange and unfamiliar? Still, recall His promise that He will never leave, neither forsake. Let us con the promises, remember­ing that they are ordered in all things and sure, that they touch every possi­ble phase of life, that they are the bank­notes of heaven, each bearing the signa­ture of the Almighty, that they are yea and amen in Christ; and as we meditate and pray there will be a sense of secu­rity and wealth breathed into us, which will awaken songs. God’s promises will become songs in the house of our pilgrimage. The order of the divine procedure and government is also provocative of song. The world around is full of the at­tempts and triumphs of high-handed wrong. Pride and will-worship, the lust of the flesh and of the eyes, the down-treading of the weak by the strong, the spoiling of the defenseless by the arro­gant oppressor, the apparent success of those that set at naught God’s law­-these facts are patent to us all. They accost us in every street and flaunt themselves before our eyes. And the waters of a full cup are wrung out to us as we cry, with one of old, "Why do the wicked prosper?" But when we turn our thoughts heavenward we are arrested by the order, regularity, prevalence, of God’s statutes -this, that light is stronger than dark­ness, and Christ than Satan; this, that holiness and purity mean always and everywhere blessedness; this, that false­hood and wrong-doing carry with them­selves the seeds of disintegration and decay; this, that those who love their lives lose them, while to those who seek first the kingdom of God all else is added. And as we consider the certainty that ultimately God will justify Himself be­fore the eyes of the universe and estab­lish righteousness and justice, vindicating the oppressed and punishing the wrong­doer, we seem to be standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God, and singing the song of the redeemed: "Great and marvelous are Thy works; ... just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints." Thus the order and pro­cedure of the divine government may become our songs in the house of our pilgrimage. And if our songs be so heaven-soar­ing and glad when we are yet in the shifting tent, surrounded by much that, as the psalmist says in the previous verse, is calculated to fill us with horror, what will they not be when we draw near our home, our true abiding-place, our city with its foundations; nay, what will they not be when we have crossed the threshold, and are mingling with the innumerable company of angels and with the spirits of the perfected saints! If there are festal days when the pilgrims meet in the inn on the way to their home, what will not the overflowing gladness be when they are at home forever! "Free from a world of death and sin, With God eternally shut in." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 98: 07.02. THE NIGHT IS FAR SPENT, THE DAY IS AT HAND ======================================================================== II "THE NIGHT IS FAR SPENT, THE DAY IS AT HAND" Romans 13:11-14 To this passage Augustine attributed his entire conversion and emancipation. "Behold," he says, "I heard a voice from a neighboring house, as a boy or a girl, I knew not whether, saying in a singing note, and often repeating, ’Tolle lege, tolle lege (Take up and read).’ Whereupon, the course of my tears being suppressed, I got up, interpreting it to be nothing less than a divine admonition that I should open the book and read the place I first lit upon. Therefore I returned in haste to the place where I had laid down the book of the apostle when I arose from thence. I caught it up, opened it, and read in silence the place on which I first cast mine eyes: ’ Not in revelings and drunkenness, not in chamberings and impurities, not in strifes and envies. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences.’ I would read no further, nor was there need. For with the end of this sentence, as if a light of confidence and security streamed into my heart, all the darkness of my former hesitation was dispelled." May similar effects accrue to each of us! As we ponder these words, may light stream into our hearts! For us, as for Augustine, there is always, in the earlier stages of the re­ligious life, some perplexity as to the method of treating the evil habits which have grown with our years and cling to us with grim tenacity. Shall we leave them behind us in the course of time? Will they relax their hold? Is there any way of providing for their gratifica­tion within fixed and defined limits? Is it to be a perpetual struggle between us and them, in which sometimes we and sometimes they shall conquer? To all these questionings a sufficient answer is suggested in the aorist tense of the apostle, by which he insists on the definite, sudden, and entire abandonment of the works of darkness, and the immediate, final, and irrevocable accep­tance of the armor of light. It can be done, or the Holy Ghost would not enjoin it. Here, now, and before you have laid down this book, you may once and forever have put away, as concern­ing your former manner of life, the old man, which waxeth corrupt after deceitful lusts, and you may have put on the new man, which, after God, hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. The works of darkness are enumer­ated in three classes, with two specimens in each. First, indulgence in sensual acts; secondly, indulgence in unholy thought and desire; lastly, indulgence in anything which is not perfectly lov­ing and lovely. Surely none who read these lines are guilty of the sins of licen­tiousness or drunkenness; possibly a very few may be given to chambering and wantonness, harboring thoughts and imaginations which corrode and corrupt the soul; but many may be prone to strife and jealousy. You per­mit yourselves to enter into the lists, contending for the priority, and are jealous of those who excel. These things are condemned by the love of God; they savor of the darkness of the unregenerate heart, and must be put away. Even if they have been per­mitted as the habit of years, they may be cast away as swiftly and entirely as the sleeper puts off his night-robe and prepares to gird himself for the day’s duties, engagements, and conflicts. The night is far spent. Here the comparison of night is used of Christ’s absence from His church and of the brooding darkness which overcasts the world. The night is the emblem of indolence and lethargy; and are not the majority of men sluggish toward God, however keen and alert they are toward the concerns of this world? Night is also the time of illusion. Laban imposes the blear-eyed Leah on Jacob in the darkness. Ugliness and beauty, gold and stone, friend and foe, are all one when night has drawn her curtains. Are not most men mistaking the coun­terpart for the real, the false for the true? Again, night is pregnant with danger, whether to the traveler across the morass, or the ship feeling her way along a rock-bound coast. Darkness is danger. He that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth, because darkness has blinded his eyes. For vast tracts of time, darkness has covered the earth, and gross darkness the people. How great the relief, then, to be told that the night is far spent and the day at hand! The night of Satan’s reign, of the power of darkness, of creation’s travail and anguish, of the absence of Jesus from His church-it is far spent. The day is at hand. In connection with the temple ritual, we are told that the morning sacrifice had to be offered at a point of time between the first indications of dawn and actual sunrise; and during the last hours of the night a party of Levites, known as watchmen for the morning (Ps. cxxx. 6), used to take their stand on one of the higher pinnacles of the temple, watching for the first indications of the approaching sun. Meanwhile, at the altar of burnt-­offering, everything was ready and the priests stood waiting. At last the signal was given in the words, "The sky is lit as far as Hebron," and, immediately that cry was raised, the morning sacrifice was slain and the daily routine of the tem­ple’s ritual and worship began. We, too, are on our watch-tower. An increasing number of God’s people, in these last days, are joining the band of watchers up yonder, who stand in the chill morning air, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. May we not almost say that the day is come? Certainly the light has been getting brighter and clearer with every year. The Jew-hate which is uprooting the Hebrew race in countries where Jews have for centuries been settled; the willingness of modern Jews to put aside their prejudice and to listen eagerly to methodical unfoldings of Scripture; the regathering of so many to Palestine, so that, in spite of the Sultan’s adverse edict, some eighty thousand are settled there; the agitation of the world over the great problems presented by the condition of eastern Europe-all these indications suggest the hope that the sky is lit as far as Hebron. But, after all, the conception of this passage is classical and Roman, borrowed from the camp. Through the night the soldiery, divested of their armor, have abandoned themselves to revelry and carouse, and, as the small hours have reigned, have sunk into a deep sleep; but lo! the ringing bugle-note is an­nouncing the herald streaks of dawn, and summoning the troops hastily to put off the dress and works of darkness, and to assume their armor, free from rust and stain. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: cast off the works of dark­ness, and put on the armor of light." Now is salvation nearer than when we believed. Not our salvation merely, but salvation generally. Jesus is about to appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation. The bodies of the saints are to be set free from the power of death, and raised in the likeness of the body of Christ’s glory; the creature is to be emancipated from the bondage of corruption; the last remains of Satan’s rule over our world are to be destroyed; the golden ages are to return. From the watchers and holy ones the song of redemption is yet to ascend: "Salvation to our God that sitteth on the throne, And unto the Lamb for ever and ever." We look back to the hour when we first believed. It is a definite moment in the vista of the past, but we look for­ward to indefinite degrees of light and glory. The light shall grow ever to a more perfect day; the results of the Saviour’s death shall become ever more appreciated; the circles of influence that radiate from His throne shall reach to farther limits, and be more than ever prolific of blessing to unknown races of beings at the uttermost limits of the universe. Let us walk honestly (becomingly), as in the day. It is nothing to us that the shadows appear to linger over moor and fell; for us at least the day is broken, for the day-star has arisen in our hearts, and we are called upon to live as chil­dren of the light and of the day. Our eternity has already begun. We have come out of the great tribulation, to rest within the silken curtains of God’s pa­vilion; we have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; we already walk the streets of the New Jerusalem. Only let us day by day allow our light to shine. Let us live on the level of God’s thought for us. Let us walk as in the day, as we shall do when the time of the restitution of all things has taken place, in those blessed halcyon years when the sun shall no more go down, or the moon withdraw herself, and the Lord shall be the everlasting light. But to do this as we should, we must put on the armor of light. In an earlier epistle the apostle had already suggested the thought: let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of sal­vation. And in a later epistle he carefully enumerates its successive pieces. But here he gathers up all into one comprehensive phrase, "the armor of light." It is just the Lord Jesus Christ. Put Him on-His gentleness, meekness, and humility; His purity and truth; His obedience to the will of God, and sensitiveness to every cry of weakness or suffering; and what seems soft to the flesh will approve itself to be armor of proof in the day of battle. None are so invincible and stalwart as those who are arrayed in the meekness and gentleness of Jesus. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not be content with a negative religion; be positive. Do not only put off; put on. Put off by putting on. It is not enough to doff the robes of night; you must don the armor of light. Cast away the works of the flesh, because you have become enamoured of and incased in that glistening panoply woven out of sunbeams and light. Do not only resist impurity; put on Christ as your purity. If you put on Christ as your purity you will have no difficulty in being free of the taint of impurity. Do not simply forbid wrath, anger, malice, but assume Christ’s heart of compassion, His kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, and forbear­ance; indeed, to cultivate these will make those impossible. You need make no provision for the flesh, not expecting to sin, not living in perpetual fear of its outbreak and solicitations, when once you have put on, by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus there is supply for every need, armor against every attack, full­ness for every deficiency. Avail yourself of Him; make use of Him; appro­priate His sufficiency; go into every day, whatever its anticipated emergen­cies, temptations, and perils, as those who are incased in the very nature and character of Jesus, which they offer as their answer to every possible de­mand. Put on the Lordship of Jesus. For this cause He died and lived again: that He might be Lord of both the dead and living. Let His authority be su­preme, His will and prompting law. Put on the humanity of Jesus. From the day when He went back to Nazareth and was subject to His parents, to the day when He pleaded for His murderers on the cross, He presents a lovely ex­ample of holy and spotless manhood. Put on the anointing of Jesus. He is the Christ of God. Never rest till God, who anointed Him as Head, has anointed you the member of His body, and you are a Christian (an anointed one) in deed and in truth. Then, when the day breaks and the shadows flee forever, when the arch-angel trumpet sounds the reveille to quick and dead, when the clear light of eternity breaks in on this time of illu­sion and gloom, we shall meet the day without shame or misgiving, and rise to the life immortal, through Him who liveth and reigneth forevermore in the mystery of the perfect day. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 99: 07.03. IT IS THE LORD ======================================================================== III "IT IS THE LORD" John 21:1-25. JOHN discerned Him first, as it was meet. To others it was a stranger that paced the sand and looked across the steel-gray water. To him who loved, and knew that he was loved, there was something in the gesture, inquiry, and tone which unmistakably indicated the presence of Jesus. A quick remark, in whispered undertones, to Peter was enough to cast him headlong into the water, and in a few moments, with rapid stroke, the strong swimmer was making for the Master’s feet. The man of love discerned; the man of action pressed through the intervening space to be the first to gather the spoil of that unex­pected interview. Be always on the outlook, fellow-dis­ciple, for thy Lord, especially in the early morning, when the world is fresh and the breeze curls the wavelets as they break in musical ripple on the sand. Ere the sun is risen above the hills, and while shadows lie dark and far on shore and sea, thou wilt probably find the Master taking pleasure in the works of His hands. There, where the foot of the roisterer and dissolute cannot intrude, where the voices of the world’s dissipa­tion are unheard, while the pulses are unstirred by the fever of the world’s passion, and the atmosphere of the soul is untainted by the soil of the world’s sin, at early dawn, amid nature, among the mountains, on the silver line of sand, in the woodland brake, in the garden, thou shalt hear the voice of thine heart saying, "It is the Lord." Thou wilt know Him by the fragrance of His breath, by the considerateness of His care, by His pity as of a father to his children, by His knowledge of mysteries hidden from all else; and when thou knowest Him to be present, gird thy coat about thee in the modesty of true humbleness, plunge through the divid­ing waves, and never rest till thou hast found thy way to His feet. It is wonderful what Jesus is to those that meet Him thus. They may be tired with the night-watch, weary with their run of ill success, out of heart and hope; but they never approach Him without finding a fire kindled by His hand, the fish and bread of prepared provision, and a welcome to breakfast. Never let that chance of the morning interview pass unimproved; never let Him stand there in vain; never let love descry Him without the strength of a mighty purpose bearing thee to His embrace. And it is not only thus that thou shouldst meet Him. It may be that thou shalt be plying thy daily toil, tear­ing thyself from work thou hadst deemed more sacred; thou mayest have turned to the bench or store, saying, with Peter, "I go a-fishing." The night may have settled upon thee, of disappointment and heart-weariness and failure; then, with a tread that no mor­tal ear could detect, He shall glide in, the light of whose eyes is all the light that heaven needs, and He will be standing there amid the scenes of common toil. He is familiar with carpenters’ shops. He knows well how to handle a boat. His delights are in the habi­table parts of the earth-on the flags of the exchange, amid the concourse of the market, where trades are plied and handicrafts wrought. The quick heart may still whisper gently to itself, "It is the Lord," and the soul shall have broken through the restraint of the chill waters of reserve, and shall be locked in a companionship which even the presence of others cannot break. Nor will He only come to thee amid the scenes of natural beauty and of daily toil. He will come to thee most of all when thou art mourning over thy failure in His service. Have the fish been fic­kle? Have thy wonted arts failed to beguile them? Have the weary hours passed, thou doing all thy little best, without one tiny fish entering thy net? Does it seem to thee as if thy hand has lost its cunning, and dost thou think sadly of the disappointment which awaits others? This is the likeliest moment of all in which to come across Him. Jesus always comes to men who seem to have failed; who have meant great things, but have come short; who have toiled greatly, and have taken nothing. Such are dear to Christ. Nothing touches His heart like patient and steadfast endurance. Nothing will so surely bring Him within reach as those empty nets and light keels. Look out for Him as the night is passing and the day breaking, when strength is ex­pended and exhaustion is paralyzing. Thine heart shall awake, smitten by the gleam of His face, and thou shalt say softly to thyself, "This is my God. I have waited for Him; He is come to save me. This is the Lord; I will re­joice in His salvation. It is the Lord!" Ah, soul, it may be that this story is not far from being realized. Thy night is almost over. Lo! the morning breaks. Thy boat has nearly come to shore. In a little it will grate on the pebbles, and, as through the parting mist which veils heaven thou seest a form waiting to welcome thee, thy heart will make no mistake if it softly whis­pers to itself, "It is the Lord;" and on thy emerging through the cold flood on the eternal shore, thou wilt see no man, save Jesus only, and find a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon, and bread; and thou wilt be bidden to bring of the fish which thou hast caught, that thou may­est feed on unexpected success with Him who says, "All Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine: and My joy is perfected." When Jesus meets the disciple He has much to say. We need the anointed ear as well as the quick eye. He asks for love-for the noblest love of which the heart is capable: the love of respect, of devotion, of consecration, such love as we would give to God. He asks, that He may give us an opportunity of expressing it. He asks because He loves to hear us express it. He asks with a special significance when we have acted in any wise inconsistently with its great demand. Hast thou not been conscious of this, fellow-disciple, when thou hast denied Him with oaths and curses, hast said thou didst not know Him, hast turned thy back on His great anguish? It was as though He says, "Is this thy love to thy Friend? " Art thou speak­ing and acting consistently with the high code of love’s ideal? Yet surely thou dost love in spite of this. Didst thou notice the other day, in the report of Nansen’s explorations, that about the pole there is a wide, open sea, the depths of which are warm, though the surface is covered by floating ice? Thy Master and mine knows well that the heart of a disciple may be warm, though on the surface may drift the ice-floes of denial and apparent neglect. As He asked of Peter, so of us, "Lovest thou Me?" Let us never dilute the attachment that should bind us to Him. I notice that He asked of Peter the great divine love, worthy of God, and that Peter pro­posed to give Him a weaker, more sentimental affection. A second time Christ maintained His demand for the supreme love, but for a second time Peter proffered Him the lower. Let us avoid Peter’s mistake, and when Jesus asks the best from us, let us not put Him off with second-best; when He asks the supreme, let us not give Him the inferior; let us not drag Him down to our level, but let us confess our­selves willing to rise to His. Let us bring Him such love as we have and lay it at His feet, and as it fails to fill out the measure of His demand, entreat Him to take it in His hand, and for sil­ver to bring gold, for iron, brass, and for stones, jewels. What revelations of ourselves Jesus gives us when we stand together in the presence of our brethren and in sight of the heaps of fish which betoken the success that He has crowned us with! He shows us ourselves-nay, we see ourselves reflected in the light of His life. We stand manifested before His judgment-seat and discern what He has discerned in us. Has He not led thee through the chambers of memory, and shown thee how much of all thy work has emanated from self? He leads thee back to thy youth and shows how much that the world praised was the result of the forceful energy of thine eager soul-so much was wood, hay, and stubble, which thou accountedst gold, silver, and pre­cious stones; so much was void, which thou thoughtedst was Nazarite conse­cration; so much was soulish and carnal instead of being spiritual and eternal. I hear Him saying to thee, as often to me," Thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest." Yes, that was our mistake. We were always girding ourselves up to new resolves, endeavors, sacrifices, exploits. We were fond of taking our own way. "I loved the garish day; and, spite of fears, Pride ruled my will." O time, wilt thou not give us back those opportunities? Is the principal swallowed up in thy capacious maw, and only the poor interest of tears and experience left? Alas for us! So many steps in vain! So much walking to no effect! "Remember not past years." Then the Lord foreshadows the future: "Another shall gird thee, and carry thee." This might make us fear, if we were to interpret it as indicating the coming of a stranger, a detractor, or Satan. But if the "other" is a veiled allusion to Himself, or to the Holy Spirit, by whom holy men of old were borne along, we are content. Let it be even so, 0 Thou other Comforter! Come and bear us whither Thou wilt, though the flesh cry out, and the cross loom in front, and after it the grave in which we rest at last. Beyond it all lies the upper chamber, the scenes of Pen­tecost, the church built on the founda­tion of the apostles and prophets, the New Jerusalem, with the disciples’ names inscribed on its stones. In the presence of the Lord all curi­osity is silenced. Dost thou look into His face and try to read the destiny of some twin soul, asking, "What shall this man do?" Thou wilt get no clear response. It may be because thy re­quest was prompted by some kind of selfish longing. It is not for thee to know, but to be; not to compare thy lot with others, but to be strong and brave and true. All depends upon the Master’s will, which is taken and which left, which tarries and which speeds home, which is alive until He come and which passes to meet Him by the shadowed cloisters of death. Our busi­ness is to follow Christ. Let us turn again to earth, with its demands and sorrows and sins, follow­ing Jesus as He goes about doing good, following Him to the ascension mount, following Him in thought and desire to His throne; and, penetrating every mystery, all perplexities, each en­shrouding cloud, with the unfaltering conviction of faith let us dare to say, "Though I cannot read His purposes, or distinguish His form, or even hear His voice, I know it is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 100: 07.04. OUR GENTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS ======================================================================== IV OUR GENTLE SCHOOL­MISTRESS Titus 2:10-14 THIS paragraph may be called the epiphany paragraph, because twice that word occurs within its precincts. There has been an epiphany of God’s grace; there will be an epiphany of His glory, and we know full well that that epiph­any will be ours also; for when He is manifested we also shall be manifested with Him in glory. "Epiphany" means manifestation, the shining forth of the hidden sun from which the veil­ing cloud has been withdrawn. It is according to the method of the apostle that this marvelous paragraph, in which the two epiphanies meet, should be addressed in the first instance to slaves. Titus had been sent to Crete, that he might set in order the things that were wanting and appoint elders in every city; he was sent to organize the struggling churches in all parts of that island. Without doubt these little bodies, which shone like sparks of fire amid the encircling gloom, had a larger proportion of slaves in their composition than of any other class. There was that in the gospel message which constituted a powerful attraction to the downtrod­den serfs. Moreover, they needed, more than any other class, the most inspiring teaching that the apostle could communicate to lift them above the degrada­tion and misery of their lot, and to enable them to feel that in the discharge of the most menial and distasteful work scope was given to them for the high service of God. In this connection it is interesting to see that the closing words of our paragraph are "good works." "Good works" is a characteristic phrase of this epistle. The Greek word is "beautiful." The apostle was extremely anxious that these poor house­hold slaves should abound in beautiful work. Titus was to be an example of such works (Titus 2:7). Those who believed in God were carefully to maintain "good works" (Titus 3:8). The converts were to learn to maintain "good works" for necessary uses (Titus 3:14). The intention gives character to the act, and noble or beautiful conceptions of Christian life would tinge with their own hues the most trivial act that called for doing. Therefore the apostle sets himself to store the hearts of the disciples with these lofty conceptions, that the white light of common life, passing through the stained glass of divine principles, may fall upon the pavement beneath in prismatic beauty. Some who read these words may be occupied with the commonplaces of life. Domestic servants, children at school, tradesmen, mechanics-let them not suppose that these spheres of duty are insusceptible of bearing traits of beauty. The heart can shed the light of its own ideals upon the commonest, meanest details until they wax lustrous. Many a beautiful life is being lived in top attics and cellar kitchens, because a beautiful soul is prompting every act, irradiated by the gospel and irradiat­ing it. The mantle of the incandescent light may serve as a beautiful illustration for this. Its manufacture is on this wise. A piece of cotton or gauze fabric is formed of a bell-like shape. Then for weeks or months its texture is saturated by various chemical ingredients, which coalesce and form into a solid structure. After a while, when ready for use, the mantle is placed over a burner and a light applied. Immediately the slight gauze is consumed, but on the surface of the amalgam, to which it gave its form, the light and heat of mingled gas and common air will burn for a thou­sand hours. Similarly, on the flimsy groundwork of a very trivial act the loftiest thoughts, ideals, and motives may congregate, and remain long after the act itself has passed, giving light and leading men to glorify the Father who is in heaven. Amid the multitudinous grandeur and interest of this paragraph, there is one central conception on which we may stay for a while, in the hope that its delicate beauty may exercise its witch­ery over our souls. The grace of God is compared to an instructress, a teacher of young children, and is depicted as keeping a school, within which all who love Christ are gathered. Hugh Miller, in his "Schools and Schoolmasters," has spoken of the various influences which equipped him for his life-work; and we are all pupils in many schools, and sit beneath the instruction of many masters. But amid all the influences that mold our lives, there is none so gentle, be­nignant, formative, and strong as the influence of our earliest and latest teacher, the grace of God. As I write there comes back to me a vision of a gentle lady to whom, as a little boy, I went to school. Even now I can see her pure and sweet face. She was never vexed. It was pleasant to learn what she taught, because of the charm of her personal character, which attracted young hearts and made them soft as wax to receive the die. And much of what I have learned in after life seems to have been but the devel­opment of what she gave in embryo. Many of us recall such in the sunny years that lie behind us in the morning light, and they give us a vision of what the grace of God must be. Between the two epiphanies grace has set up a school. She hath brought salvation to all men, and she instructs those in whose hearts her loving words are welcomed. Have you entered her school? Are you sitting on her forms? There are several peculiarities. All her teaching centers around a bi­ography. She teaches truth, but it is the truth as it is in Jesus. The way, the truth, and the life, of which she con­stantly speaks, are gathered up in His wonderful personality. To know Him is to know all that she can teach; and yet, after all that she can teach, He is always greater and more wonderful. All her students learn from the same book. There is but one manual for them all. From the moment they enter her school-house, to the last one they spend there, they turn the same leaves, though, under her gentle teaching, these glow with an ever-growing meaning. The pupils of grace begin at the highest forms and end with the lowest, and those who know most take the lowest places, supposing that they know noth­ing at all. They confess that they are less than the least of all saints, that they have not apprehended, but are labori­ously following on. There are no fees, except that every scholar has to bring, as they are wont still to do in the remoter parts of Scotland, each one a contribution to the common fire. There is a system of rewards and pun­ishments in the school of grace-prizes to be won, penalties to be avoided. The lessons are always turned back if they are not perfectly learned. The scholars are kept close, even in the lovely sum­mer days, if they have not completed their tasks; and there are times when the teacher has been known to use the taws; but the infliction of chastisement has ever seemed an unwelcome task, only resorted to when all else had failed. Her voice is low and sweet, her foot­step noiseless, her hand soft and tender. Her power lies in her winsomeness, which attracts and charms, her patience, which counts no pains extravagant if only some young learner can be induced to apply himself to knowledge. Her portrait has been limned by an immortal hand, and hangs forever in the portrait gallery of God’s Book; but there she is also known as wisdom. "Doth not wisdom cry, And understanding put forth her voice? In the top of high places by the way, Where the paths meet, she standeth; Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, At the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud: ... Receive my instruction, and not silver; And knowledge rather than choice gold." We are taught what we are to deny. "Ungodliness and worldly lusts." One of the first lessons of children is to restrict and limit the indulgence of each passing whim and fancy for the sake of some worthier aim. It is impossible to make much of the young life the gate of which is always on the swing and open to every intruder. To discriminate and refuse is a prerequisite to all true ad­vance. The child who stops to gather all the flowers in the spring hedgerows is not the one to send on urgent messages. Similarly, if we would have the frui­tion of God’s glorious grace, we must deny all that is inconsistent with God and godliness, which is godlikeness. We must resolutely deny and die to all that is inconsistent with God and unlike God, all that would grieve the Holy Spirit, all that would create surprise and dislike in those who live on most familiar terms with God. Ungodliness and worldly lusts are closely connected. The heart of man, like a climbing plant, must adhere; and if its support be not God, then it will be that system of things by which we are surrounded, known as the world. We must have one or the other, and these are mutually destructive. To have God is to be unworldly; not to have God is to be consumed by divers worldly lusts, which war against the soul. Therefore the apostle does well to class these twain; they are two sides of the same bad coin, and grace teaches us to deny each. We are taught what to practise. "To live soberly, righteously, godly, in this present world." Soberly: that is our behavior toward the things around us, whether pleasures, gains, or acquisitions of any kind. Righteously: that is our behavior toward our fellows, adopting as our code of dealing with them the standard of unvarying rectitude and honor. Godly: that is our behavior toward God-to love Him, resemble and obey Him. Are you ever at a stand, not knowing what to do for the best in respect to some question of practical life or honor? Take the hard problem into the presence of the grace of God; she shall instruct thee. How much we miss that would help us in determining our course amid the perplexities of the present evil world! We are taught what to look for. "The blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ" (R.V.). We are taught what to believe. That Jesus "gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us." This was the prime end of our Saviour’s coming into our world. All His work culminated in the cross; there He stood as our substitute, and bought us to be His own, and He will never be satisfied till we are redeemed from all iniquity and purified even as He is pure. There is no need that any of us should live under the power and tyranny of sin. We have been re­deemed from under its accursed yoke, and have only to assert our freedom on the warrant of God’s Word. This is one of the favorite lessons of grace. As some holy woman, whose purity of character and dignity of mien secured her from molestation, might have gone among the slave populations of the Southern States after the great war, explaining everywhere to them the nature of President Lincoln’s proclama­tion, assuring them that they were free and urging them to assert that freedom, so does this blessed teacher instruct us of our freedom and urge us to act on it. Lastly, we are taught what we are to be. "A people for His own possession" (R. V.). These Cretan converts were in many cases but too familiar with the thought of being owned by another-­often by a cruel and hateful master, who exercised his deadly rights to the full. It was a mighty inspiration when they came to realize that they were much more Christ’s, set apart for Him­self and bearing His image and super­scription. Oh, that grace may more perfectly explain to us the majesty of our high calling, and enable us to realize it! Let us sit at the feet of our gentle teacher, with humble and teachable hearts, to hear her lovely voice and weave her instructions into the warp of our mortal human life. ======================================================================== Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/writings-of-f-b-meyer-volume-1/ ========================================================================