758
T h e November 1927 ®E5H5E5252SE5H52EE5E52Sa5H5E525E5E5HSE52S25E5H5H5E525E525E5H5a52SH525H5B5H52S25E5H525H5252525B25KKMK2^^10^^^q?S?ii?^^i^^S?Ii?Ii?,i?5B5KKK2525B25KS2Fa B D a i l y M e d i t a t i o n s f o r t h e Yea r B y W i l f r e d M . H o p k i n s ■ aS3aaaaaaa K i n g ' s B u s i n e s s
N ovember 6. "I know their sorrows! Ex. 3:7.
ence nor. escape the destruction that awaits every unasperged soul. That sprinkling is accomplished when we appropriate the sacrifice for our own individual need. .jSlfci. N ovember 8. "The LORD loveth the gates o f Z ion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.” —Ps. '87:2 ’ THE reason being, of course, that the Temple was there. Men tell us that there is no need to go to the House of God in order that we may worship Him. In a sense that is true. We admit that the blue vault of heaven is the róóf of His sanctuary. Prayer may be offered in the crowded market-place. “And e’en where voice of man is not, God buildeth temples there.” But that does not alter the fact that He has a special af fection for His own peculiar Courts. His presence fills heaven and earth, but it is particularly manifested in the Holy Place. Although Christ is with His people always and everywhere, yet He has made this definite promise: “Wheresoever two or three of you are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst.” Thus those who “forsake the assembling of themselves together as the manner of some is,” rob them selves of a more immediate manifestation of the Divine pres ence, as well as break the definite command set forth in the Book of God. They miss, moreover, that spiritual fellowship of saints which is at once an inspiration and a strength. .What ever may be their motive for their absence, they appear to the world to despise the ordinance of religion. They set a bad ex ample to their neighbors. And, last but not least, they grieve their Heavenly Father, who loves (as all true fathers do) to see His sons and daughters gather in His house. If our hearts are right, we shall say with the Psalmist: “How amiable are thy tabernacles” ; and we shall resort thither on every pos sible occasion-assured that we shall meet Him Whom our soul loveth, there. * H N ovember 9. “He appointed singers unto the Lord.” 2 Chron. 20:21. EVERYBODY can Sing when the victory is won, but how many of us are ready to raise our psalm of triumph before the battle commences ? Only hearts full of real faith can do that. The Devil is sure to whisper that it would be wiser to keep oür melody of praise until we are sure of the result. We shall look so foolish if after all we fail to gain the dayl We should turn a deaf ear to such suggestions. Pessimism and power are incompatible ; for God is our strength, and all fear is more or less a denial of Him. Even in earth’s battles; it is the singing soldier who is most surely on the way to victory ; but this is much more the case when we once come to the realm of the spiritual; for it is faith that prompts the song, and faith is the power that enables us to overcome. ; The hosts of Hell are not ignorant of this truth; terror and dismay take hold of them when the Christian meets them chanting the power and faithfulness of his God. To praise God before the battle and to praise Him in the battle, is to display the banner which He has given us : a banner which ever marches to victory ; for
WE are tempted in our days of darkness to say: “My way is passed over from my God” ; but. almost ere the words have passed our lips there comes to us, in its gracious contra diction, the Divine avowal: “I know their sorrows.” “Their sorrows,” be it noted, not their “sorrow.” The knowledge is not vague and general; it is particular and precise. Not a load that presses, not a pain that pierces, not a thorn that pricks, but it is marked and measured by the Eye of Love. Nor must we forget the perfection of the knowledge, born not alone of omniscience, but of experience. He comprehends the bit terness of our tears, for He hath shed them Himself; He un derstands our longings for rest because He was once a weary pilgrim upon earth; He realizes the keenness of our disap pointments, for men failed Him when He was here below; “He knows what sore temptations mean, For He hath felt the same.” In the whole minor gamut of human misery there is not one note that is strange to His sympathetic ear: He does not guess at our sorrows, He knows them— “Not alone as God all knowing; As man our mortal weakness He has proved.” And He has come down to deliver us. For with perfect knowledge there is united infinite pity and abounding love. Well may we say: “This is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.” Not, perhaps, immediately; for He has lessons of faith and patience to teach u s; but in His own good time we shall “see the salvation of God.” 11 N ovember 7. "Christ our Passover.”- —1 Cor. 5 :7. THERE was a double purpose in the passover as first in stituted. The angel of death passed over the house that was sprinkled with blood, and the LORD passed over (the thresh old) to those who dwelt within.’ Thus the sacrifice obtained for those who offered it a twofold benefit; it saved them from the messenger of destruction, and it ensured them the presence of the Lord of Life. What was true of the type, is true also of the antitype. The precious blood of our passover Lamb saves us from the destroying angel; we pass, by its application; from the law of :sin and death to the law of life and peace. But it also ensures for us the presence of the Divine. Hence forth it is “Christ in us” Who is “the hope of glory.” This, though we do not always; realize it, is an indispensable neces sity. Naught save thé presence of life can avert the advent of death, and there is no spiritual life apart from Him who is not only the Way and the Truth, but the Life itself. We must not forget, however, that the blood, once shed, had to be sprinkled by the hand - of the individual Israelite. The sac rifice has been offered on our behalf, but with the hand .of faith we must appropriate its blessings; none save the sin ner himself can sprinkle the symbol and means of salvation upon his guilty heart. It is not enough that it has been shed; it must be sprinkled, or we shall never receive the Divine pres
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker