October 1931
* Pip i r
T h e
K i n g s B u s i n , e s s
477 side of the desert. Forty years in the wil derness made Joshua one of God’s great est soldiers, one of His bravest heroes. Saul’s persecution did more to make David the king that he was than Samuel’s sacred oil did. Elijah learned the gospel through the “still small voice” in a cave. Peter got his best lesson in evangelistic theory when he went out in the dark night to weep bitterly for his great sin. Paul was not conferring with flesh and blood during the time spent in Arabia. John went to the highest class in Patmos. The long agony of Luther has lessened the sorrows of millions. John Bunyan called more pilgrims into the King’s high way from his dungeon than ever he did from his pulpit. The same has been true of thousands of others.— S elected . OCTOBER 27 "Thou makest darkness', and it is niaht” (Psa. 104:20). ‘ Much might be said on the wisdom of taking a constantly fresh view of life. It is one of the moral uses of the night that it gives the world anew to us every morning, and of sleep that it makes life a daily re-creation. If we always saw the world, we might grow weary of it.
But these afflictions of the dust, Like shadows of the night, remove. That glorious- life will well repay This life of care and toil and woe; O Father! joyful on my way, To drink Thy bitter cup I go. —S elected . OCTOBER 22 “Great is thy faithfulness" (Lam. 3:23). Two parts of the sacrifice were specially, . set apart for the priests, that is, the breast and the shoulder. What care God takes of those who “minister unto him” ! If it is permissible to spiritualize even in mat ters of this kind—and we certainly think it is—then surely details such as these are full of instruction. The breast repre sents the affections; the shoulder is the place of power. The believer is invited to feed daily upon both the love and the * power of the Lord. In every time of sor row or doubt or fear, we feed upon the remembrance of His faithfulness and un ceasing love; in every time of weakness we partake, by faith, of His unfailing strength and grace.—-F. J. H orsefield . OCTOBER 23 “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven" (Gen 15:5). The tent was changed for the sky! Abraham sat moodily in his tent; God brought him forth beneath the stars. And that is always the line of the divine leader. He brings us forth out of our small imprisonments, and He sets our feet in a large place. He desires for us height and breadth of view. For “as the heavens are high above the earth,” so are His thoughts higher than our thoughts, and His ways than our ways. He wishes us, I say, to exchange the tent for the sky, and to live, and move in great, spacious thoughts of His purpose and will. How is it with our love? Is it a thing of the tqnt or of the sky? Does it range over mighty spaces seeking benedictions for a multitude? Or does it dwell in self ish seclusion, imprisoned in merely selfish quest? How is it with our prayers? How big are they ? Will a tent contain them, or do they move with the scope and great ness of the heavens? Do they contain just our own families? Or is China in them, and India, and “the uttermost part of the earth” ? —J. H. J owett . OCTOBER 24 IIIP I a moment shall they die" (Job 34: “In a moment . . . we shall be chanaed” (1 Cor. 15:52). We do not realize the importance of moments. Only let us consider those two sayings of God about them: “In a mo ment shall they die,” and “we shall all be changed in a moment,” and we shall think less lightly of them. Eternal issues may hang upon any one of them, but it has come and gone before we can even think about it. Nothing seems less with in the possibility of our own keeping. Therefore, let us ask Him to keep them for us. —F rances R idley H avergal . Moment by moment, I’m kept in His love ; Moment by moment, I’ve life from above; Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine; Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine. —D. W. W hittle .
OCTOBER 25 “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me” (Psa. 42:4). It is never. wise to live in the past. There are, indeed, some uses of our past which are helpful and which bring bless ing. We should remember our past lost condition, to keep us humble and faithful. We should remember past failures and mistakes, that we may not repeat them. We s h o u l d r e m e m b e r past mer cies that we may have confidence in new needs dr trials in the future. We should remember past comforts, that there may be stars in our sky when night comes again. But while there are these true uses of memory, we should guard against living in the past. We should draw our life’s inspirations, not from memory, but from hope; not from what is gone, but from what is yet to come. Forgetting the things which are behind, we should reach forward unto those things which are before.—J. R. M iller . OCTOBER 26 “Who teacheth like him" (Job 36:22)? Our bitterest trials are our best lessons. Joseph studied statesmanship in prison. Moses found a divinity hall in the back
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