T h e K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
July 1927
459
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D a i l y M e d i t a t i o n s f o r t h e Y ear B y W i l f r e d M . H o p k i n s
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J uly 8. “The LORD . . . before, whom I stand.”—1 Kings 17:1. HERE is the secret of Elijah’s strength, of his courage in the presence of Ahab, of his triumph upon Mount Carmel, of his victory over the false prophets of Baal and of the Asherah. He lived in the conscious presence of JEHOVAH. He stood before Him in the attitude of expectation and of service. No wor shipper, he, of a vague and far off God. He felt the Divine eye upon him; he was consciously enwrapped and enfolded by the Deity. The LORD was to; him, not merely an object of adoration, but at once a Master Whose behest he was bound, at all cost, to obey, and a tower of strength against the assault of every danger and of every foe, In the light of that face all earthly things were seen in their true proportions. Elijah was emphatically a MAN because he knew the object of his worship to be a GOD, and not an idol, like the gods of the heathen, nor the mere Mumbo Jumbo of a lifeless creed. If we would be like the prophet in his heroism and his power, we must stand like him in the Divine presence. They that wait, not merely for God, but upon Him, shall renew their strength. They who would be dauntless in the hour of danger ; they who would dare “ ■. .' . . to do the right, When right is mis-called wrong;” they who would have power with God and men, so that they may prevail, must stand before the LORD. ÜÈ J uly 9. “He arose and Went for his life .”— 1 Kings 19:3. “HOW are the mighty fallen!” Is this Elijah, who stood unafraid in the presence of the irate king, who dared the whole people of Israel upon Carmel’s crest? Lo, he runs away at the threat of a woman! How are we to account for his sudden fear? He supplies the answer himself as he stands upon Horeb. "/ have been very jealous . . . I, even I only . . . they seek my life.” The first personal pronoun unravels the mystery. Elijah’s eyes have shifted; once they were upon the LORD be fore Whom he stood; now they are fixed upon himself and upon’his enemies. Then, he was powerful and fearless; now, he is impotent and afraid. Satan is ever trying to induce us to look away from God and gaze at ourselves or our surroundings ; well he knows that, if he can but succeed in so doing, he will gain an easy victory over our paralyzed hearts and minds. Nothing but weakness and fear can be the results pf introspection, or of contemplating the difficulties and angers by which we are beset. “Our help cometh of the LORD, Who made heaven and'earth,” but we forget the fact as soon as our gaze is diverted from His face and directed to the things below. The juniper tree and the wilderness await the so.ul that meditates upon either its own im portance, its own weakness, or its exposition to possible disaster. “Thou on the Lord rely, So, safe, shait thou go on; Fix on His work thy steadfast eye, So shall thy work be done.”
J uly 6. “All that Jesus began both to do and to teach.”-—Acts 1:1. THIS is a peculiar and striking phrase. Most people would be disposed to affirm that Christ’s active ministry below ended with His ascension into heaven; Saint Luke intimates that it is still being carried on. True, part of His work was finished; the great redemption of the Race was accomplished, the triumphs over death and hell were won. But Christ is still working in the world. We do not go forth to our Christian toil unaided and alone; we are, in the truest sense, “laborers ^together with” Him. Earth is not, even temporarily, orphaned of its God; the Divine operations for its salvation from the effects of Eden’s curse have not been suspended, nor have they been left to the unas sisted efforts of mankind. Hope on, then! Toil on, then! All shall yet be well with the world. But Christ is not only still working, He is still teaching. The Bible is an infallible and unchangeable, but only a partial, revelation of His will; He has much more to tell us than He has told us yet—had we but ears to hear, were we but able to bear the communication. We miss much (how much, we little guess) when we confine our selves to the written Word, and fail to seek from the Word Incarnate the wisdom which He only is able to impart. The living Voice must supplement the Sacred Page if many of the problems and difficulties of our daily experience are to be solved. Nor is that Voice unwilling to speak to u s: if we do not know, it is because we fail to ask. “Acquaint thyself now with him and be at peace."-—Job 22:21. ALL lack of peace is due to men’s limited knowledge of God. The unsaved sinner has no peace because he has been without a vision of the real beauties of holiness; had he but once seen the Divine as He really is, his impenitence would have melted into tears. The believer is filled with doubts and fears because he manufactures for himself a being of theologies, and then either trembles with terror at His imagined severity, or shivers with trepidation because of His feared insufficiency. All this would be avoided if only men would “acquaint them selves with Him.” To know about God is one thing; to know God Himself is quite another. Men are sometimes profoundly steeped in the former knowledge who have not learned the A.B.C. of the latter; Once we really know God, our sins will slough away from us, withered in the light of His purity. Once we really know God, our fears and our doubts will wither and droop in the sunshine of His loving, tender face. Once we really know God, a peace, profound and indestructible, will fill the re cesses of our hearts as the waters fill the ocean bed. Do not say: “Such knowledge is too high for us;” Christ Jesus came that He might reveal to us the Father. The veil has been rent and we may pass straight into the presence of the Divine and hold direct communion with Him—if we do not get to know God in these Christian days, the fault is solely our own; if we are not at peace, we have no one to blame but ourselves. ¿ye. j£§ J uly 7.
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