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T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
December 1932
present as well as to the past and the fu ture; and to you and me as well as to Israel and the nations. All Scripture makes a claim upon us, and the claim o f this psalm is that we make and acknowledge Christ to be sovereign Lord in our life. Have you done that ? There is no true song in a self- ruled soul. Submission to Christ is not servitude, but strength. DECEMBER 22 “ Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised” (Psa. 48:1). Is it not so that too often we hold our privileges loosely until they are in danger, and then we awake to their value? The goodness' o f God to us we should not only celebrate but proclaim. I f we would make God dear to our children, He must be dear to us. The last verse [Psa. 48:14] is a profession o f faith. Not every one who can say “this God” can say also “ our God.” Can you? What He has been to us for a moment, He can be for a millennium. Has the city of your soul been assailed? Have you been imprisoned within yourself? and in your extremity, have you cried to God? and has He not delivered you? and have you praised Him? “ Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.” DECEMBER 23 “ Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory o f his house is in creased" (Psa. 49:16). It should be clearly understood that riches are not, as such, condemned here, or anywhere in the Scriptures, but trust in riches is condemned. Wealth no more makes a man wicked than poverty makes a man good. The rich man (Lk. 16) did not go to Hades because he was rich, nor Lazarus to “ Abraham’s bosom” because he was poor, but because the one trusted his wealth, and the other trusted his God. The godly poor should neither fear nor envy the wicked rich, for the latter’s success is consummate failure, they lose all at last; whereas the former’s apparent failure is sues in eternal blessedness. DECEMBER 24 “Purge me zvith hyssop; and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snozsf’ (Psa. 51:7). Certain notes dominate this music which is now in the minor, and now in the major key. There is the note o f sin, which is the occasion o f the song. In the main, sin is regarded in three ways; as a blotted rec ord, which must be expunged; as a pol luted robe, which must be washed; and as a fatal disease, from which we must be cleansed (1, 2) . . . Though evil-doing is a crime against our fellows, it is essentially sin against God. Only as it is acknowl edged can it be forgiven, and after it is forgiven, the remembrance of it will be for our good. DECEMBER 25 “His name shall be called . . . the Prince o f Peace” (Isa. 9 :6). O Prince o f Peace, whose advent we re member, Speak once again the message o f Thy birth; The message o f glad praise to God the Father, The message o f good will and peace on earth. Speak it anew, Lord, at this holy season,
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[The prose selections, unless otherwise indicated, are from the gifted pen o f Dr. W. Graham Scroggie, of Edinburgh, Scot land. Many o f them are taken from his study hour series on Psalms, published in several volumes, by Harper Bros., at $1.25 each. In the following excerpts, references to specific verses in the body o f the text have been omitted; but their use in the books make a careful study o f the Psalter both easy and enjoyable .— E ditor .] DECEMBER 14 "My times are in thy hand” (Psa. 31 :15). ■ O Master, take my hand, And lead me as Thou wilt, Along the better way
cence (17-22). Specially notice that throughout there is no breakdown of faith, and faith is never so fair as when it flour ishes amid the fury of the foe. Thrice blest is he to whom is given The instinct that can tell That God is on the field when He • Is most invisible. — F . W . F aber . DECEMBER 18 “Hearken, 0 daughter, and consider.. . So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him” (Psa. 45:10,11). The Bride is now addressed (10-17). She is bidden “ hearken . . . consider . . . incline . . . forget.” God’s people are beau tiful with the beauty o f the King, who is our Lord, and whom we should worship. This should make other people nobly cov etous, and will, if we are as we should be, “all glorious within.” It is what we are “within” that matters first. How great are our privileges, and how blessed should be our posterity (14-17) ! Are you in this song of love? Here is not only union, but also communion. DECEMBER 19 "All thy garments smell o f myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out o f the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad” (Psa. 45:8). “What then?” says John Tauler, “is it while the bride stands by alone that we know o f the incense o f her presence? Sure ly not. When she has gone past, still she leaves behind the perfume o f the ivory palaces, so that men shall say, ‘This way she went, by this path she followed her Lord’s path; by this track her feet trod the rough flints and sherds o f this earth, that they might merit to walk upon the golden streets o f New Jerusalem.’ ” DECEMBER 20 “ The Lord o f hosts is zvith us; the God o f Jacob is our refuge" (Psa. 46:7). What ringing confidence and challenge are in these opening words, “W e will not fear though . . . though . . . though . . . though” (2, 3) ! It is the Old Testament counterpart of Paul’s great utterance in Romans 8 :31-39, only the New Testament voice is o f richer and of wider range. What is it that inspires this confidence? It is God, refuge, strength, and help. His presence and His power, ac knowledged and welcomed, make all the difference between defeat and victory, fail ure and success, fear and faith. This, this is the God we adore, Our faithful, unchangeable Friend; Whose love is as great as His power, And neither knows measure nor end. — J .H art . DECEMBER 21 “ God reigneth . . . God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness” (Psa. 47:8). The psalm (47) is didactic as well as historic and prophetic; it relates to the
Thy promises have built. Teach me that simple trust The Father sends through Thee, To quiet all my fears, When ways grow dark for me. O Master, lead me on, Past moor and fen and wild, And lift me by the hand, As one would lift his child. ^ -C harles J. N orth . DECEMBER 15
“All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me" (Psa. 42: 7, 8). How true this is to experience! First the billows, then the blessings; first the sigh, then the song; first the mourning, then the morning. No one who truly pants and thirsts for God will fail to find Him. As pants the hart for water brooks, So pants my soul, O God, for Thee; For Thee it thirsts, to Thee it looks, And longs the living God to see. DECEMBER 16 "Through thee we will push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us” (Psa. 44:5). . What are your enemies? Pride, selfish ness, temper, untruthfulness, irresolute ness, cowardice, jealousy, envy, unbelief? You are here told what to do with them: “push them down” and “tread them un der.” Our true enemies are not our neigh bors, but ourselves. Many a man can con quer abroad, who suffers defeat at home. W e have no weapons o f our own equal to victory, but through God we can over come. DECEMBER 17 “In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever” (Psa. 44:8). Look at the whole psalm (44) again, for it lies right alongside o f the common expe rience o f those whose hearts are really set on pleasing God. It begins with praise (1-3) and ends with prayer (23-26). In the center is disappointment (9-16), and in either side of this are hope (4-8) and inno
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