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March 10 |
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Morning Reading |
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Evening
Reading |
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"In my prosperity I said I shall never be
moved." |
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Psalm 30:6 |
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"Moab settled on his lees,
he hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel." Give a
man wealth; let his ships bring home continually rich
freights; let the winds and waves appear to be his
servants to bear his vessels across the bosom of the
mighty deep; let his lands yield abundantly: let the
weather be propitious to his crops; let uninterrupted
success attend him; let him stand among men as a
successful merchant; let him enjoy continued health;
allow him with braced nerve and brilliant eye to march
through the world, and live happily; give him the
buoyant spirit; let him have the song perpetually on his
lips; let his eye be ever sparkling with joy — and the
natural consequence of such an easy state to any man,
let him be the best Christian who ever breathed, will be
presumption; even
David said, "I shall never be moved;" and we are not
better than David, nor half so good. Brother, beware of
the smooth places of the way; if you are treading them,
or if the way be rough, thank God for it. If God should
always rock us in the cradle of prosperity; if we were
always dandled on the knees of fortune; if we had not
some stain on the alabaster pillar; if there were not a
few clouds in the sky; if we had not some bitter drops
in the wine of this life, we should become intoxicated
with pleasure, we should dream "we stand;" and stand we
should, but it would be upon a pinnacle; like the man
asleep upon the mast, each moment we should be in
jeopardy.
We bless God, then, for
our afflictions; we thank him for our changes; we extol
his name for losses of property; for we feel that had he
not chastened us thus, we might have become too secure.
Continued worldly prosperity is a fiery trial.
Afflictions, though they
seem severe,
In mercy oft are sent. |
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Evening Reading |
Go to Morning Reading |
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"Man ... is of few days, and full of
trouble." |
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Job 14:1 |
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It may be of great service to us, before we
fall asleep, to remember this mournful fact, for it may
lead us to set loose by earthly things. There is nothing
very pleasant in the recollection that we are not above
the shafts of adversity, but it may humble us and
prevent our boasting like the Psalmist in our morning's
portion. "My mountain standeth firm: I shall never be
moved." It may stay us from taking too deep root in this
soil from which we are so soon to be transplanted into
the heavenly garden. Let us recollect the frail tenure
upon which we hold our
temporal mercies. If we would remember that all the
trees of earth are marked for the woodman's axe, we
should not be so ready to build our nests in them. We
should love, but we should love with the love which
expects death, and which reckons upon separations. Our
dear relations are but loaned to us, and the hour when
we must return them to the lender's hand may be even at
the door. The like is certainly true of our
worldly goods. Do not riches take to
themselves wings and fly away? Our health is
equally precarious. Frail flowers of the field, we must
not reckon upon blooming for ever. There is a time
appointed for weakness and sickness, when we shall have
to glorify God by suffering, and not by earnest
activity. There is no single point in which we can hope
to escape from the sharp arrows of affliction; out of
our few days there is not one secure from sorrow. Man's
life is a cask full of bitter wine; he who looks for joy
in it had better seek for honey in an ocean of brine.
Beloved reader, set not your affections upon things of
earth: but seek those things which are above, for
here
the moth devoureth, and the thief breaketh through, but
there all joys are perpetual and eternal. The path
of trouble is the way home. Lord, make this thought a
pillow for many a weary head! |
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