1 Kings 19:3-18 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.… I remember a good many years ago I got very much depressed because the Lord, I thought, hadn't blessed my ministry. I was cast down, and used to talk discouragingly of what was being done. There was not any life in my ministry, and this went on for three months. One Monday, when I was in the valley, and very much cast down, I met a friend who was on the hilltop and exceedingly elated. He said he had had a grand Sunday; what had I? "Oh!" I said, "I had not a good one." "Much power?" "No. What did you preach about?" "Oh, I preached about Noah." I said, "How did you get on?" "Oh, grandly. Did you ever study up Noah?" I said I thought I knew all about Noah, for there are only a few verses about him. "Oh, if you haven't studied up Noah you ought to do it. He's a wonderful character." After he left I got out my Bible, and read all I could find about Noah, and while I was reading this thought came to me: Here is this man who was a preacher of righteousness for one hundred and twenty years, and yet never had a convert outside his own family. I went to the prayer-meeting after that; and there was a man, who had just come from a town in Illinois, who spoke of one hundred young converts. "Why," I said, "what would Noah have said if he had one hundred converts, and yet Noah didn't get discouraged!" Then a man right close to me got up, and he was trembling. "My friend," he said, "I wish you would pray for me." I said to myself: "What would Noah have given if he had heard that during those one hundred and twenty years, and yet he never heard the voice of an inquirer — not one. Still, he didn't get discouraged." (D. L. Moody.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. |
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