He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. Sermons
I. There is suggested for consideration MAN IN HIS OPINION OF HIMSELF. He reckons himself as גֶּבֶד, the strong one. He likes to estimate his great resources and use them for his own aggrandizement. He is filled with the ambition of achieving greatness in many ways. It is by his strength that he builds Babel and the Pyramids and all the great structures of both ancient and modern times. He gathers Heat armies and makes extensive conquests. He leans to his own understanding and is wise in his own conceits. And it must be admitted that it is hard for a man in the full strength of body and mind to take in, as a practical check upon all his castle-building, the necessary weakness of human nature. The discovery of our weakness will always be a humiliating thing, at least in the first aspect of it. We do not like to relinquish the glory which comes from physical strength, intellectual skill, in short, from the employment of all those faculties enabling a man to achieve what is called a successful career. Genius is semi-deified, while the Spirit of God working through some common man, who would be nothing without that Spirit, is despised or neglected. Successful military and naval commanders are made into nobles with the general approval. Every fresh application of natural forces is hailed as a tribute to the glory of mankind. Even those who are not deceived by the coarser forms of human power are deceived readily enough by the finer ones. II. MAN IN GOD'S ESTIMATE OF HIM. This is set forth by a threefold indication of man's folly and wickedness. 1. He trusts in man; man as set forth by the word אָדָם. The strong man is assuredly no stronger than that upon which he leans. A building may be of substantial materials, but all its strength will avail nothing if the foundation be weak. Mark that it is not a question of trusting in sinful and fallen men. God does not find fault with us for trusting in bad men rather than good ones. He is speaking of all that essential defectibility, that susceptibility to temptation, which belonged to man even before he fell. We might put the matter thus: Cursed is the man who trusts in Adam, who forgets that he himself is beset with temptations, and that in a moment of heedlessness and vain self-confidence he may fall into shame, confusion, and perhaps despair. 2. He makes flesh his arm. All strength must act through an arm of some sort. A great deal of human power makes itself felt in a very literal way through the arm. Sheer strength in wielding the sword or the hammer; skill, as in holding the painter's brush, the sculptor's chisel, the musical instrument, and the innumerable tools of all sorts of handicraftsmen. Thus the arm becomes a great representative, showing all the varieties of human strength in action. Now, where man shows his folly is in this - that wishing to get his own way, to work out his own pleasure and glory, he has no better instrument than flesh. What a poor, uncertain creature man is, if he has nothing better to depend upon than his natural faculties! The eye may lose its vision, the arm its strength, the hand its skill, and then where are the schemes and projects of the ingenious brain? The thing intended by God is that man should be as an arm to carry out into action the wise and loving projects of the Divine will. Then there is no failure, no disappointment. What cannot be done in one way will assuredly be done in another, if only the will and counsel of God stand supreme in our regard. 3. His heart departs from Jehovah. The great privilege given to Israel was that they had been brought near to Jehovah. Fallen Adam had been cast out of Eden, but believing Abraham had been drawn near to God. And his descendants in particular, the chosen nation in the wilderness, had been made to approach to Jehovah, the great I Am, the Source of whatsoever strength and energy are to be found in his universe. Thus, then, we see the peculiar folly of the children of Israel. All men are fools because they trust in man and make flesh their arm; but the Israelite is a fool more than others because his heart departs from Jehovah. He cannot depart altogether; he cannot get away from the constraints of the Omnipotent; he must go through all the sufferings that are coming upon the guilty land; and even when he departs to Babylon he will not leave Jehovah behind. What folly, then, that he does not make an instantaneous clearance of his miseries by cleaving with purpose of heart to Jehovah as Jehovah desires to cleave with fullness of blessing to him! And let us recollect that, however far from Jehovah our hearts may depart, from his judgments and penal visitations it is impossible for us to depart. III. THE CURSE WHICH RESTS ON ALL THIS MISTAKEN SELF-CONFIDENCE. Though there seems some uncertainty as to the meaning of ver. 6, it is best for practical purposes to take it in contrast with ver. 8. If we plant ourselves down confidently among our own resources, deceived by the smiles and attractions of first appearances, we must not be astonished if in due time the appearances vanish and leave the cheerless realities of the wilderness. Where man by his natural vision sees the garden with all manner of rich possibilities, God teaches the believer to discern the desolation and barrenness that lie underneath. Gardens very soon become wildernesses if the heart of the cultivator departs from Jehovah. Men who in the days of their prosperity draw around them crowds of flatterers and dependents no sooner fall into adversity than they fall also into comparative solitude. The time is coming when, if we have nothing better than the help of man to trust to, we shall really have no help at all. - Y.
Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. I. THE FOLLY AND EVIL OF TRUSTING IN MAN. To "trust in man," in the sense of our text, is to expect that from creatures which can only come from the Creator: to confide in them, not as mere instruments, but as efficient causes; to look to them so as to look off from God; to cleave to them so as to depart from Him.1. Idolatrous in its principle. 2. Grovelling in its aim. It looks no higher than present good, and things altogether unworthy of an immortal spirit. 3. Unreasonable in its foundation. It supposes that man can do what God cannot. 4. Destructive in its issue. "He shall be like the heath in the desert," — worthless, sapless, fruitless; "he shall not see when good cometh," — shall not enjoy it; "but he shall inhabit the parched places," etc.He shall prosper in nothing. (1) (2) (3) II. THE WISDOM AND BENEFIT OF TRUSTING IN THE LORD. Jehovah is his hope. He seeks and expects his all from Him. To know, love, and enjoy Him, — behold his chief good, — the object of his hopes, — his highest and ultimate end. Now this conduct is the complete contrast of the other. 1. It is pious in its principles. 2. Elevated in its aim. 3. Rational in its foundation. 4. Glorious in its issue.Blessed is the man, etc. "For he shall be like a tree," etc. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 1. It is a great mistake to suppose the rich and gay happy; the poor and pious miserable. 2. An entire renunciation of creature confidence, and an unreserved dependence on God, can alone secure the Divine favour and our own felicity. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.) 1. In what consists this dependence upon man for the salvation of the soul?(1) In being led by the example of others to the commission of sin and neglect of God.(2) In looking for that rest in the creature which is only to be found in God.(3) In depending on our own good works, in part, for our justification before God.(4) In taking our religion from the opinions of men, instead of the Word of God.(5) In resting in the means of grace. 2. See the consequences of trusting in man. "Cursed," etc. He that does so shall be —(1) Useless "as the heath in the desert."(2) Miserable. "Shall not see when good cometh."(3) Solitary, or forsaken of God. "Shall inhabit a salt land not inhabited."(4) Cursed by Jehovah Himself. "Lord, is it I?" II. JEHOVAH, AS A GROUND OF TRUST. 1. What is meant by trusting Jehovah? With the light of this dispensation, we may safely say it embraces dependence on the atonement of Christ; and implies —(1) Knowledge of it, as a fact and doctrine of Scripture.(2) Approval of it, as adapted to our circumstances.(3) Personal reliance on it for salvation; — a "confident venture" of our souls upon it. 2. The blessedness of trusting in Jehovah.(1) Nourishment. "Planted by the waters." A Christian's source of strength is out of himself.(2) Stability. "Spreadeth out his roots."(3) Comfort. "Shall not see when heat cometh." "Shall not be careful in the year of drought."(4) Adornment. "His leaf shall be green." Beauty of the woods in early spring. "A Christian is the highest style of man" (Titus 2:10; 1 Peter 3:4).(5) Fruitfulness. "Neither shall cease from yielding fruit." (Edward Thompson.) (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.) I. WHEN WE MAY BE CHARGED WITH THIS.1. When we fortify ourselves in sin, by human refuges and supports (Isaiah 28:15, 16; Isaiah 30:1, etc.; Obadiah 1:3, 4). 2. When we look for that rest in the creature, which is only to be found in God (Jeremiah 9:23, 24). 3. When we seek to please men more than God. Not as Moses, Daniel, Peter. 4. When we use unlawful means to rid ourselves of trouble (Jonah 1:2, 3). 5. When we form our religion by the opinions of men instead of God's Word (Matthew 15:1-9; Galatians 2:11-13). 6. When we lean on ourselves instead of Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:3-7). II. THE WRETCHEDNESS OF SUCH A DISPOSITION AND CONDUCT. 1. God will take out the enjoyment of what he possesses (Ecclesiastes 6:1, 2). 2. The object of his hope shall be removed, or turned against him (Psalm 41:9). 3. God will leave him to his own corruptions and Satan's temptations (Hosea 4:17). 4. Guilt shall make him a torment to himself. Judas. 5. When blessings come, he shall not perceive them (Luke 19:41-44; Acts 13:38-41). 6. Death shall snatch him from his enjoyments (Luke 12:1, etc.; Acts 12:1, etc.) . (H. Foster.) 1. He that trusts in man is cursed in the weakness on which he relies. "The strong shall be as tow." In general, God employs weak and inconsiderable ones to break the arm of flesh; thus, the shouts of the Israelites, and the blowing of horns, brought down the walls of Jericho, and reduced it to the dust: the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, lay along the valley of More like grasshoppers for multitude, and yet the sudden display of only three hundred lamps, and the sounding of as many trumpets, put them all to flight: the champion of the Philistines defied the whole army of Israel, yet a shepherd boy overcame him with a sling and stone. So with all earthly strength on which man builds himself up; the moment God speaks the word it melts away.2. He that maketh flesh his arm is cursed also in the short-lived nature of his ground of confidence. How often does man, in the very noonday of his journey through life, feel his heart sink within him on finding that the distant places, which in the morning of life he had looked forward to as fresh and beautiful, are but as the parched heath or thirsty sand; he thinks of the days of boyhood, when an untried world promised happiness and security, and sighs on learning the hard lesson, that neither is to be had on this side of the grave. 3. Deceitfulness is moreover part of that curse which those may expect to reap, and that abundantly, who trust in man and make flesh their arm. Put God out of the question; let there be no recognition of any other than human obligations, and you have no security in the faithfulness of the nearest or dearest friend. 4. There is a curse also in the bitterness of disappointment. This is what makes the wretched old worldling like the parched heath; friends, or children, or other relatives, have either died or forsaken him, or his riches have slipped out of his hands and flown away; all his worldly plans and schemes have failed; he has no love of God in his heart to bear him up against so many cruel disappointments, and the bitterness of his spirit has therefore increased day by day, till he is completely soured; he feeds on his morose temper, and in turn it preys upon him; the curse eats into his vitals, drying up every little show of better feeling which would have kept his heart still green and salt; he hates and suspects everyone; the world is looked upon by him as one great lie, and of the truth he knows nothing; or the things wherein he foolishly expected to find happiness, have proved incapable of affording it, even while he had them in his possession. (C. O. Pratt, M. A.) As a traveller overcome by a storm, having sought the shelter of some fair-spread oak, finds relief for some time, till suddenly, the fierce wind tears some strong branch, which, falling, hurts the unsuspecting traveller; so fares it with not a few who run for shelter to the shade of some great man. "Had I served my God," said poor Wolsey, "as faithfully as I served my king, He would not have forsaken me now."He shall be like the heath in the desert. I. AGAINST WHOM THIS CURSE IS DENOUNCED.1. Those who do not realise their dependence on God for all true happiness, but think it lies in worldly gain. 2. Those who trust in man and make flesh their arm, and neglect to fix all dependence on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 3. Those who depend on a form of godliness without the power, and, excepting a little animal sympathy, remain cold as ever. II. HOW THESE RESEMBLE THE HEATH IN THE DESERT. 1. In barrenness and deformity. 2. In being desolate, forsaken, and unblest. 3. While the holy land is refreshed with dew from heaven, the desert remains parched as before. 4. Showers falling on desert heath only promote the growth of deformed shrubs; and the influence of heaven falling on this class calls forth a more fatal resistance of the Holy Spirit. 5. The heath cannot be made fruitful; and all God's visitations fall unregarded on many. 6. It is plain that, while many obey the Gospel call, others remain desolate and uncheered by any heavenly influence. (E. Griffin, D. D.) The prophet puts before us two highly-finished pictures. In the one, the hot desert stretches on all sides. The fierce "sunbeams like swords" slay every green thing. Here and there a stunted, grey, prickly shrub struggles to live, and just manages not to die. But it has no grace of leaf, nor profitableness of fruit; and it only serves to make the desolation mere desolate. The other carries us to some brimming river, where everything lives because water has come. Dipping their boughs in the sparkling current, and driving their roots through the moist soil, the bordering trees lift aloft their pride of foliage and bear fruits in their season. So, says Jeremiah, the two pictures represent two sets of men; the one, he who diverts from their true object his heart capacities of love and trust, and clings to creatures and to men, "making flesh his arm and departing from the living God"; the other, a man who leans the whole weight of his needs and cares and sins and sorrows upon God. We can make the choice which shall be the object of our trust, and according as we choose the one or the other, the experience of these vivid pictures will be ours.I. THE ONE IS IN THE DESERT; THE OTHER BY THE RIVER. The poor little dusty shrub in the desert, whose very leaves have been modified into prickles, is fit for the desert, and is as much at home there as the willows by the water courses with their rush vegetation in their moist bed. But if a man makes that fatal choice, of shutting out God from his confidence and his love, and squandering these upon earth and upon creatures, he is as fatally out of harmony with the place which he has chosen, and as much away from his natural soil as a tropical plant amongst the snows of Arctic glaciers, or a water lily in the Sahara. You, I, the poorest and humblest of men, will never be right, never feel in native soil, with appropriate surroundings, until we have laid our hearts and our hands on the breast of God, and rested ourselves on Him. Not more surely do gills and fins proclaim that the creature that has them is meant to roam through the boundless ocean, nor the anatomy and wings of the bird witness more surely to its destination to soar in the open heavens, than the make of your spirits testifies that God, none less or lower, is your portion. As well might bees try to get honey from a vase of wax flowers as we to draw what we need from creatures, from ourselves, from visible and material things. Where else will you get love that will never fail nor change nor die? Where else will you find an object for the intellect that will yield inexhaustible material of contemplation and delight? Where else infallible direction for the will? Where else shall weakness find unfailing strength, or sorrow adequate consolation, or hope certain fulfilment, or fear a safe hiding place? II. THE ONE CAN TAKE IN NO REAL GOOD; THE OTHER CAN FEAR NO EVIL. (See R.V., ver. 8.) "He cannot see when good comes." God comes, and I would rather have some more money, or some woman's love, or a big business. So I might go the whole round. The man that cannot see good when it is there before his nose, because the false direction of his confidence has blinded his eyes, cannot open his heart to it. You are plunged, as it were, in a sea of possible felicity, which will be yours if your heart's direction is towards God, and the surrounding ocean of blessedness has as little power to fill your heart as the sea to enter some hermetically sealed flask dropped into the middle of the Atlantic. Turn to the other side. "He shall not fear when heat cometh," which is evil in these Eastern lands, "and shall not be careful in the year of drought." The tree that sends its roots towards a river that never fails does not suffer when all the land is parched. And the man who has driven his roots into God, and is drawing from that deep source what is needful for his life and fertility, has no occasion to dread any evil, nor to gnaw his heart with anxiety as to what he is to do in parched times. Troubles may come, but they do not go deeper than the surface. It may be all cracked and caked and dry, "a thirsty land where no water is," and yet deep down there may be moisture and coolness. III. THE ONE IS BARE; THE OTHER CLOTHED WITH THE BEAUTY OF FOLIAGE. The word translated "heat" has a close connection with, if it does not literally mean, "naked," or "bare." Probably it designates some inconspicuously leaved desert shrub, the particular species not being ascertainable or a matter of any consequence. Leaves, in Scripture, have a recognised symbolical meaning. "Nothing but leaves" in the story of the fig tree meant only beautiful outward appearance, with no corresponding outcome of goodness of heart, in the shape of fruit. So I venture, here, to draw a distinction between leafage and fruit, and say that the one points rather to a man's character and conduct as being lovely in appearance, and in the other as being morally good and profitable. This is the lesson of these two clauses — Misdirected confidence in creatures strips a man of much beauty of character, and true faith in God adorns soul with a leafy vesture of loveliness. "Whatsoever things are lovely, and of good report" lack their supreme excellence, the diamond on the top of the royal crown, the glittering gold on the summit of the Campanile, unless there be in them a distinct reference to God. IV. THE ONE IS STERILE; THE OTHER FRUITFUL. The only works of men worth calling "fruit," if regard be had to their capacities, relations, and obligations, are those done as the outcome and consequence of hearts trusting in the Lord. The rest of the man's activities may be busy and multiplied, and, from the point of view of a godless morality, many, may be fair and good; but if we think of him as being destined, as his chief end, "to glorify God, and (so) to enjoy Him forever," what correspondence between such a creature and acts that are done without reference to God can there ever be? At the most they are "wild grapes." And there comes a time when they will be tested; the axe laid to the root of the trees, and these imperfect deeds will shrivel up and disappear. Trust will certainly be fruitful. There we are upon pure Christian ground which declares that the outcome of faith is conduct in conformity with the will of Him in whom we trust, and that the productive principle of all good in man is confidence in God manifest to us in Jesus Christ. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord Homilist. I. He is blessed WITH A VITAL CONNECTION WITH THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. His soul is rooted in the fountain of life.1. His intellect is rooted in God's truths. 2. His sympathy is rooted in God's character. 3. His activity is rooted in God's plan. II. He is blessed WITH MORAL FRESHNESS AT ALL TIMES. He has permanent beauty. There are two reasons why the most beautiful evergreen tree in nature must fail. 1. Because it is limited in its own essence. No tree has unbounded potentialities; though it live for centuries it will grow itself out, exhaust all its latent force. Not so with the soul. It has unending powers of growth. 2. Because it is limited in its supplies. The river at its roots may dry up; the nutriment in its soil it may exhaust. Not so with the soul; its roots strike into the inexhaustible fountain of life. Its leaf shall be green, — ever green. III. He is blessed WITH MORAL CALMNESS IN TRYING SEASONS. The position of such a tree is independent; its roots have struck deep into the eternities, and it defies the storms of time. IV. He is blessed WITH MORAL FRUITFULNESS WITHOUT END (Galatians 5:22). A good man is ever useful, an ever productive tree to the hungry, an ever welling fountain to the parched, an ever burning lamp to the benighted. (Homilist.) I. LOOK AT MAN AS FITTED FOR TRUST. He is simply the most dependent creature in the world. In a hundred ways man is more dependent than any other animal that lives. Of all creatures he comes into the world the most utterly helpless, as if his weakness should be impressed upon his earliest being. By far the greater part of all other living things are at once able to take their place and care for themselves. See the child in its mother's arms unable to do anything for itself, needing continual care and tenderest pity and constant provision. See, too, how in the case of man this dependence is prolonged immensely beyond that of any other being. The child of three or four years is vastly more helpless than any other creature of three or four months, and for many years after that the child needs to be provided for in a thousand ways. It is not too much to say that of the allotted span of human life one-quarter is spent in complete dependence upon others for food and clothing and shelter and teaching. Again, in the case of every other creature this dependence is quickly forgotten. Nature makes haste to sever the tie that binds the parent to the offspring, but in the case of the man it is prolonged until the reason can perceive it and the memory of it is made imperishable. Why this helplessness? Does it not involve a heavy burden upon the busy and toiling? Where, then, is the compensation? It is this, that out of this dependence grows the Divine relationship of father, mother, and child, — that blessed trinity in unity. So out of his littleness is born his nobility; and he is fashioned in helplessness that he may learn the blessed mystery of trust. Look at a further unfolding of this truth. The dependence of which we have spoken does not end with childhood. Strange as it may seem, yet it would be true to say that the man is more dependent than the child. Increased knowledge brings increased care. Greater strength brings greater need. The dependence of the child becomes the dependence of the man upon his brothers. Contrast man for a moment with the other creatures in his need of organisation, combination, cooperation. What thousands of hands must toil for us that our commonest wants may be met. To how many am I debtor for a crust of bread! And here again, let us ask, What is the purpose of this dependence? Is not man often hampered by it? Does it not open the door for arrogance and pride, for cruel bondage and slavery? But do you not see how by this very dependence man is to learn further the mystery and blessedness of trust? And dependence is to develop the further nobleness that binds men into a brotherhood. But the needs of childhood which are met by the parents, and the needs of man which are met by his fellow man, are not all nor even most of all. Besides these are a thousand wants, deep, mysterious, and pressing more heavily than any others. No other creature has a future. Of all else a present want is the only suffering; a present supply is the satisfaction. But to us the future is ever most of all. The past is gone away behind us; the present is ever slipping from us; the future only seems to be ours. For the very food he eats man is compelled ever to be looking forward. What is reason but a clearer sight of our helplessness? The forward-looking creature, looking whither? Who can help him here? Only man has a sense of death. All roads lead to the grave. Here no parent can help the child: no man can help his neighbour. What then can he make his trust? Again, only man has a consciousness of sin. A whole world's altars and temples and sacrifices are its doleful confession: we have sinned! Now for these greater needs, is there no remedy, — no rest? What is the good of all else if here the man is to be forsaken?II. AND HERE IS GOD REVEALED THAT HE MAY BE TRUSTED. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord." Does trust need power? Here is the Almighty. Lo, He sitteth upon the throne of the universe and all things serve Him. Does trust demand the unchanging, the everlasting? Does trust need wisdom? Here is all that my want can ever desire. But these attributes, whilst trust demands them all and whilst they make trust blessed, do not win my trust. My heart needs more. And blessed be God, a great deal more is given. Trust needs love. And yet one thing more is needful to perfect trust. Trust is born of fear: and fear is born of sin. How can I who have sinned against God draw near to Him? Till that question is answered God is but a terror to me. Love may pity: love may weep: but true love cannot hush up and hide my sin. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. My sin is not hidden. It is brought out into the very face of heaven and hell: and there its penalty is met and satisfied. Have you found this blessedness? (M. G. Pearse.) I. WHAT IT IS.1. The object. (1) (2) (3) (4) 2. The disposition of the heart toward this object. "Trusteth Me," i.e. — (1) (2) (3) (4) II. THE BLESSEDNESS, OR PRIVILEGES, OF SUCH A MAN. 1. He shall lay faster hold on God and religion. 2. He shall not feel the weight of trials. 3. He shall hold fast his profession when others drop off. 4. He shall be sustained in old age and death. 5. He shall not cease from yielding fruit — (1) (2) (3) (H. Foster.) 1. This duty implies positively an entire resignation to the wisdom, a dependence on the power, and a firm assurance of the goodness and veracity of God. 2. Negatively this duty implies that we should withdraw our confidence from all inferior beings; and in order to this we must begin at home, put off all trust in ourselves, our parts, abilities or acquisitions, how great or how many soever they may be. II. CONSIDER WHEN THIS TRUST IS GROUNDED AS IT OUGHT TO BE, or what conditions are required on our part to assure our confidence in the favour and protection of God. The most important qualification for a successful performance of these duties, is a sincere obedience to the laws of God, an unfeigned devotion of the heart to His service, a steady adherence to the faith, and a purity and holiness of life agreeable to the precepts of our religion. III. THE BLESSEDNESS OF HIM WHO CAN THUS TRUST AND HOPE IN THE LORD. He relies on a wisdom who sees the utmost consequence of things, on a power which nothing can obstruct, on a goodness of infinite affection to his happiness, and who has bound Himself by promise never to fail these who trust in Him. If this God be with us, who or what can be against us? But if He be angry, all our other dependencies will profit us nothing, our strength will be but weakness, and our wisdom folly; every other support will fail under us when we come to lean upon it, and deceive us in the day when we want it most. (John Rogers, D. D.) II. WHEN OUR CONFIDENCE IN GOD IS WELL GROUNDED. Our confidence must rise or fall, according to the progress or defects of our obedience. Conscious of right intentions, and approved by our own heart, we may approach the throne of grace with superior assurance. If our heart in some degree condemn us, we may have our intervals of diffidence and apprehension; but, if, unreclaimed, we go on still in wickedness, and persist in determined disobedience; should we then trust in God, it were, in the most literal and criminal sense, to hope against hope. Till we repent, and return to duty, we can have no expectations of favour, no confidence in our Maker; nor can we lift up our eyes to heaven with any hopes of mercy and forgiveness there. III. THE HAPPINESS RESULTING FROM A WELL-GROUNDED DEPENDENCE ON GOD. He whose conscience speaks consolation, and bids him confide in his God, confides in a wisdom which sees the remotest issues of all events, on a power which ordereth all things, and on a goodness which ever consults the well-being of His creatures. And though this gives him no absolute insurance against evils, no privilege of exemption from calamities and afflictions; yet he feels the weight of them much abated by internal consolations. He acquiesces in all the dispensations of heaven, submits with humble resignation to the severities of providence; assured that God alone can know what is best, what is most expedient in his present circumstances, and what most instrumental to his future felicity. In the darkest night of affliction, some light will spring up, some beam of joy dart upon his mind, from this consideration, that the God whom he serves is able to deliver, and in His own good time will deliver him out of all his troubles, or reward him with joys unspeakable in His own blissful presence. (G. Carr.) 1. We owe it to the supremacy of the Divine nature. 2. Entire resignation to God's wisdom and will. 3. Entire withdrawal of our trust from all inferior things. 4. Sincere acceptance of Christ as our Saviour. 5. Sincere effort to live a holy and pious life. II. THE BLESSEDNESS WITH WHICH GODLY TRUST IS CROWNED. This may be seen by contrast with the unbeliever. 1. The objects of the unbeliever's trust are uncertain and insignificant; the believer's, certain and glorious. 2. The one inadequate and perishing; the other, all-sufficient and abiding. 3. The one bears a burdened conscience and a character ill at ease; the other enjoys peace and rest. 4. The one regards God as his foe, and resembles the inferior objects of his trust; the other regards God as his friend, enjoys His protection and fellowship and resembles Him.Learn — 1. Not to be deluded by inferior things. 2. Seek this blessing by submission to God's will in a crucified Saviour. (E. Jerman.) ( C. H. Spurgeon.) 4817 drought, spiritual 4357 salt A Soul Gazing on God Two Lists of Names The Heath in the Desert and the Tree by the River A Nation's Duty in a War for Freedom. "The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are Severinus in Germany. Trust of the Wicked, and the Righteous Compared. Jer 17:5-8 But in Order that we Fall not Away from Continence... Epistle i. To the Roman Citizens. "And if any Man Sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,", "For what the Law could not Do, in that it was Weak through the Flesh, God Sending his Own Son in the Likeness of Sinful Flesh, Appendix xvii. The Ordinances and Law of the Sabbath as Laid Down in the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud. The Fourth Commandment The First Part Moral Depravity. Inward Witness to the Truth of the Gospel. The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day. But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue... What the Scriptures Principally Teach: the Ruin and Recovery of Man. Faith and Love Towards Christ. Jewish views on Trade, Tradesmen, and Trades' Guilds The Secret of Its Greatness Division of Actual Grace |
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