Psalm 25:5--"Lead me in your truth, and teach me."
The Bible is the Christian pilgrim's guide-book. It
points out the path he is to follow; it reveals the mountains of difficulty,
and the valleys of doubt and fear along which he is to traverse; it tells
him of the dangers he has to encounter, and the enemies that lie in ambush
to assail and overcome him. It encourages his heart, by directing the eye of
faith to Him who has already trodden every step of the wilderness journey,
and to the noble band of followers whom He has safely conducted to the
heavenly Canaan. It traces man's progress, from the corruptible to the
incorruptible--from the feeble and dishonored to the mighty and the
glorious--from the companionship of the worm to the presence of God and the
enjoyment of celestial communion. It gives him the assurance of strength for
the journey, and blessing at its close--of redemption begun, carried
forward, and completed.
Blessed be God! the time has gone by, when the pages of
this sacred volume were shut by the tyranny of man--when the light was
hidden, which God intended should give comfort and peace to myriads. The
poorest in our land can now make it his morning and his evening
companion--he can there satisfy the yearnings of his heart, and find a rich
and sufficing and gracious provision for all his needs. He can cling to it
in his darkest and saddest times--in his hours of trial--in the day of his
strife and his struggle with inbred corruption, and with the powers of
darkness--and he may bear witness at the close of his experience, that
"nothing has failed him of any good thing which the Lord has promised," and,
with glowing language, though it be with the faint and the faltering voice
of a dying man, bear his testimony in the confession, "Your Word, O God, is
Truth."
But the Bible is a sealed book--it is dark,
unmeaning, profitless, without Divine teaching. Our eyes must be opened by a
heavenly agency, before we can perceive, much less embrace, its truths as we
ought--before we can adopt and apply them--as our guide and stay,
amid the wilderness of this world--our hope and expectation of life and
immortality in the world that is to come. Ours must be the prayer of the
Psalmist, "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law."
We must read our Bibles with the prayer to the God of all grace, that He
would reveal to us the wisdom, and love, and blessedness contained in the
sacred volume--that He would impress them on our hearts, and enable us to
make them "our song in the house of our pilgrimage." If thus we pray, and
read, and look for the Spirit, He will meet us in the Book of God--He will
shine upon the sacred page--He will testify of Christ to us, we will find
Jesus in the Bible--our Savior, our God, our Lord, our All in All. Truths
will flash in upon our minds we never knew before--comfort will be derived
from promises we had often read with little interest, and, gradually, the
volume of inspiration will become more plain--in every season of doubt or
emergency, we well know where to look for guidance, and strength, and
comfort.
Christian! is it thus you read the Word of God,
with the prayer that God would teach you, that He would unfold the riches of
His grace in Christ, that He would open up the wondrous page of revelation
to your heart, and give you grace to believe those deeper truths, whose
meaning you are now, while in the infancy of your being, unable fully to
comprehend? We doubt not, you can recall many "wondrous things," already
revealed to your soul--revealed, not by the mere perusal of the words, but
by the inspiration and teaching of God's Holy Spirit. You can remember that
sweet PROMISE which calmed your troubled heart, and made you erect an
Ebenezer in your pathway. Was it not "wondrous" in its power?
You can remember, when the world and the things of the
WORLD were drawing you farther and farther from God--when your gourd
withered in a night--when, perhaps, some cherished idol was dashed in
pieces--how these words appeared on the sacred page, invested with new and
mightier power, "It is I, be not afraid."
You can remember when TEMPTATION assailed you, or when
summer friends deserted you, or when the enemy came in like a flood--how
"wondrous" were the disclosures of God's Word--how exactly suited to your
case--how comforting to your soul. Not until then, had the verses struck
you--not until then, had the words been invested with living power. You had
read them often, but you needed not their comfort--only when that wound was
open and bleeding--only when that cross became heavy and painful--only when
that grief was sorest and most overwhelming, did you take them to your
heart; and then, impressed by the Spirit of the living God, they were full
of peace and comfort, "immediately there was a great calm."
Believer! continue to implore that Spirit's help, and
still "wondrous" things will come to you in your hours of need. Still, the
longer you live, you will get the promise, when it is required--the comfort,
when nothing else can soothe--the assurance, when doubt and disquietude are
doing their worst to harass and agitate your soul--and, onwards still,
through all eternity, these "wondrous" things will be revealed. You will
read in the open volume of God's Word, explanations of difficulties--the
wisdom of appointments--the love and tenderness of a Father in all your
Father's dealings. You will realize then how needful was the discipline you
had to undergo on earth--how needful the heavy trial, and the heartrending
bereavement--the blighting of fond hopes and the failure of cherished plans.
No longer will be heard the murmur, "All these things were against me," but
the willing, grateful acknowledgment, "All these things wrought together for
my good." "Faithful is He that promised." He knew the path which would
certainly conduct to glory--the path which He Himself had trodden, and He
led me by "the right way."
Yes, Christian! there will be bright unfoldings in yonder
world. Ardently as you loved your Savior on earth, oh, what will be your
ardor!--what the overflowing of your love in heaven!--when you find His
every promise fulfilled--His every assurance realized--His every word made
good--and the whole of your earthly experience stamped with the seal of
Divine faithfulness and Divine love! No more doubts or fears--no more
unbelieving questionings--no more dark and mysterious moments--no more sad
and sorrowful days, but, "fullness of joy and pleasures at God's right hand
for evermore."
Believer, these joys yet await you. They may not be far
distant. But your journey is not ended, your home is not reached. If, then,
you would have comfort by the way--if you would have courage, and skill, and
strength, to surmount the obstacles which may lie in your path--oh, let your
daily prayer be–
"Lead me in Your truth, and teach me. Lord–'teach me'
that You have loved me, and given Yourself for me--that You have bought me
with Your blood--that I am Yours. 'Teach me' that You are my Wisdom, my
Righteousness, my Sanctification, my Redemption, my Help in difficulty, my
Refuge in danger, my Ark of safety across the swelling Jordan, and my All in
All throughout eternity. 'Teach me' that Your Spirit is my Comforter, my
Counselor, my Guide. 'Teach me' that the promises of Your Word are mine--its
precepts, and testimonies, and statutes, all mine--its entreaties, and
warnings, and preservatives, all mine--mine by the free gift of the
Father--mine by the purchase of the blood of God's dear Son--mine by the
teaching of the Holy Spirit the Comforter--mine by a perpetual covenant,
never to be violated or forgotten--mine whereby to live, and mine wherein to
die."
"There are those who sigh that no fond heart is theirs;
None loves them best. Oh vain and selfish sigh!
Out of the bosom of His love He spares–
The Father spares the Son, for you to die.
For you He died. For you He lives again;
O'er you He watches in His boundless reign."
–Keble
"Lord, many times I am aweary quite
Of mine own self, my sin, my vanity;
Yet be not You, or I am lost outright,
Weary of me.
"And hate against myself I often bear,
And enter with myself in fierce debate;
Take not my part against myself, nor share
In that just hate.
"Best friends might loathe us, if what things perverse
We know of our own selves, they also knew:
Lord, Holy One! if You, who know worse,
Should loathe us too!"
–R. C. Trench