“The prophet that is in Israel telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber” (II Kings 6-12).
These words keynote our thoughts because they are a clear illustration of our basic Sunday School lesson : “God is everywhere by His Spirit.” What do these words mean to you and to me? They should be for encouragement, for exhortation, and, if need be, for warning. They tell us that we are never alone.
Consider the words of Elisha in the same chapter (verse 17), on behalf of his worried servant, and the result :
“Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see” . . . “and he saw: and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
These things are not unrelated to the main feature of the memorial service. Do we not often refer to these words : “Where the twos and threes are gathered together, there am I in the midst” ? —a fundamental thought that we firmly believe with all our heart.
Our main purpose now is to make these thoughts applicable to our every day life — to the Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, etc. – when we are most apt to forget this closeness of our God. So how can we again strive to overcome this tendency to forget? By supposing, first of all, that it is already tomorrow morning.
Actually, to do so is not to disassociate ourselves from the memorial service, because this service is intended to benefit us all the week. So, let us assume that it is tomorrow morning. We have just awakened and we are striving to shake off the unconsciousness of the night. We are just becoming aware that we must face another day, of . . . we know not what ; perhaps routine, perhaps sickness, perhaps sorrow, perhaps pain, perhaps tragedy, perhaps pleasure and joy and relaxation, and perhaps, above all else, the return of our Master.
Be it any of these, how appropriate that we first endeavour to remind ourselves of the unseen, unfelt, nearness of Him who “fainteth not, neither is weary.” And how seemly that we put into practice the words of Daniel in Psa. 5-3:
“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, 0 Lord: in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” (be encouraged, be strengthened, be spiritually built up).
Yes, morning prayer becomes a people who profess to love, serve and fear the Lord. How often we mention in our public lectures the words of Jeremiah : “It is not in man that walketh to direct his own steps.” We mention them as a proof that the nations are unable to do what they themselves may determine ; but surely there is a daily lesson in it for us too.
Without God’s guidance, we cannot begin to expect that we will always do right. Rather, how often — without pausing to think what He would have us do do we do wrong and speak harshly, speak critically, speak sarcastically, when a pleasant word would start someone else’s day off so much better too, Let us realise then, as we begin another day, the great import of the words of David in Psa. 139 :8-12 :
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the utter-most parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”
If some great one of the earth were with us, would we not show deference and respect ? How much more so when He who removeth and setteth up kings is present ?
If we can really impress this thought in our minds, we will each be more reverential and God-fearing for it. So, let us begin our day with prayer, with the inspiring words of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples : “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name” — reverent, holy, worthy of our praise and adoration. Remember, He is our Rock, our Guide, our All!
Most of us find that we have appetite. It is 8 or 12 hours since we last ate. The breakfast-table is our next opportunity to pause to recognise our dependence upon God. Where did the food come from?- from field, from pasture, from orchard and from the sea. While we have toiled in other spheres, while we have slept, while we have done many other things, the Spirit of God has silently, steadily and regularly been at work.
He is not weary. “The cattle upon a thousand hills are mine.” (Something we can see and realise as we travel through the country.) He has given rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. Yes! while we are busy about our own affairs, ecclesial and temporal, the Spirit of God has been producing the food we eat, a thousand miles away on large farms or small, or even in our own little garden plot. To Noah, emerging from the ark, the promise was made that gives us annual expectation, though how little we seem to realise it :
“While the earth remameth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
With David we should many times exclaim :
“Oh that men would praise God for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men”
And now we go forth to work. How simply, beautifully, does David put it in Psa. 104:
“Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening “
Whether it be the sister-housewife or the brother-breadwinner, labor is our next consideration. Here, again, the consistency of God’s order must be recognised. We are taken right back to Genesis, to the fall of Adam and Eve, to the institution of an order that has remained for over 6000 years :
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground . . . thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto them “
Thorns and thistles point up the fact that labor—as we many times realise—is not unalloyed pleasure. But truly, labor need not always be considered a curse. Is not our God constantly working on our behalf ? And do we not expect to labor if we attain to the Kingdom ? The main difference is that now we grow weary, we grow impatient, and we do find that the thorns and thistles of human error and mistakes — our own and others — annoy and discomfit and frustrate us many times. Here, again, is opportunity for recourse to God. He knows our problems. He knows our thoughts. God is still near, if we care or desire to approach unto Him. “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Our God and our Saviour both stand ready to strengthen, encourage and fortify us for the immediate problems that lie ahead. A few words of silent prayer can be just the thing to lift us up.
We are reminded that, regardless of what happens, providing we are truly God-fearing, He will not try us above that we are able to bear. Nothing happens to us that is not common to our fellowman, and we are reminded by David: “I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
Wherever we are during the day — at home, on the job, in the field, or abroad, we have our weak human nature with us. Daily circumstances, conversations a n d problems constantly pose trials and temptations for the man or woman of God. Perhaps in many o these we demonstrate the serenity and peace of mind and unobtrusive attitude of one who walks with God. But we all fail. Can any one of us say we have never been covetous, jealous, angry, discontented with some situation, or our lot? Often, it seems, these are the things that should cause us to say of ourselves, as Paul did :
“Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death ?”
Of course, our God is right beside us when we have these lapses. He was right with David in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah too. “Thou art the man.” When we come to the right way of thinking again, let us be just as quick to admit our fault. “I have sinned,” was David’s prompt acknowledgement. Let us not hesitate either. Let us not make excuses like Saul did. Let us not grumble about extenuating circumstances, but rather pray the prayer of the publican: “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”
The day draws toward its end. The sun in its daily course, wisely guided by Divine hands, sinks in the west. “Man returns to his home and to his rest.” The whole family is brought together for food, shelter and association and for the study of God’s Word, or for His work ; and for rest. Now is the time to heed the advice of God through Moses concerning His Word and precepts : “Thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.” (Deut. 6-7). We pray that it may be said of us, as it was of Abraham : “I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord.”
How great an impression we may create by doing the readings together, we do not always know ; but, surely, the effort must be made, and we shall be blessed and benefited ourselves. Such conversation and fellowship is appropriate to the whole family of God. Were not the feasts and assembles of the children of Israel for the same purpose ? Are not our memorial service, improvement classes and fraternal gatherings for the same purpose ? At all we are assured “Where the twos and threes are gathered together in His Name, He is in the midst.”
Yes ! God is everywhere present by His Spirit. He has been with us all the day long. Now natural strength is at an end. Our mental and physical powers are weary, and we seek our bed. Again, how appropriately in order is a closing prayer of thankfulness and a dependent plea for His care during the night of oblivion ; and we are asleep. Of the end of the day of our life-span it is said “He giveth his beloved sleep.”
But that is not the end of His beloved — not the end of the people of God. It is not a perpetual sleep. Jesus, our Saviour, lives. To His people, His sacrifice — which we must earnestly remember — and victory over the grave spells their resurrection from the sleep of death. Though the 24-hour day, or the day of our life may have been distraught, though it may have been a perplexing one, our sleep (in the words of an English author) “will knit up the ravelled sleeve of care” ; “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
May we each one share in the unending joy of Zion’s glad morning, and rejoice in the day which the Lord hath made.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One