Heartlight
MORNING:
"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings."
-- Psalms 112:7
Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because
if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other
men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his
faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed
down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another
spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart
lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be
distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you
profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which
you claim to possess?
Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would,
doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying
circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings,
rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with
them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as
they do?
Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape
from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind
yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently
for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea,
"Stand still and see the salvation of God." For if you give way to fear
when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble
with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under
adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have
often sung God's high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and
desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then
take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of
your covenant God, "let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid."
"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings."
-- Psalms 112:7
Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because
if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other
men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his
faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed
down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another
spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart
lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be
distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you
profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which
you claim to possess?
Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would,
doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying
circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings,
rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with
them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as
they do?
Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape
from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind
yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently
for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea,
"Stand still and see the salvation of God." For if you give way to fear
when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble
with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under
adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have
often sung God's high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and
desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then
take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of
your covenant God, "let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid."