115. Saturday after Sexagesima Sunday.
Psalm 119, 64-72. The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes. The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.
❦
Pride darkens the eye, that it sees not the glory of God; but the humble soul is open to receive the light from heaven. It is good for us that the Lord afflicts us with troubles of many kinds, and shows us that we understand nothing and can do nothing without his Spirit. The earth is full of his mercy, full of the miracles of his grace. However, we are blind to these things, unless our eyes are anointed by the Spirit; and this is done by means of the word. His works in nature are wonderful, and they are mercy altogether. Could we but see the beauty, the grandeur, the mercy in these works! We walk all the time in an edifice erected by the greatest of masters; in a cathedral of surpassing grandeur, where the architecture is perfection, and where we find on every hand rows of stately columns with graceful capitals and arches to delight the eye; but do we see it? Walk through the Cologne cathedral at the darkest hour of a dark night, and how much do you see of its splendors? The word of God is the sun; the works of the Lord must be seen in the light of the gospel; and only the lowly of heart walk in the light. — The mercy of God, however, shines with greatest splendor in his spiritual temple, the Christian church. In this temple the manifold wisdom of God is revealed in a manner to command the admiration of principalities and powers in heaven. By means of his word God creates the new man, and unites the saints; teaches them his heavenly statutes, and sanctifies their every faculty, so that they adapt themselves to one another, and serve one another. He turns the heart, humbles it, and melts it in tribulations; he stamps his image on it by means of the word; and he allows the peculiar character of each to develop, but in such a manner that each may fit in with the others and fill his special place in the church. If the members and joints of our body must be said to fit one another with admirable ingenuity and beauty, what say you of the members of the holy church, the bride of Christ? We walk in the midst of such miracles, and the light of the word shines upon them before our eyes; but do we see something of the Lord’s resplendent mercy? If we do not, the fault lies in the arrogance of our mind.
Lord, thou hast begun to open my eyes; teach me, I humbly pray thee, to walk in thy paths, that thou mayest show me thy wonders. Teach me to fear thee and keep thy word, that thy glory may be revealed to me, and that I may behold the wondrous things in thy law. Amen.
Thy word is everlasting truth:
How pure is every page!
That holy book shall guide our youth,
And well support our age.