107. Saturday after Septuagesima Sunday.
Psalm 119, 25-32. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word. Remove from me the way of lying; and grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O Lord, put me not to shame. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
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While our souls inhabit this bodily tenement of dust, they are in great danger of clinging to the dust and departing from the everlasting things in the word. We are tempted to labor for the meat which perishes, and to be caught in the toils of the sorrow of the world. This must not be. The believing children of God do not belong to the world, but are strangers in a strange land. Their labor is not in vain; in reality they labor for Christ in all that they do; and their desire shall, therefore, not be after perishable things, but after God. In the minds of the children of the world covetousness or cares are supreme, and cause much anguish and distress, combined with envy and bitterness, anger and malice; thus making of the soul a veritable by-place of hell. When the fire is no longer tempered by the enjoyment of the things of the world, it will burn fiercely in all eternity. The children of God, also, may oft be sad, even on account of worldly matters, such as poverty, disappointment in the children, bodily ailments, or despondency; they may be wearied with the labor of this earthly existence, and yet feel that they cleave unto the dust. I can well understand your state of mind, you tired wanderer, whose soul by reason of its sadness dissolves in sighs and tears. But after all, your heart is nevertheless in heaven; and your treasure and your comfort endure forever. Never, then, allow yourself to be overcome by the temptation to despondency and weariness; and never let bitterness against God or man bear sway in your mind. Should it please God to let you be heavy-hearted and depressed, or to be weighed down with trouble and care your whole life long, well and good; this may, perhaps, be the only method after which God can deal with you, if you are to become eternally happy. Cleave to the testimonies and promises of the Lord; and do not let unbelief, with its hideous brood of whining, and obstinacy, and despair, and bitterness, and anger, and enmity toward God and all men, get the better of you. Has not the Son of God saved you? Have you not cost him dear, and do you not belong to him? Has he not called you, and have you not received grace to choose the way of truth? Assuredly, he shall set you free from the dust, and satisfy you forever with the good things of his house. — Teach me, O Lord, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. But alas, for my impure mind; cleanse it, cleanse it in the blood of Jesus. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Incline my heart to thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. Let thy mercies come also unto me, even thy salvation, according to thy word. Amen.*
A pilgrim and a stranger,
I journey here below:
Far distant is my country,
The home to which I go.
Here I must toil and travail,
Oft weary and opprest,
But there my God shall lead me
To everlasting rest.
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.