Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

RESIGNATION.

I

I.

SILENT SUFFERING.

"I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it."-PSALM XXXIX. 9.

BELIEVE that there are few of us who have not

frequently heard this Psalm read upon funeral occasions; and we must, no doubt, approve the propriety of the choice, as it contains some very weighty reflections on the mortality of human nature, expressed with great solemnity, and intermingled with proper devotional addresses to that great and awful Being who has in righteous judgment passed that sentence on sinful man, by which we and our friends are brought down to the dust for it is he, as the Psalmist well expresses it (verse 5), who has made our days as a hand's breadth, and our age as nothing before him; so that every man, in his best state, is altogether vanity. When the mind is agitated with strong affections, it is difficult to restrain the tongue from some undue liberty of speech:

at least, there may be an inward language, audible to the ear of God, which may be displeasing to him, if there be not a care to impose silence upon every repining thought, as well as to keep the mouth as with a bridle. But it is the design of the providence of God, in conjunction with his ordinances, to teach us, whatever our trials may be, how dear soever the enjoyments which we may lose, and how heavy soever the burthen which we may bear, to be dumb with silence, after the example of the pious Psalmist, and not to open our mouths, because whatever it is that has fallen upon us, has come from the hand of God.

1. Let the Christian reflect that God can do no wrong to him, or to any of his creatures.

Let him not only consider the sovereignty of the Almighty's dominion, which is such that no creature can pretend to contend with him, but also the essential rectitude of his nature, which is such that none can have any right inwardly to censure, or to complain of what he does. "O my soul! he has done it, who holds. the reins of universal empire. He, who does what he pleases in the armies of heaven, and amongst the inhabitants of earth. He has done it, who spake the creating word, and it was done; he who is the potter, and every creature, on earth and in heaven, but as clay in his hand, to be moulded according to his own will. And shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Well may it be said in that connexion, Nay, O man! who art thou that repliest

6

against God? Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth; but woe unto him that strives with his Maker!'" This is a silencing thought: nor does it impose merely such a silence as proceeds from the dread of superior power, or the despair of being able to make anything out by resisting it; but with the conviction of such sovereign authority and dominion is necessarily connected that also of infinite perfection. It cannot be good to the Almighty that he should oppress. Nothing can tempt Omnipotence in any instance to do evil. The infinite understanding of God must ever see what is right; his all perfect mind, seeing it, must approve it; and, approving it, must do it, being infinitely above all temptation to deviate from it. There is always reason to say, Good is the word of the Lord that he has spoken, for this very reason, because it is his word; because it is spoken by him. "O my perverse heart! what wouldst thou say? Wouldst thou dare to fly in the face of God himself? charge him with tyrannical administration? Wouldst thou dare to say, Lord, thou art now beginning to act unworthy of thyself: thou governest other beings wisely and well; but thou neglectest me, and availest thyself of thine irresistible power to overbear my rights, and to oppress me in judgment! God forbid! who would not rather say, Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, before I utter such a word; yea, let my mind lose all its rational faculties rather than harbour such a thought!"

Wouldst thou dare to

2. Let the Christian further recollect what God has done for him, as a reason why he should be silent under what God now does to him.

Were he only to consider himself as the creature of God, without attending to what is peculiar to him as being a Christian, he might see enough to silence his complaints. "Has not the blessed God given to me my being? such a being! with such noble powers and endowments as I possess! Has he not set me here at the head of this visible creation? in this spacious and magnificent palace, which he has raised for the human. family, and furnished and adorned in this commodious, grand, and beautiful manner? Has he not been the guardian of my infancy, and my childhood? and in riper years my guide and my benefactor in numberless instances? Has he not given to me all that I have; every comfort in life, personal or relative? When I look round about me upon all that I can call my treasure, my possession, does not everything bear his name, as it were, inscribed upon it as the donor? it as the donor? The gift of God. May I not be reminded of his bounty by all that I possess; yea, by all that I lose, and all that I suffer? This member, which is the seat of pain or disease, did he not form it? and has he not given to me the easy and comfortable use of it during these many years, though he now lays his hand upon it? This friend, who is now laid in the grave, was she not a creature of his, whom he formed and gave to me; and in whom, perhaps, he blessed me for many years? and is such a

friend and benefactor to be quarrelled with, because he sometimes resumes a little of what he has given ?"

But this is not all. I am speaking to you now as Christians and then consider how the account rises. "Has not God blessed me with the knowledge of his gospel, and of his Son? Has he not sent to me the tidings of grace and salvation by him? and has he not by his Holy Spirit made him dear and precious to my heart; and given to me some cheerful and comfortable hope of an interest in him as my Redeemer and my Saviour? And can there be matter of complaint against him when I consider this? Has not his arm brought salvation to my view? A salvation which he himself wrought out in so wonderful a manner? And ought not that consideration to reconcile me to everything else which comes from so good a hand? to all his other doings?"

3. Let the Christian recollect what God might have done with him, and to him, as a further reason for being silent under the afflicting of the Divine hand.

me.

"The hand of God has now touched me and pained True! but it has not destroyed me. He has not, as Job expresses it, let loose his hand against me, and cut me off: and might he not have done that? He has taken away this and that comfort. True! but might he not have taken away all; and have stripped me quite naked and bare? yea, might he not have taken away my soul? have destroyed my very existence? or, what would have been ten thousand times worse, have sup

« AnteriorContinua »