THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
THE NIGHT OF WEEPING;
WORDS FOR THE SUFFERING FAMILY OF GOD
" Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." — PSA. xxx. 5.
"We must through much,, tribulation enter into the king- dom of God." — ACTS xiv. 23.
BY THE
REV. HORATIUS BONAR.
FROM THE THIRD LONDON EDITION.
NEW YORK:
ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,
No. 285 BROADWAY.
1852.
•
PREFACE.
Iv to MI ««arr matter to write a book for the family of God. Yet it v 3U tV«i that these thoughts on chastisement are written.
They may be found not unsuitable for the younger brethren of the man of sorrows. For the way is rough, and the desert- blast is keen. Who of them can say aught regarding their prospects here, save that tribulation awaiteth them in every place as they pass along. This they must know and prepare for, grasping more firmly at every step the gracious hand that is leading them on to the kingdom, and looking up for gui- dance to the loving eye that rests over them with fondest vigilance, ever bright and ever iender, whether in shadow or in sunshine, whether amid the crowds of busy life, or in the solitude of the lonely way.
It is, then, to the members of this family that this little volume is offered. They may find in it something which may not merely interest them; but may also meet their case; something too in which, perhaps, they may recognise not the voice of a stranger, but of a brother ; "a companion in tribu- lation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ."* For the tones of the suffering brotherhood on earth have something in them too peculiar not to be instinctively recog- ni/.cil. It is said of Arabian airs that they are all plaintive. They all touch some melancholy chord, as if the wail of the desert-echo were the key-note of each melody. It is in some measure thus with the children of the kingdom, — while so- journers in this wilderness of earth. " Their voice is ever soft, gentle, and low." Sorrow has smoothed away its harsh- ness, and breathed gentler feeling into its tones. True, it is the voice of gladness, for it is the voice of the forgiven; but still it is sorrowing gladness, calm and serious joy. Thoir peculiar lot as followers of a hated Lord, and their peculiar circumstances, as standing in the midst of a doomed and dy-
* Rev i. 9
IV PREFACE.
ing world, have wrought into their spirit a deep, though se- rene, solemnity of expression, alike in look and voice. Hence, the instinctive recognition among the brotherhood, not only of the family look, but of the family tones.
It is of family concerns that we speak, and in these each member has a common interest. The " household of faith" has many concerns, and not the least of these are its sorrows. These are the lot of all; and there is no member of the house- hold but has his share in these, either in personal suffering or in helping to bear the burden of others.
What is now written may be found suitable to all, whether actually under chastisement or not. It is. however, pre- sented specially to those who are " in heaviness through manifold temptations," suffering the rebuke of the Lord, pass- ing through fire and through water, with "affliction laid upon their loins."* The bruised reed must not be broken ,• the smoking flax must not be quenched. The hands which hang down must be lifted up, and the feeble knees confirmed ; that which is lame must not be turned out of the way, but rather healed.t
Our desire is to minister to the saints in the consolation and admonition of the Lord. We would seek to bear their burdens, to bind up their wounds, and to dry up at least some out of their many tears. To comfort those that mourn is not only to act in obedience to the command, "bear ye one anoth- er's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ ;" it is to walk by the side of Jesus in his visits of mercy to his suffering saints on earth; nay, it is to be fellow-workers with the Holy Ghost as the Church's Comforter in all her tribulations and distresses.
Of these things the world knows little. Its sympathies are not with the saints, either in their sorrow or their joy. Fam- ily concerns, and especially family griefs, are not for strangers to intermeddle with. They are things too high for them. And how shall they understand them so long as they remain without 1 They must first come in, and take their place among the children, beneath the paternal roof. And what should stay them! The gate stands open day and night. They would be welcomed in with the kindliest greetings of love.
But though standing afar off from the saints, and unable to mingle its sympathies with theirs, still the world has sorrows of its own, deep and many. To grieve, and yet have no comforter ; to be wounded, and yet have no healer ; to be
' Psa. bcvi. 11, 12. t Heb. xii. 12
PREFACE. y
weary, and yet know no resting-place; this is tie world's hard lot.