Yet while the rebuke of God is thus mild and loving, it is both faithful and solemn. It is faithful, for it hides nothing from us. Its tone is soft, yet the words are full of meaning. They are quite explicit in their condemnation of the sin perceived in us. And the rebuke of Jehovah is a solemn thing. It is not the
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rebuke of wrath, for that has passed awajj yet it makes us stand in awe. The rebuke of love is as solemn a thing as the rebuke of wrath. A parent's rebuke is much to a loving child, how much more is the rebuke of our God — the God who made heaven and earth.
Many are the rebukes which he adminis- ters. Some of them are lighter and others heavier. Yet in both he is laying his finger upon sin, and intimating distinctly his desire that we should turn from it. To the former kind I fear, we oftentimes give but little heed. The touch of transient pain, a brief illness, a slight indisposition, a passing weakness, some common domestic vexation, some trivial casu- alty, some few days parting from one we love, some unkind word where least we looked for it, some disappointment or annoyance, these are all fatherly rebukes of the lighter and more gentle kind. They are not so sharp as many others, yet they are not the less on that account the indications of a father's will. They are apt to be overlooked, for they are slighter and commoner than many, and do not force themselves upon our notice. Yet surely it is worth our while to point them out,
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and to make them the subject of special and prolonged consideration.
f» It is difficult to understand why we should so much undervalue them. To one who weighs them aright, they cannot but seem peculiarly precious and affecting. Their fre quency makes us familiar with them, and on this account we slight them. Sad and strange ! Does not their frequency show the unwearied pains that God is taking with us, giving us precept upon precept, line upon line ? Should that very thing in them which displays God's untiring earnestness, his assidu- ous vigilance and intense anxiety for our welfare, tempt us to disregard such dealings ? Their mildness, also, as well as their fre- quency, tends to make us undervalue them. Unaccountable perversity ! They are so slight and so gentle ; therefore, they are not to be owned as the laying on of a father's hand ! Had they been sharper and heavier they would have been recognized as such, but being so tender they are hardly worthy of our serious notice !
On this point I am persuaded, an admoni- tion is much needed, not merely by a heedless world, but even by the saints of God. The 9*
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point adverted to is a much neglected one, and yet it is one which every day's events press upon our notice. A raging fever pros- trates us. Our strength gives way. Our life is despaired of, Then we say, this is the finger of God. This is his rebuke. But we take a slight cold, or sustain some slight injury, there is no danger, and perhaps no piercing pain ; then, alas ! we do not own the doing of God ; or, at the most, we own it vaguely and carelessly. The gentleness of the infliction makes us feel at liberty to under- value it, and to forget it as coming from God. Ah ! it is thus that we " despise his chas- tenings."
And what is the consequence ? We draw upon ourselves severer chastisement. We provoke God to visit us with heavier blows. We compel him to chastise by our heedless- ness of his rebuke. We make bitter trial absolutely necessary.
Let us never forget this. It is our own frowardness and negligence that impose a necessity for the infliction of suffering. Afflic- tion is not a desirable thing in itself. It would be better could it be avoided. God afflicts not willingly. But we constrain him.
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Many a sorrow we might escape were we not so heedless and unbelieving.
Most slowly and reluctantly does God stretch out his hand to chasten. For a while he wounds most slightly and mildly. If we may speak after the manner of men, he just hints or whispers his reproof. He is most unwilling to employ sharpness. He tarries long. He lingers on his way to smite. He tries other means. He sends milder trials first, that we may be led to self-searching and repentance, and that he may be spared the necessity of inflicting a heavier blow. But we trifle with these ; and then, at last, he lifts up his voice and speaks in a way which can neither be overlooked nor mistaken. How sad that we should thus so stubbornly persist in filling the cup of sorrow which God would x fain have spared us !
Let us open our ears to the rebuke of God. His " still small voice" should be as effectual as the lightning or the earthquake. Let us learn the meaning and use of slighter trials, Let us count no touch of pain or grief, how- ever mild or transient, too insignificant for our most serious thought. This would save us much It would teach us many a blessed
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