^ Said one lonely soul, who had been nursing his grief in secret, as the stricken doe seeks to hide the arrow that rankles in its breast, " I will pour out my soul unto the Lord," and in the sympathy of that great Companionship his sorrow was lightened, and transfigured, like rain clouds in the sun.
In the dark and cloudy day. When earth's riches flee away, And the last hope will not stay, My Saviour, comfort me.
When the secret idol's gone, That my poor heart yearned upon, Desolate, bereft, alone,
My Saviour, comfort me.
1 J. KdwMtis.
3o8 LIFE IN GOD'S PRESENCE
(2) There is the loneliness of unshared triumph. — Lonely triumph is as desolate as unshared grief. When I sin and falter, I feel I need a companion to whom I can tell the story of my defeat ; but when I have some secret triumph I want a companion to share the glow and glory of the conquest, or the glow and glory will fade. Even when we conquer secret sin the heart calls for a Companion in the joy ! And here He is ! " My presence shall go with thee." If you will turn to the Book of Psalms you will find how continually the ringing paeans sound from hearts that are just bursting with the desire to share their joy and triumph with the Lord. They are the communings of victory, the gladsome fellowship of radiant souls and their God. His Presence shall go with us, and He will destroy the loneliness of unshared joy.
^ My memory recalls with vivid clearness one of the boys in the school where I received my earliest training. He wae an orphan, but more than that, he was perfectly friendless. Those who were nearest to him were all dead, and the entire interest of his guardian exhausted itself in paying the school-fees as they became due. When the holidays came, and we all bounded home, he remained at school, for he had nowhere else to go. I thought little or nothing about it. Certainly his position did not move me to pain, until one day his loneliness broke upon me with appalling reality, when in the class-lists he appeared as the premier boy in the school. His triumph was most dis- tinguished and brilliant, but he had no one to share it ! No father, no mother, no kinsman, no friend ! I felt that in his success he was more desolate than in his defeats ! His bereave- ment seemed to culminate in his triumphs.
^ I had a friend who in mature life published a book on which he had bestowed the hard labours of many years. Some time before its publication his wife died, and he was left alone. The book received an enthusiastic welcome, and now enjoys high eminence in its own department of learning. I spoke to my friend of his well-deserved reward, and of the triumph of his labours. His face immediately clouded, and he quietly said, " Ah, if only she were here to share it ! " I say, his loneliness culminated there, and his sharpest pang was experienced in his sunniest hour.^
(3) There is the Umelineu of temptation. — Our friends can ' I. B. Jowvtt
EXODUS XXXIII. 14 309
accompany us bo far along the troubled way, and by G-od's good grace they can partially minister to our progress by re-arranging our environment, and removing many of the snares and pitfalls from our path. But in this serious business of temptation it is little that friend can do for friend. The great battle is waged behind a door they cannot enter. But we need not be alone! One Presence can pass the door that leads to the secret place. "My presence shall go with thee," not as an interested or applauding spectator, but as Fellow-worker, Fellow-fighter, Redeemer, and Friend. The loneliness of the wilderness is peopled by the ubiquitous presence of the Lord.
T Every soul that has had any moral experience whatever must know that the best elements in his composition are those derived from passages in his life where no second could keep his soul company — where he must be alone ; disappointments that he must suffer alone ; reflections where he must look to his own soul and his God alone. Two conditions have affixed themselves to the history of moral reformers and heroes : they have first been overshadowed by the great ideas for the redemption of humanity which have filled their souls, in solitary thinking ; and when they have gone out on their beneficent errands, they have had to work alone — confront apathy and opposition unsupported by the sympathies of any multitude.^
(4) And there is the loneliness of death. — It is pathetic, deeply pathetic, how we have to stand idly by at the last moment — doctor, nurse, husband, wife, child — all to stand idly by, when the lonely voyager launches forth into the unknown sea ! " It is the loneliness of death that is so terrible. If we and those whom we love passed over simultaneously, we should think no more of it than changing our houses " from one place to another. But every voyager goes alone ! Alone ? Nay, there is a Fellow- voyager! "My presence shall go with thee." The last, chill loneliness is warmed by the Resurrection Life. There is a winsome light in the valley, as of the dawning of grander days. " Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with ma" "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee."