> F. B. Meyer, Monea the ServaiU of Owl, 138.
EXODUS XXXIII. 14 317
has not found the principle of the Divine harmony : " The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit striveth against the flesh, and the two are contrary the one to the other." We long to find some truth which shall release us from the agony, and make some kind of harmony in our lives. We find this battle of life inexplicable; it sometimes shakes our faith in the wisdom and goodness of oui' Grod. We shout into the Sibyl cave and listen for the responses ; we take the whispers of sense for the answer, and then we go on our way. But the conflict again begins, the perplexities again return ; again and again we cry, each time in a more frenzied mood, " Who will show us any good ? " " Who will give us rest ? " From the midst of the glow of glory which surrounds the throne, the word of the Son of God, the great Captain of the human host, comes down to every earnest, struggling spirit: "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest."
^ Perhaps there are no words that appeal more to the human heart, or fall with a sweeter cadence on the human ear, into what- ever language they may be translated, than the words of our Lord recorded by St. Matthew (xi. 28-30) : " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." The whole secret of rest is there, not a rest of idleness, but a rest in bearing Christ's yoke. And He adds, " My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
^ An aged, weary woman, carrying a heavy basket, got into the train with me the other day, and when she was seated she still kept the heavy burden upon her arm ! " Lay your burden down, mum," said the kindly voice of a working man. "Lay your burden down, mum ; the train will carry both it and you." Ay, that's it ! " Lay your burden down ! " The Lord will carry both it and you ! " I will give thee rest " : not by the absence of war- fare, but by the happy assurance of victory : not by the absence of the hill, but by the absence of the spirit of fainting. " I will give thee rest."*
East is not quitting
The busy career; Kest is the fitting
Of self to its sphere.
' J. H. Jowatt.
3i8 LIFE IN GOD'S PRESENCE
'Tis the brook's motion,
Clear without Btrife, Fleeing to ocean
After its life.
Deeper devotion
Nowhere hath knelt; Fuller emotion
Heart never felt.
■ Tis loving and serving
The highest and best! 'Tis onward! Unswerving — And that is true rest.^
2. Rest after toil. — Rest in toil carries with it the promise of a fuller and more perfect rest after toil. "And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours ; and their works do follow them."
Art thou so weary then, poor thirsty soul ?
Have patience, in due season thou shalt sleep.
Mount yet a little while, the path is steep : Strain yet a little while to reach the goal : Do battle with thyself, achieve, control:
Till night come down with blessed slumber deep
As love, and seal thine eyes no more to weep Through long tired vigils while the planets roll. Have patience, for thou too shalt sleep at length,
Lapt in the pleasant shade of Paradise.
My Hands that bled for thee shall close thine eyes,
My Heart that bled for thee shall be thy rest: I will sustain with everlasting strength,
And thou, with John, shalt lie upon My breast.'
1 John Sullivan D wight. ' Christina 6. BossettL
Unconscious Glory.
319
Literature.
Back (W. J,), in A Book of Lay Sermonty 247.
Christopherson (H.), Sermons, 148.
Dinwoodie (J.), Outliiie Studies, 3.
Gray (W. A.), The Shadow of the Ha/nd, 177. V^Gregg (D.), Our Best Moods, 239.
Halsey (J.), The Beauty of the Lord, 18. ^Jowett (J. H.), Meditations for Quiet Moments, 22. ^ (,
Maclaren (A.), The God of the Amen, 259.
McFadyen (J. E.), Thoughts for Silent Hours, 95.
Shore (T. T.), The Life of the World to Com^, 159.
Christian World Pulpit, xiv. 115 (Wonnacott) ; Ixxvii. 180 (Moffatt),
Church Pulpit Year Book, viL 194.
Unconscious Glory.
And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai . . . that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with liim. — Ezod. xxxiv. 29.
Whatever view we take of the manner in which God communi- cated to Moses those moral truths which are contained in the Ten Commandments, we cannot fail to recognize the grandeur and the importance of the event. The lawgiver ascending in sublime soHtude the mountain, from whose base the multitude and their flocks were far removed — the forty days of intimate colloquy with God — the cloud of the Divine Presence surrounding the hilltop — the power of a Divine illumination glowing with such splendour that the people shrank from the lawgiver's pure bright gaze — these are, as it were, the solemn surroundings of an event which marks an epoch in the world's history. To this day, those Ten Commandments are the basis of our national jurisprudence, and the tests and guides of our personal morality.