1 T. C. U])liani, Life of Madame Guyon, 455. ^ W. E. Channing.
PSALM Lxxxiv. 1 1 20I
that we have obtained an immutability of blessedness, for He is "the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." God is not love to-day and hate to-morrow ; He saith, " I am God, I change not." There are said to be spots in the sun which diminish the light and heat which we receive ; but there are no such spots in God; He shines on with the boundless fulness of His infinite love toward His people in Christ Jesus. " This God is our God for ever and ever." If we were to live as long as Methuselah, we should find His love pnd power and wisdom to be the same, and we might confidently count upon being blessed thereby. What treasures of mercy do we possess in being able to say, " 0 God, thou art my God " ! "We have the source of mercy, the infinity of mercy, and the immutability of mercy to be our own.
^ What is the glory of the sun ? Is it its power, its energy, or is it not the way in which it finds out things one by one and gives itself away to them ? I have watched the sun rising amidst the mountains, crowning them with gold and robing them with purple, until they stood like lords-in-waiting arrayed for the coming of their king, and it has seemed in keeping with the sun's greatness. But little by little it rose higher, and now it covered the fir trees with glory, and now it lit up the moss of the rock. Still higher rose the sun, and then it reached the meadows, and every tiny grass blade caught its warmth and energy, and every flower had its golden cup fiilled to the brim. And lower still it went down, to the seeds that were buried in darkness, and whispered to them of hope, and put new strength into them. Think if I could tell the tiny flower how far off the sun is, how many myriads of miles away, how great it is, how splendid in its majesty. " Surely," the flower would say, " it can never stoop to me, or find me out, or care for me, or minister to my want ! " Ah, but it does ; it gives itself to the flower with such tenderness and thoroughness as if there were not another in the round world. Surely this is the glory of our God. We think of Him in the greatness of His power. We sing of Him, " Who is like unto thee . . . glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ? " But is not this His glory, that He comes to us away by ourselves, one by one, and gives Himself to us separately, stooping to the lowest, reaching to the farthest off, finding out the most hidden ? The sun is not going to put to shame the ingenuity of our Father's love.^
^ M. G. Pearse, The God of our Pleasures, 56.
202 A SUN AND A SHIELD
Behold the sun, that seemed but now
Enthroned overhead, Beginning to decline below
The globe whereon we tread ; And he, whom yet we look upon
With comfort and delight, Will quite depart from hence anon,
And leave us to the night.
Thus time, unheeded, steals away
The life which nature gave ; Thus are our bodies every day
Declining to the grave ; Thus from us all our pleasures fly
Whereon we set our heart; And when the night of death draws nigh
Thus will they all depart.
Lord! though the sun forsake our sight,
And mortal hopes are vain, Let still Thine everlasting light
Within our souls remain ; And in the nights of our distress
Vouchsafe those rays divine, Which from the Sun of Righteousness
For ever brightly shine ! ^
4. Without a favourable medium and a suitable object, the sunlight can do little. All the sunlight of all time cannot illumine a man who is blind. The suns of all the seasons can avail nothing for the dead. There must be the faculty to receive the light and to respond to it. The sun cannot give life, it can only develop it. It cannot transform the nature. But He who is the Light of the World is also the Lord and Giver of life. See Him by whom grace and truth come to us. See Him as He bends over the couch of the dead maiden, and, taking her by the hand, says, " Maiden, arise." See Him as He lays those fingers on the blind man's eyes and says, " Be opened." In Him the blessed grace of forgiveness is ours. His coming is in relation to our sins — His very name is Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of (Jod
' Ueonrc Wither.
PSALM Lxxxiv. II 203
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." He gives to us a new nature whose instinct it is to know God and to serve Him. He will give grace. And we have to receive that grace, and avail ourselves of it. The golden sun shall in vain pour its beauty where the plough has not turned the furrow and the seed-corn has not been flung. Man's work is to avail himself of the sun and to adapt himself to its times and seasons. And even so it is with God's grace. It cannot avail him anything who does not receive it and respond to it. " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God."