^ There is an old legend of an enchanted cup filled with poison, and put treacherously into a king's hand. He made the sign of the Cross and named the name of God over it, and it shivered in his grasp. Do you take that name of the Lord as a test ? Name Him over many a cup of which you are eager to drink, and the 1 glittering fragments will lie at your feet, and the poison be spilled I on the ground. What you cannot lift before His pure eyes and think of Him while you enjoy is not for you. Friendships, schemes, plans, ambitions, amusements, speculations, studies, loves, busi- nesses— can you call on the name of the Lord while you put these cups to your lips ? If not, fling them behind you, for they are full of poison which, for all its sugared sweetness, at the last will " bite like a serpent and sting like an adder." ^
' A. Maulareu. * Ibid.
394 WHAT SHALL I RENDER?
IV.
A Vow AND ITS Fulfilment.
When the cords of death compassed the Psalmist (ver. 3), he had made a strong and secret vow. He said to himself, " If I get over this I will live a more pronounced life unto the Lord." " If I get my strength back, I will use it for the King." " If I get out of this darkness, I will take a lamp and light the feet of other men." And now he is better again, and he sets about redeeming his vow. The midnight vow was redeemed in the morning. As soon as he was out of the peril he remembered his covenant. " Now ! " There must be no delay. In this sphere delays are attended with infinite peril. We may trifle with anything rather than with a fresh and tender vow. Well begun is half done. And he will also surround the redemption of his vow with publicity. He will do something publicly which will strongly proclaim him on God's side, and tell to all men that he has given his devotion to Him. And that must be our way. The vow we made in secret must be performed openly. We must do something to indicate that we have passed through a great experience, and that we are remembering the benefits of the Lord. We can speak His name to another. We can write some gracious letter to a friend. We can attach ourselves publicly to the Master's Church. We can commit ourselves openly and outwardly as professed followers of the King. And wherever we are, throughout all our life, we must continue to pay our vows. In joy, in sorrow, in the valley, on the mount, the vow must perpetually be redeemed. And if that be our part, fervent and unbroken, the Lord's part will also endure. He will continually be pouring His benefits upon us, and we shall grow in riches with every passing day.
^ Hugh Miller, in his letters, gives an interesting account of his experience. He thought he was falling into consumption — that stone-cutter's tuberculosis was settling upon his lungs — and, realizing that death might not be far away, he thought of living a new and better life. He had always piqued himself on being true to his word. If he passed his word to a fellow-workman, no man could ever say that he had broken it, even if it was a promise given to an idiot boy that passed his time around the
PSALM cxvi. 12-14 395
shed. To him the promise was sacred and most honourably kept. Well, why not pass his word to God, why not give a promise Lo the Almighty, and then in his native honesty begin a life of holiness and love ? Fascinated with the idea, he gave his solemn vow, — alas ! only to break it and befool himself, and clothe his soul with shame. He, so honest before men, so staunch and upright and true, found out he was little better than a bankrupt and a liar in the presence of the living God. This led to a humbling exercise of soul, and a truer knowledge of grace. The lesson is a valuable one, and we are slow to learn it. Our cold dead vows, apart from God, are nothing.^
^ E. Waterston, I'houyfUs on the Lord's Supper, 136.
The Day which the Lord made.
397
Literature.
Beveridge (W.), Theological IVorks, iii. 418. Blackley (T.), Practical Sermons, i. 82. Church (R. W.), Village Sermons, ii. 142. Cottam (S. E.), New Sermons for a New Century, 117. Frank (M.), Sermons, ii. 112, Fuller (M.), The Lord's Day, 109. Hall (R.), Works, v. 380. Hutton (R. E.), The Crown of Christ, ii. 7. Kuegele (F.), Country Sermons, New Ser., v. 1. Liddon (H. P.), Easter in St. Paul's, 1G9. Maclaren (A.), The Book of Psalms (Expositor's Bible), iii. 232. Mills (B. R. v.), The Marks of the Church, 224. Newman (J. H.), Parochial and Plain Sermons, vi. 94. Simcox (W. H.), The Cessation of Prophecy, 310.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tahernacle Pulpit, xxiv. (1878), No. 1420. Strong (A. H.), Miscellanies, ii. 219.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), New Ser., xi. (1875), No. 948. Wilkinson (J. B.), Mission Sermons, i. 176.
Christian World Pulpit, xi. 314 (R. Glover) ; xxxv. 276 (Canon Rowsell).