In the making of great iron castings, through some defect in the mould, portions of air may lurk in the heart of the iron, and cavities like those of an honey-comb may be formed in the interior of the beam, but the defects and flaws may be effectively concealed under the outer skin ; when, however, it is subjected to a severe strain it gives way. So under tligr^tresa^iif soifte great trial, the hollowness of the„ o^turpi, max-ba -JCgy^l pd aud^ sesfot faulis.JJjd e\il^exposed, and the man appfiai:iJJlJ^vhat_P-eQple^ay is a changed chaas^ctei;, ]ji.j:fiality that isi his. trufi_ character If metal be real iron, the blast of the furnace will temper it into steel, and if there is reality and truth in the nature, j^tial wilL<ie!XelopLita.-finer -fi^ualitiea ; but if these do not existr-trial w.illouly^ expose that ,jiatiire's inherent UaUnefia-aiid— iaake-J4
^ R. Stephen, Divine arid Human Influence, i. 285.
PSALM cxxxix. 23, 24 165
4. Qo^, Ui^*^n Jis ^y hnlfj.ing up. tq ^^^ tf^p.^ mirror (f anaihji.r'a life^ — We never know ourselves until we see ourselves divested of all the trappings of self-love. It was thus that God dealt with David, when he had so terribly sinned. /For all the depth and the a^4 grandeur of his character, David was strangely blind to his own t<, guilt. But then came Nathan with his touching story qf the man who had been robbed of his ewe lamb, and all that was best in David was afire at the abhorrent action of that robber. '/
Especially when we draw near to Christ, who knows what is in all of us, and whose eye could read and single out the traitor whom no one suspected ; when, too, He is lobking at us and scanning our deepest hearts, reading in them the love we have to Him and the faith we have in Him, or detecting the treachery and perfidy that may lurk within us, surely it is right that we should ask Him to search us and try us and let us know and see ourselves as He knows and sees us. Surely we should ask Him to purify our hearts from every evil thought and feeling, and so to fill them with His love that when He asks us, as He asked Peter, " Lovest thou me ? " we may be able to say truly, " Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee."
^ Bishop Westcott preached what was to prove his last sermon in Durham Cathedral on the Saturday preceding his death. It was the annual service of the Durham miners, who came in their thousands to hear the prelate that shortly before had successfully acted as peacemaker in the great North of England coal strike. The Bishop's address has a pathos of its own, since it was his last, and apparently felt by the speaker himself to be his last public utterance. The discourse was as beautiful as it was touching and impressive. Brief, yet complete, and instinct with love, it reveals the man and indicates the secret of his power. The closing words were —
" Since it is not likely that I shall ever address you here again, I have sought to tell you what I have found in a long and laborious life to be the most prevailing power to sustain right endeavour, however imperfectly I have yielded myself to it — even the love of Christ ; to tell you what I know to be the secret of a noble life, even glad obedience to His will. I have given you a watchword which is fitted to be the inspiration, the test, and the support of untiring service to God and man : the,lavLJ^JJJ},risLcQvy-. stnmLe^us." ^
^ Life and Letters qf Brooke Foss Westcott, ii. 394.
i66 THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS
IIL
The Purpose in View.
1. Tjhe^uipDse of this searching is thakwe may be dfiljyered ifODojour own jra;;^gf Jile. " See iOhere be any way of.syicked- nessjnjne." The Psalmist jecogfiizes -that huinan_Ufe isjj^eier- minedfj'om_ within^ The " wa^" j_sjtot^'^n/^_us^ How often do we see this ! A youth is set in the right path, every assistance is secured for him, every encouragement is given him to pursue it ; but he soon breaks away from this, forms other habits, adopts other companions, pursues an altogether different life. He does not follow the path that was opened up to him from the outside, but elects one already traced in his heart. We popularly say of such a wilful soul, "He took his own way, followed his own course." A modern cry calls upon us to " fulfil ourselves." That really means to work out our own fancies, tastes, and passions ; to propose our own ideals, be ruled by self-will, take counsel of the pride and passion of our own hearts, chase our own phantoms. But if everybody should " fulfil " himself, it would mean pande- monium ; it would be the working out of ignorance, egotism, and lust. This is precisely what the Psalmist deprecates. He urgently pleads for deliverance from himself ; from the poisonous particle, the diseased fibre, the false substance and quality which may exist latent within him, waiting for the stimulation of circum- stance, opportunity, and association.
(1) 0\^r own way is a way ot ejtj^tii^js^. Some would translate these words, " any way of idols in me." It signifies the vanity, the unreality, the delusiveness of the objects on which the natural man fixes his ambition and hope. We sometimes say of a thing, " There is nothing in it." We may say this of wealtlLJioaoiir, pleasure^Jame ; if we make idols of them, we know that an idol is~nothing in the world. If we follow the desires and devices of our own hearts, we walk in a vain show and disquiet ourselves in vain.