II. The events whereby it was verified —
The prophet instantly complied with her request, and sent his servant Gehazi to lay his staff upon the face of the child, with a view to his recovery. But in this he appears to have acted without any direction from God, and without that humble reference to God which the occasion demanded : and therefore God rebuked him by not accompanying the attempt
a Lev. X. 3. ^1 Sam. iii. 18. <= Ps. xxxix. 9.
1 Job i. 21. e Heb. xi. 35. ^ Heb. xi. 17—19.
with his blessing. The prophet, finding that his desire had failed, sought the Lord with all humility and earnestness ; and, by means similar to those which had before been successfully used by Elijah, he obtained of God the restoration of the child to life*''. Who now must not acknowledge the truth of the mother's declaration ? Verily, " it was well," and tlie dispensation, though afflictive, was good,
1. As exercising and confirming her graces —
[How would it have been known that she possessed the graces of faith and resignation, if somewhat had not occurred to call them forth? and how could they have been strengthened, if not exercised ? The pruning of the vine is therefore good, because it tends to augment its fruitfulness'^ ; and the putting of the choicest vessel into a furnace is good, as tending to fit it for the master's use'. Thus is " tribulation good, as working patience, experience, and hope*^." Hence we are authorized rather to congratulate the saints upon their trials, than condole with them': and the universal testimony of God's people, after they have come out of their troubles, accords with that of the Psalmist, " It is good for me that I have been afflicted"."]
2. As displaying and magnifying God's perfec- tions—
[This trial of hers occasioned an application to God in her behalf: and how marvellous did the condescension of God appear in listening to the voice of his servant, and in granting his petitions! How glorious too was the display of his j^ower/ And was not a momentary suffering good, when it was an occasion of bringing so much glory to Jehovah ? Is there a saint in the universe that would not gladly endure even more than that, for the attainment of so blessed an end? St. Paul desired nothing so much as that God might be glorified in him ; and, provided his Lord and " Saviour might only be magnified in his body," he was indifferent whether it were " by life or by death"." And, wherever the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, not even life itself will be dear to us, except as it may be improved, or sacrificed for him.]
g Compare ver. 34, 35. with 1 Kings xvii. 21. The gestures were used, not as means to an end, but as emblematic of the blessing desired.
^ John XV. 2. i 2 Tim. ii. 21.
k Rom. V. 3 — 5. Heb. xii. 11.
> Jam. i. 2, 3. and v. 11. Rom. viii. 28. «i Ps. cxix. 67, 71.
n Phil. i. 20.
365.] naaman healed of his leprosy. 487
Advice —
1. Be not hasty to judge the dispensations of Pro- vidence—
[God's ways are in the great deep ; his footsteps are not known : and often those very dispensations, of which we are ready to say with Jacob, " All these things are against me," are in reality the greatest blessings that God can bestow. Behold the case of Job ; how glorious was the issue of his trials"! And, if we could see the end from the beginning as God does, we should pronounce a similar verdict on every trial that we are called to endure. The forty years' sojourn- ing in the wilderness was a dark dispensation ; yet we are told, " God led his people in the right way:" so he leads us also in the right way; and when we get to heaven we shall bless him as fervently for all the troubles we sustained, as for any comfort we ever enjoyed.]