on earth. But it matters little that the rays of revelation seem to melt into the dark- n11ss of the Infinite if only they shine bright and clear on our path of duty.-A. Vers. 22, 23.-Thefear of the 'Vi,si,on of God. The Divine vision was connected mth a blessing to Manoah and his wife. The vision of God by the soul is itself the highest blessing; yet, as in the case of Manoah, it fills men with fear. I. THE CAUSE OF THE FEAR. 1. Mystery. We naturally dread the unknown. Darkness hides possibilities of danger. Superstition peoples the unseen with horrors. 2. Guilt. " Conscience makes cowards of us all." So Adam and Eve hid them- selves from God in the garden (Gen. iii. 8). Because we are all sinners before God we have a natural shrinking from him (1) who knows our secret hearts, (2) against whom. we have offended, (3~ who is holy to hate sin and (4) just to punish it. 3. Unbelief \Ve do not sufficiently understand the character of God nor trust his grace. If we did, we should feel safer with all our guilt in his hands than we are when left to ourselves and to the world. Men fear God because they do not know him. II. THE REMEDIES OF THE FEAR. Manoah's wife encourages her husband. Though men may be brave before physical danger, women sometimes show more courage in spiritual difficulties. This moral courage is nobler than the brute courage which man shares with the lower animals. It bas its source in true excellences of character. 1. Self-posse,ssion. Manoah is confused and dismayed by terror beyond the power of reflection ; but bis wife is calm and collected, and thus able to see indications of mercy in the vision. 2. Refl,,xtum on the character of the vision. God has given to us powers of observation, discernment, reasoning. Superstitious terrors more commonly haunt the minds of those people who have neglected to use those powers, while weakly yielding to foolish emotions. Religion to be healthy must be thought- ful God bas given us snfficient indications of his character in the Bible, in Christ, in life, to deliver us from slavish fear, if only we consider and reflect on these. The more we know of God, the less shall we be afraid of him. May not the most fearful learn to reason with Manoah's wife-" If God had meant harm to us, would be have blessed us as be has done hitherto? " The Christian may go further, and be sure that after the great gift of his Son, God must wish well to us in all lesser things (Rom. v. 10). 3. Faith. We cannot see perfect evidence that God is blessing us in e'l'ery mystery ; but if we know his character we ought to trust bis actions, even when they seem most alarming, as they cannot be contrary to bis nature. 4. The acceptance of sacri,fice. God had accepted Manoah'e sacrifice, therefore he could not regard him with disfavour. He has accepted the sacrifice of Christ, and accord- ingly our guilt need not make us fear God if we rely on the atonement Christ has effected.-A.. Vers. 24, 25.-The young Samson. I. His NAME, Samson-the sun. Thie wa~ a great name, full of inspiring significance. It is well to have a good name, one which i6 a constant appeal to a man to be worthy of it, and to live up to its meaning. IL His GROWTH. Samson the hero was first u child at the mercy of the weakest. The grandest river springs from a little etreamlet. The noblest man enters life, as the meanest does, in helpless infancy. So the spiritual life of the saint, t_he martyr, the apostle is seen first in him as in a babe in Christ. It is therefore no dlBhon?ur _to have a small beginning, but it is a dishonour to remain small. The one question 1~, Do we grow mentally, spiritually, in knowledge, in holiness, in power? ~he~e 1s more to be expected of the minute growing seed than of the dead stump, whwh IS at first vastly larger. Better be a growing child of the Lord than a dwarf adult Chris- tian man. III. His BLESSING. "The Lord blessed him." We are not told how ; this matten. not. Perhaps be did not recognise the blessing. Gild blesses us s_il~nt]y, with ~o formal benediction, and perhaps in ways which to us see~ hard and lDJUn?ue. Sti!l better than health, riches, pleasure is the fact God does give a man the thing that 1B for his highest good, which is what we mean by " a blessing." IV. His INSPIRATION. "The Spirit of the Lord began to move him." 1. Sumeon's heroic strength was ao inspiration of God, not a mere brute muscular force, We see olt. XIV. 1-9,J THE BOOK OF JUDGES
how in greo.t crises men o.re _nerv~d tf do ":hat is beyond their pow~r i1_1 ordinary life. The o.bnonnal stren~h of msamty 1s an rnstance of the same pnnc1ple, applied in circumstances of disease. 2. Inspiration assumes various forms. To Sam8on it brought neither the grace of purity nor the gift of prophecy· but it gave him the special gifts which he needed for his special work. He would ha~e been a nobler man if he had sought the Spirit of God also to help him in more spiritual ways. Samson had a supematural gift of the Spirit with little of its ordinary grace of holinesH. It is better to have this grace first, though, if God will, we may receive the gift also, V. HIS IMPERFECT POSSESSION BY THE SPIRIT. He was moved at times. 1. God's special gifts are.limited to occasion. There is an economy of Divine power. When we need extraordinory grace he will give this, but only then. 2. The receipt of spiritual gifts depends on the condi,tion of O'Ur spfri,t. Sr.mson was only rightly dis- posed to receive the Spirit at intervals. Our spiritual life fluctuates ; we are not long at our beet. 3. We are only moved when we respond. God may have visited Samson more often than Samson profited by his visit. We can resist the Spirit. \V<J are helped only when we willingly yield to it.-.A.