opene<l np by his own proYidence. 3. Cultivate every possible qun.lity, and hold 11 _Ill readiness for any use which God may make clear. 4. Court the honour and Lhss of welcoming to city or home the treasures dear to God, be they ordinanc£, of "·orsliip or those commissioned to do his will; for such bring blessing's with them- ~• a11geh; uri.n,-ures."
Divine resei·ve. The return of the ark was an outward sign of the returning faYour of God, and was so understood by the men of Beth-shemesh. But the full sen-ice of the tabernacle, with the ark as its centre and glory was not e~tablished. Nor ,~-ere the Philistines deprived of their !~old. on Israel. TJ1e Divine power was held m reser~e. The set time to favour Zion m plenitude had not arrived. The reasons ~or tins are ~lear. The people were too degraded to enjoy the full benefit of the sernces and fe9tIYal~. A degenera:e priesthood, steeped in vice, cannot at once ~ass on to the holy duties of Jehol'ah s worship. A regenerative process requites time, imd twenty years was not too long for the old generation of priests to die off ancl gfre way to men brought up under better influences. The general trutli here -~et j01tlt u, that it is in t!ie heart of God to d? great things/~r liu ;people, but that for [/?od i·e~ons he holds himself, so to speak, m reserve-veiling h1a glory, bestowing lus blessing sparsely. Indeed, there is even a wider application of the truth than in relation to the Church. Take a few illustrations. I. CREATION. The material and spiritual universe is the outcome of the power an'd wisdom of God. But vast and intricate as it is, no one can suppose that it is coex- tensive with all that is in his nature. There are not two infinites. • The power and ,visdom of God are in excess of what are traceable in the works lie has formed. There is a vast reserve; which for aught we know may some. titne corne out iii an order of things not now conceived or deemed possible. It is a crude philosophy which teaches that God has done all he intends to do in the way of positive Creation. Emry new spirit that comes into being is an evidence of the Divine reserve. II. REVELATION. There is a varied revelation of God, but in each case it may be said that, supposing we haYe learnt all they teach, we "know only in part." For ae tl1ere is more in God than in his works and word, there is a reserve of truth which may yet be clravvn upon. In the gradual bestowment of revelation we see how God keeps back from one age what he gives to another. Christ had many things to say once which his disciples could not then bear to bear. There must be deep and far- reaching principles of the Divine government which underlie the at present revealed facts of the Trinity, atonement, human responsibility, and future punishment; and these are kept out of full view till, perhaps, we become free from the flesh. III. NATIONAL PROSPERITY. All true national prosperity is of God. If it comes not to men, it is because he withholds the blessings desired. The absence of pros- perity has a practical side ; it means that God reserves good because conduct and motive are not what he approves. There was nigh at hand all the power and wisdom by which Israel should cease to depend on Philistines for axes and coultere, but it came not forth. Had larael in earlier or later times been more true to God, he ,vould ha,e "fed them also with the finest of the wheat'' (Pe. lx.xxi. 13-16). , IV. CauncH PRIVILEGES AND USEJfuLNESS. "Glorious things" are spoken of Zion. The Church inherits a wondrous destiny. She ie to be the envy of the world. Her "feet" are to be" beautiful ; " her garmentR "white; " her influence as the "light" and "salt." A11d all thi~ not by virtue of what may be in the Church of herself, but because of the power and grace of God within her. If she ie " in the duet," we ask the cause ; the first an~wer is, because God stays his hand, keeps the residue of the Spirit, holds himself in reserve. The second answer ie, that this Divine reserve is in consequence of the Church Laving backslidden from her God and disqualified l,erself from being a vehicle for tl1e fuJI flow of the blessing that is to enrich man- kind. The Di vine light is to shine from "golden candlesticks." V. PERSONAL RELIGIOuS EXPERIENCE .• Personal religion is, in one sense, the passing into and dwelling within the soul of the power and love of God-by the Holy Spirit. It is the proper heritage of a believer to enjoy a sense of the Divine favour n?t known to the unbelieving. A vision of God sweet and blessed comes to the pure Ill heart. Cl,rist manifests himself as he does not to the world. But the backsliding -OD. VII. 1-17.] THI~ Frnsr IlOOK OF SAllUEL. 127