The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 405

Vere. 7-16.-Divine Care. I. THE ENDLESSNESS OF GoD's RESOURCES. 1. The brool, failed; and one essential of life could no more be had there. But it was only that this wondrous provision might give place to greater marvels. When means are threatened, the heart sinks; but He who has provided these for a season knows of the failure; and He who sent to Cherith can send elsewhere. One channel of help fails ouly that the soul may be quickened by a. fresh revelation of God's kindness. 2. He was sent to what seemed to be the moat dangerous of all places-to the territory of J ezebel's father. And yet the very unlikelihood of his seeking shelter there increased his safety. God's path can only be trod by faith, but that faith is soon changed to praise. 3. He was sent to a most unlikely quarter. The hostess whom the Lord hnd chosen wns a widow and one who possessed sufficient to furnish only one more meal for herself and her child. But here again faith was to breo,k forth into praise. God's power is infinite, e.nd the meanest as well as the mightiest may be used to glorify Him. II. THE REWARD OF OBEDIENT FAITH. 1. For Elijah. He went =doubting; he sought the city, and lo, at the gate (ver. 10) he met bis hostess. Those who act on God's promises will meet with the revelation of His truth and graciousness. 2. For the woman (vers. 11-16). It was her last meal Love of her child and her own hunger must have made it hard to obey, but the seed she sowed in faith yielded a thousandfold. God's call to sacrifice for His service, for honesty and truth, is the path to plenty not to· loss. 8. For both. The woman entered a new world. The unseen was unveiled; she knew God. Elijah found in a heathen land a home which God had sanctified. The communion of faith glorifies e.11 hume.n relationship.-U. Vera. 17-24.-Alftiction and its Fruits. I. TIIE DISCIPLL'IE OF TB.UL. 1. It is no proof of God's anger. Sorrow darkens the homes of God's beloved. This was a home of faith and ministering love. Affliction is no more proof of wrath than is the farmer's ploughing of his field. To him, with his eye upon the future harvest, it is only the needful preparation of the soil. And the great Husba.ndmo.n, with His eye upon the eternal glory, must open up e. bed within the soul's depths for the seed of life. 2. God's blow may be very heavy. Her son, her only child, is taken. God's plough sinks deep that His work may be rightly done. The very greatness of our anguish is e. measure by which we may gauge the greatness of the Lord's purpose and of the love which will not suffer us to miss the blessing. II. THE FRUITS IT YIELDS. 1. It reveals owr need. She may have been conscious daily of the goodness of God and yet been blind to the fact that she needed more than she had yet received. God now awe.kens her (1) to the sense of her unworthi- ness : "What have I to do with thee?" (2) to the remembrance of her transgressions: 11 Art thou come to ce.11 my sine to remembrance ? " The darkness of trouble is the shadow of guilt. There is discipline because there is need of salvation. Sins may be pardoned, but God must open up a gulf between the soul and them. The time of trouble is meant to be a time of baa.rt-searching e.nd of confession. 2. It stirs up to pra11er. Elijo.h's heart was poured out in bold expostulation and earnest entreaty (vers. 20, 21). In the sharpness of our need our cry go.ins strength; we press, in our_ lll'gency, into the Divine presence. These times open up a way to Goel by which we find ready access ever after. 8. It leads to the vision of God's glory. 11 And the Lord beo.rd," &c. (ver. 22). The prayer wo.s followed by 11, revelation of God's power such o.s till then man ho.d never seen: the dead was raised. "Ask and ye shall receive." The soul that aska will see God's salvation and be filletl with the light of the Divin,, glory. 4. It deepens trust. 11 Now by this I know," &c. (ver. 24). When man's need meets God's help, the soul is bound to Him by the strongest ties.-U. Vere. 1.-7.-First Prep.mation of Elijah for his great Mission. After El ij ,1 h' s first appearance before Ahab to announce to him the Divine visitn.tion of sterilily and dearth which was to come upon the land as the chastisement of his sin, the pro- phet was sent a.way into e. solito.ry plo.ce to prepo.re himself for his great and solemil 416 THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. [CH, XVII, 1-24,