Morning, July 1
Go To Evening Reading
“In summer and in winter shall it be.”
Zechariah 14:8
The streams of living water which flow from Jerusalem are not dried
up by the parching heats of sultry midsummer any more than they were
frozen by the cold winds of blustering winter. Rejoice, O my soul,
that thou art spared to testify of the faithfulness of the Lord. The
seasons change and thou changest, but thy Lord abides evermore the
same, and the streams of his love are as deep, as broad and as full
as ever. The heats of business cares and scorching trials make me
need the cooling influences of the river of His grace; I may go at
once and drink to the full from the inexhaustible fountain, for in
summer and in winter it pours forth its flood. The upper springs are
never scanty, and blessed be the name of the Lord, the nether springs
cannot fail either. Elijah found Cherith dry up, but Jehovah was still
the same God of providence. Job said his brethren were like deceitful
brooks, but he found his God an overflowing river of consolation.
The Nile is the great confidence of Egypt, but its floods are variable;
our Lord is evermore the same. By turning the course of the Euphrates,
Cyrus took the city of Babylon, but no power, human or infernal, can
divert the current of divine grace. The tracks of ancient rivers have
been found all dry and desolate, but the streams which take their
rise on the mountains of divine sovereignty and infinite love shall
ever be full to the brim. Generations melt away, but the course of
grace is unaltered. The river of God may sing with greater truth than
the brook in the poem—
“Men may come, and men may go,
But I go on forever.”
How happy art thou, my soul, to be led beside such still waters! never
wander to other streams, lest thou hear the Lord’s rebuke, “What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink of the muddy river?”