Morning, July 19
Go To Evening Reading
“The Lord our God hath shewed us his glory.”
Deuteronomy 5:24
God’s great design in all his works is the manifestation of his own glory.
Any aim less than this were unworthy of himself. But how shall the
glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are? Man’s eye is not single, he has ever a side glance towards his own honour,
has too high an estimate of his own powers, and so is not qualified
to behold the glory of the Lord. It is clear, then, that self must
stand out of the way, that there may be room for God to be exalted;
and this is the reason why he bringeth his people ofttimes into straits
and difficulties, that, being made conscious of their own folly and
weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when he
comes forth to work their deliverance. He whose life is one even and
smooth path, will see but little of the glory of the Lord, for he
has few occasions of self-emptying, and hence, but little fitness
for being filled with the revelation of God. They who navigate little
streams and shallow creeks, know but little of the God of tempests;
but they who “do business in great waters,” these see his “wonders in the deep.” Among the huge Atlantic-waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation,
and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah, because we feel the littleness
of man. Thank God, then, if you have been led by a rough road: it
is this which has given you your experience of God’s greatness and lovingkindness. Your troubles have enriched you with
a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: your trials
have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set you, as he
did his servant Moses, that you might behold his glory as it passed
by. Praise God that you have not been left to the darkness and ignorance
which continued prosperity might have involved, but that in the great
fight of affliction, you have been capacitated for the outshinings
of his glory in his wonderful dealings with you.