Morning, May 19
Go To Evening Reading
“I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants
upon the earth.”
Ecclesiastes 10:7
Upstarts frequently usurp the highest places, while the truly great
pine in obscurity. This is a riddle in providence whose solution will
one day gladden the hearts of the upright; but it is so common a fact,
that none of us should murmur if it should fall to our own lot. When
our Lord was upon earth, although he is the Prince of the kings of
the earth, yet he walked the footpath of weariness and service as
the Servant of servants: what wonder is it if his followers, who are
princes of the blood, should also be looked down upon as inferior
and contemptible persons? The world is upside down, and therefore,
the first are last and the last first. See how the servile sons of
Satan lord it in the earth! What a high horse they ride! How they
lift up their horn on high! Haman is in the court, while Mordecai
sits in the gate; David wanders on the mountains, while Saul reigns
in state; Elijah is complaining in the cave while Jezebel is boasting
in the palace; yet who would wish to take the places of the proud
rebels? and who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints?
When the wheel turns, those who are lowest rise, and the highest sink.
Patience, then, believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time.
Let us not fall into the error of letting our passions and carnal
appetites ride in triumph, while our nobler powers walk in the dust.
Grace must reign as a prince, and make the members of the body instruments
of righteousness. The Holy Spirit loves order, and he therefore sets
our powers and faculties in due rank and place, giving the highest
room to those spiritual faculties which link us with the great King;
let us not disturb the divine arrangement, but ask for grace that
we may keep under our body and bring it into subjection. We were not
new created to allow our passions to rule over us, but that we, as
kings, may reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit,
soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father.