SUNDAY READING

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 305, 17 May 1913, Page 6

SUNDAY READING

WAITING UPON GOD. (Extract of soniion preached by Rev. R. J. J-.it!del in the Queen Struct Methodist Church, Now Plymouth.) Text.—"But they that wait upon the Lonl shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles: they shall run and not he weary; and thev shall walk and not faint."—lsaiah -10:'31. The people to whom these words were first spoken were in great trouble. They had seen the Babylonians invade; the land of their fathers; destroy the temple that was the pride and joy of the Jewish heart; had seen them seize the flower of the population and lead them away into exile and serfdom. We here get a view of a people whose hearts and hopes were broken in consequence of the long exile. So far as they could see the day of their restoration was as far off as ever. They had reached the limit of endurance, and could now only resign themselves to despair. It seemed as if the long night would never end. the day never break, the shadows never flee away. It seemed as if eternal night had setled on their race ,that all their glorious history would end in oblivion. Even the youngest among them began to faint and grow weary. The young men, who of all the people were most likely to possess hope and courage, began to utterly fail. Never had it seemed less possible for this captive people to slip from under the bondage of Babylon. The heel of the conqueror was on their neck, so they had no spirit left to struggle. Hope ■ deferred had made the heart sick. It was at this crisis that the prophet t sought to assure them of Jehovah's abil- ) ity to redeem them. He proclaims to them God's might as a Creator, emphasises His immeasurable power in that He measured the waters in the hollow of « His hand, and meted out heaven as a <' span, comprehended the dust of the ' earth in a measure, weighed the moun- ' tains in scales, and the hills in a bal- < ance. So the prophet crys: "Comfort ] ye, comfort ye my people." But comfort does not come to the despondent and complaining, but to those who worship. It is those who wait upon the Lord who renew their strength; they mount up with wings as eagles; they run without being weary, and "walk without fainting. What is it to WAIT ON GOD? Some will say that is easily answered. We wait upon God by attending the Sanctuary. It is then we leave the busy world on one side while we go up anil worship the Lord. It is then heaven comes down our souls to greet; it is there we get visions of eternal things and truly worship. Quite true, but it is possible to go regularly to church, to attend punctually every sacrament and yet not truly worship', not wait upon i God. Another says: "We wait upon God by singing His praises," I quite believe that, but I have known people to join in the praise of God who did not even believe in the Divinity of our Lord. Were they, think you, waiting upon the I Lord? Mere lip service is useless. God) said of a certain class: "these people draw near unto me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Again it is said that we wait upon God when we come to the Throne of Grace, when in the church prayer meeting or the quietude of the home we pray. Once more I say, I believe that is true, but it is possible to pray and there be not an atom of prayer "in it. Prayer only reaches heaven when God is in our I thoughts. Therefore, we come to this conclusion—to wait upon God is to think of Him, and whatever a person does, unless his mind is full of God. he does not truly worship. The thought of God is the very life and soul of worship. Now God wants men to think about Him, so He crosses every man's path. He comes to us in the Gospel of His son. the dispensations of His providence, the operations'of His spirit, the beauties of Nathis to get men to think about Him. But men are not disposed to think of Him. When He visits them they try their: utmost to get rid of Him. The. old Hebrews did. It was so in the davs of Christ."■' All parties tried to explain away the Divine race. It is so to-day. Scientific men : .talk much about "force." and "law" ; but little about God. As if there could be'"force" apart from some Being who exerts it,' or "law" apart from some! Will which it represents. So we come back to the assertion—the man who acknowledges God in Nature and in hunyan life is the one who waits on Him. The : thought of God is the soul of Worship. ; I now point-out some of the blessings' that come to those who truly wait upon; God. :;w , . . I STRENGTH. They renew then-strength. The margin meads, ''change their strength." Dr. Adam Clarke-savs-it-means "they shall put. forth fresh strength like the'moulting,eagle." It'has been a common and popular opinion that the eagle retains ■llls'..vigor, and.lives 'to a '.great age, rehQws! his. feathers,,and,.with them his youth. , So t,he, psalmist sang, "Thou -shaltl renew thy youth like the eagle." Therefore, we gather from our text that waiting upon Gad, enables us to change our : strength. The. Bible: and history abound in Illustrations. Moses thought ol'God and "endured- as seeing Him who Is'Jnjvisjble;" Gideon thought of God amT ivith, 300 men turned to flight the arnlies of the aliens. John the Baptist through waiting upon God had strength i sodtthat he could say:to Herod: "It is not lawful." Paul likewise could reach the lreartjs of men because his life was full ■lofoGod. We have thought of Him, and that jthought has made us strong in the Loftlj and in the ..powder of His. mights [ TJheyj that, wait upon the Lord-grow, stymig in faith a.nd.::hope-and charity, : £&?9 n ff ,'n .character in. sympathy, -in seryice;. strong with.a consciousness that , Omnipotence .is -one-of life's great assets.; >„).; VISION. shall'"mount rip." When in a viil'leV a man's outlook is narrow, cramp--1 -edv ; «on fined' to only a .few places. The atmosphere" is dliJl|. cold, damp, sunless. IBut -let 'him climb a mountain, immediately'; the'outlook widens, objects previously obscured come- into view. So it ■isuwiith the man who waits upon God. The! prophet here desired : the people to get jthis vision, and he knew the only way! to bbtain it-was by waiting upon God; We need vision to-day. If we have no vision of God to follow and love, spiritual decay and death will .eventuate. Do. sot the mass of us Jive far below our • God|given privileges?. The, face of Moses shone with a glittering brightness after t he had talked', with God on the mount. So might ours. - ' . Oh let no earth born cloud arise .. To hide. Thee frorn thy servants eyes. We should live more up in the heights; we.' should.' fiml pur- spiritual wings and . soar jnore heavenwards, , : ' PROGRESSION. "Run and not be weary."—Why is it that there are so many drafted Chirstian lives .about'us'? Why so many who ran well for a time, but grew weary and gave up? If you could trace it to its source you would find it was indifference to waiting upon €od. Consecration worthy of the name, is always the outcome of a large view either of man's i need, or of the wise and beneficent plans of God. Robert Raikes, the printer in Gloucester, had a view of the dangers ' besetting the youths of England that led him to found the Sunday School system. It was a view of the spiritual needs of the heathen world that lead Carey to .India, Livingstone to Africa, Taylor to China. No person can make progress in

"They shall walk and not faint."—The element of fatigue, of faintheartedness abounds in our world. But to the individual who waits upon God there is no fainting. He endures, he is what we call "a plodder." The man who is strong physically is not the man who can Tift the heaviest weight or strike the hardest blow, but he who day by-day, year in and year out can endure the strain of hard work and not give up. So in the spiritual realm it holds good. It is not the man who only prays, preaches and sings in a revival, but he who plods on when there is no revival. When the Crusaders left home with wifes and families to rescue the sepulchre of Christ from the infidel, long before the distance was complete, that great multitude impatiently longed for the end of the journey. When the towers of some city gave in view the children cried out eagerly, "Is that Jerusalem," and always there came the same reply, "No, little one, not yet; Jerusalem needs time, strength, endurance to reach. Seas and mountains, labors and perils, hunger and thirst must be encountered. Let us press on." So let us press on towards our Jerusalem. Let there be no flagging. It is criminal weakness to faint. The powj ers of evil never tire. Then why should we whose privileges the engels envy? Let | us endure to the end and thus be saved.