My glory was fresh in me. Job 29:20
OB 29:20{Who does not know the longing for freshness? Fresh air, fresh water, fresh flowers, the freshness of children, and of some people's conversation and writings—all illustrate or lead up to that spiritual freshness which is both pleasure and power. For it was when Job's glory was fresh in him, that his bow was renewed in his hand. Freshness and glory! and yet the brilliant music of such words is brought down to a minor strain by one little touch—it "was," not it "is"; a melancholy past instead of a bright present. Now, instead of saddening ourselves unnecessarily by sighing, "Ah, yes! that is always the way," let us see how we may personally prove that it is not always the way, and that Job's confessedly exceptional experience need not, and ought not, to be ours.
If our glory is to be fresh in us, it all depends upon what the glory in us is. If it is any sort of our own—anything connected with that which decayeth and waxeth old in us or passeth away around us—of course, it cannot be always fresh, any more than the freshness of dawn or of springtime can last. Neither material nor mental states can retain their exquisite and subtle charm, and spiritual states are no better off; "frames and feelings" have an inherent tendency to subside into flatness, dullness, staleness, or whatever else expresses the want of freshness. There is only one unfailing source of unfailing freshness—Christ Himself. "Thou hast the dew of Thy youth"—the only dew that never dries up through any heat or dust. "Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Thy reign shall still increase!
I claim Thy word,
Let righteousness and peace
And joy in the Holy Ghost be found,
And more and more abound
In me, through Thee, O Christ my Lord;
Take unto Thee Thy power, who art
My Sovereign, many crowned!
Stablish Thy kingdom in my heart.