“AH! Lord God, behold Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.” (Jer. 32:1717Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: (Jeremiah 32:17).) These great words were sighed out by Jeremiah’s troubled soul in prayer to Jehovah. It is necessary to read the whole of the chapter from which they are taken, properly to enter into the prophet’s prayer and the Lord’s answer to it, but the single verse before us contains in itself deep encouragement for the tried and troubled heart. Dark as present circumstances may be, it is well for the believer, as did Jeremiah, to lay firm hold of God Himself. All was titter gloom to the natural eye, and the promises of God apparently impossible to be fulfilled when Jeremiah uttered the words before us. But he believed God. And God showed His servant who believed His word, His ways. First we have to trust God’s word, and if there be implicit trust in Him, His ways will be made manifest to us.
THE PRIME TEST OF PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY.
THE apostle James skews us that the first great test of practical godliness is tongue-bridling. He who by God’s grace has learned to bridle his tongue is a man who can govern his whole body. If the blows delivered by the tongue were changed into strikings of the fist many would be no longer accepted by their fellows as Christians. But the tongue wounds the soul, and soul-wounds are sorer and deeper than those of the body. Half the heart pains of life are occasioned by that member, which is set on fire of hell.
We may have progressed in knowledge during the last twelve months; have we also learned the first lesson in practical Christianity,—to bridle our tongues?
“HIS MERCY ENDURETH Forever.” (Psa. 136)
Tins sweet refrain to the psalmist’s song of praise is no mere doctrine, but heartfelt experience. It is a good thing to establish our souls in God’s own and everlasting goodness. And this is a fitting verse for us with which to close our pages and our year. As time rolls on, as circumstances change, He changes not, and His mercy endureth forever. Study this 136th Psalm, and note that beginning with what God is Himself, and following on with His creation works, the psalmist rejoices in God’s redemption, deliverance, and restoration of His people.