That Thou art more aware than I can be That if I would I could not cloak my sin, I bless Thee there can never come the day Because some dark and unsuspected stain Because Thine holy eyes detect in me I Thank Thee. Thou knewest me at my worst, That, knowing all, Thou didst not turn aside, Died to redeem us from the guilt of sin, I bless Thee for that all-atoning blood, No other flood could wash our garments white, No purchase save the ransom Thou hast given No love save Thine outlive the crushing weight, No heart save Thine could bear the awful pain- And, seeing our iniquities' deep hue, Dost promise yet their power to subdue. Thou knowest, Lord, how much of real prayer, T80 And, when the bitter tears bedew our eyes, I bless Thee, too, that not my guilt alone, Each longing for the noble and the pure, Each battle with the sin that doth beset, Each sigh for hasty words too rashly spoken, Each cry for help Thou hearest, though I bring, The burdened heart that cannot speak its care, And, long before it can divulge its grief, Such knowledge were too wonderful, unless And taught us all the sympathy that lies O Love, surpassing human life as far O Love that knows nor measure, change, nor bound! My heart's desires and wishes, one by one, And though, as yet, I know Thee but in part, Shall see Thee in Thy glory, and shall know The half was never told us here below! Not half of all Thy beauty and Thy grace, Not half of all the tenderness that drew Our wayward hearts, and did our wills renew. The half of all Thy love was never shown; And through eternal ages Thee adore, O Father, Son and Spirit, evermore! Y. E. T. "So the Wall was Finished.” URELY any uninspired historian of Nehemiah's work would have written, "Nevertheless, the wall was finished"-finished in spite of the hindrances so great and so many which had from the very outset attended its building. Had not the patriot-leader of the enterprise, after receiving in Babylon the sad tidings, "The wall of Jerusalem is broken down," spent months in anxiety, watching, and prayer, before he dared to ask his royal master so unlikely a boon as long leave of absence? Then, with the beginning of the wall-building had begun the scorn and mockery of the powerful Sanballat and his companions, changing soon into fierce wrath and violence, so that half the workmen had to stand to arms, while the rest could only build with a sword at their side, and a weapon in one hand while they wrought with the other, and the overseers kept watch day and night. Then, saddest of all, there arose disputings among themselves; next, crafty offers of friendship from their foes. These repulsed, there came threatenings and false accusations, "making us all afraid," says the simple story; followed by the temptation that Nehemiah should deny his God by resort to unlawful, ungodly means of self-protection. Finally, alliance was formed between those on whom he had most relied, and his most bitter foes. "So the wall was finished." Are we not reminded, as by a parable, of another finished work, the greatest ever wrought on earth-the building of that wall whose name is Salvation, and its gates Praise? Truly it was through trials, conflicts, hindrances, feebly typified in the story before us, that He who left the glories of His Father's kingdom for the sake of His oppressed and self-destroyed brethren, passed on to the perfecting of His redeeming work, to His triumphant-" It is finished." And how consistently this principle, " made perfect by suffering," is seen in all work, in us and by us, which is truly of God! "Our light affliction worketh for us (not "shall give way unto") a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Seeming obstacles are in His hand. actual needed instruments for the carrying out of His purposes of love towards us. What He does now we shall know hereafter. Now He moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform:" but surely here on earth we may understand, " in part," this use in His hands of things apparently against us. Does it not strike at the root of that self-reliance natural to every human heart? As we come in contact with hostile forces (whether in the course of our inner spiritual progress, or in active service for God), each one far more powerful than we are, the truth is brought home to us, " By strength shall no man prevail;" and there follows the laying hold of His strength, the blessed experience that "the weakness of God is stronger than men ;" and we learn to echo from our hearts the psalmist's and apostle's words of faith and hope, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God. God is our hope and strength, a very present help in trouble." "When I am weak, then am I strong." And from such hope in God "in trouble" grows that beautiful fruit of the Spirit, called in Scripture," patience of hope," a grace so precious in God's sight as to be spoken of in many passages of His Word as the very end of His children's spiritual education. We are to be "strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience." "Tribulation worketh patience :" "The trying of your faith worketh patience: let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect, wanting nothing." And then again this heavenly virtue is mentioned in Scripture as an essential element in all growth in grace, all acceptable service. His people "bring forth fruit with patience:" are to be "ministers of God in much patience," even as "the husbandman hath much patience" who "waiteth for the precious fruits of the earth." For this Spirit-taught patience is no passive attitude of sluggish resignation, but a waiting on God in that spirit of prayer, expectation, obedience, which enables our God, if we may so speak, to perfect that which concerneth us, by morally fitting us to receive His blessings. "The world cannot understand," writes the holy Fénélon, "that patience is a journey to our true end: it fancies that patience means inaction. A struggle maintained patiently is the greatest of blessings, as seen by faith: nor can we hope for this blessing unless we continually look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." And is not our God greatly glorified before ungodly men, when thus, even by stormy winds and tossing waves, He "bringeth His people to the haven where they would be?" Must not such confess that the Lord which dwelleth on high is mightier than the waves of the sea, however mighty these may be, however horribly they may rage? Even as Nehemiah's bitter assailants". were much cast down in their own eyes," in view of that finished wall: "For they perceived that this work was of God." His strength "made perfect in weakness," that is His glory, and the glory of His people. It shall be fully manifested when the fabric of His Church shall be completed, and He shall bring forth the headstone with shoutings, crying, "Grace, grace unto it." It shall be shown forth in the life-story of every one whose way has been committed unto the Lord; and each separate trial of faith in which the believer has "waited truly," because " only" on his God, shall be followed by a feast of thanks and praise as on the dedication-day of that finished. wall, whose true maker and builder was God. |