Morning   “Can the rush grow up without mire?” / Job 8:11

The rush is spongy and hollow, and even so is a hypocrite; there is no

substance or stability in him. It is shaken to and fro in every wind just as

formalists yield to every influence; for this reason the rush is not broken by

the tempest, neither are hypocrites troubled with persecution. I would not

willingly be a deceiver or be deceived; perhaps the text for this day may help

me to try myself whether I be a hypocrite or no. The rush by nature lives in

water, and owes its very existence to the mire and moisture wherein it has

taken root; let the mire become dry, and the rush withers very quickly. Its

greenness is absolutely dependent upon circumstances, a present abundance of

water makes it flourish, and a drought destroys it at once. Is this my case?

Do I only serve God when I am in good company, or when religion is profitable

and respectable? Do I love the Lord only when temporal comforts are received

from his hands? If so I am a base hypocrite, and like the withering rush, I

shall perish when death deprives me of outward joys. But can I honestly assert

that when bodily comforts have been few, and my surroundings have been rather

adverse to grace than at all helpful to it, I have still held fast my

integrity? Then have I hope that there is genuine vital godliness in me. The

rush cannot grow without mire, but plants of the Lord’s right hand planting

can and do flourish even in the year of drought. A godly man often grows best

when his worldly circumstances decay. He who follows Christ for his bag is a

Judas; they who follow for loaves and fishes are children of the devil; but

they who attend him out of love to himself are his own beloved ones. Lord, let

me find my life in thee, and not in the mire of this world’s favour or gain.

 

Evening   “And the Lord shall guide thee continually.” / Isaiah 58:11

“The Lord shall guide thee.” Not an angel, but Jehovah shall guide thee. He

said he would not go through the wilderness before his people, an angel should

go before them to lead them in the way; but Moses said, “If thy presence go

not with me, carry us not up hence.” Christian, God has not left you in your

earthly pilgrimage to an angel’s guidance: he himself leads the van. You may

not see the cloudy, fiery pillar, but Jehovah will never forsake you. Notice

the word shall–“The Lord shall guide thee.” How certain this makes it! How

sure it is that God will not forsake us! His precious “shalls” and “wills” are

better than men’s oaths. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Then

observe the adverb continually. We are not merely to be guided sometimes, but

we are to have a perpetual monitor; not occasionally to be left to our own

understanding, and so to wander, but we are continually to hear the guiding

voice of the Great Shepherd; and if we follow close at his heels, we shall not

err, but be led by a right way to a city to dwell in. If you have to change

your position in life; if you have to emigrate to distant shores; if it should

happen that you are cast into poverty, or uplifted suddenly into a more

responsible position than the one you now occupy; if you are thrown among

strangers, or cast among foes, yet tremble not, for “the Lord shall guide thee

continually.” There are no dilemmas out of which you shall not be delivered if

you live near to God, and your heart be kept warm with holy love. He goes not

amiss who goes in the company of God. Like Enoch, walk with God, and you

cannot mistake your road. You have infallible wisdom to direct you, immutable

love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you. “Jehovah”–mark the

word–“Jehovah shall guide thee continually.”