Morning    “Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.” / Ruth 1:14

Both of them had an affection for Naomi, and therefore set out with her upon

her return to the land of Judah. But the hour of test came; Naomi most

unselfishly set before each of them the trials which awaited them, and bade

them if they cared for ease and comfort to return to their Moabitish friends.

At first both of them declared that they would cast in their lot with the

Lord’s people; but upon still further consideration Orpah with much grief and

a respectful kiss left her mother in law, and her people, and her God, and

went back to her idolatrous friends, while Ruth with all her heart gave

herself up to the God of her mother in law. It is one thing to love the ways

of the Lord when all is fair, and quite another to cleave to them under all

discouragements and difficulties. The kiss of outward profession is very cheap

and easy, but the practical cleaving to the Lord, which must show itself in

holy decision for truth and holiness, is not so small a matter. How stands the

case with us, is our heart fixed upon Jesus, is the sacrifice bound with cords

to the horns of the altar? Have we counted the cost, and are we solemnly ready

to suffer all worldly loss for the Master’s sake? The after gain will be an

abundant recompense, for Egypt’s treasures are not to be compared with the

glory to be revealed. Orpah is heard of no more; in glorious ease and

idolatrous pleasure her life melts into the gloom of death; but Ruth lives in

history and in heaven, for grace has placed her in the noble line whence

sprung the King of kings. Blessed among women shall those be who for Christ’s

sake can renounce all; but forgotten and worse than forgotten shall those be

who in the hour of temptation do violence to conscience and turn back unto the

world. O that this morning we may not be content with the form of devotion,

which may be no better than Orpah’s kiss, but may the Holy Spirit work in us a

cleaving of our whole heart to our Lord Jesus.

 

Evening   “And lay thy foundations with sapphires.” / Isaiah 54:11

Not only that which is seen of the church of God, but that which is unseen, is

fair and precious. Foundations are out of sight, and so long as they are firm

it is not expected that they should be valuable; but in Jehovah’s work

everything is of a piece, nothing slurred, nothing mean. The deep foundations

of the work of grace are as sapphires for preciousness, no human mind is able

to measure their glory. We build upon the covenant of grace, which is firmer

than adamant, and as enduring as jewels upon which age spends itself in vain.

Sapphire foundations are eternal, and the covenant abides throughout the

lifetime of the Almighty. Another foundation is the person of the Lord Jesus,

which is clear and spotless, everlasting and beautiful as the sapphire;

blending in one the deep blue of earth’s ever rolling ocean and the azure of

its all embracing sky. Once might our Lord have been likened to the ruby as he

stood covered with his own blood, but now we see him radiant with the soft

blue of love, love abounding, deep, eternal. Our eternal hopes are built upon

the justice and the faithfulness of God, which are clear and cloudless as the

sapphire. We are not saved by a compromise, by mercy defeating justice, or law

suspending its operations; no, we defy the eagle’s eye to detect a flaw in the

groundwork of our confidence–our foundation is of sapphire, and will endure

the fire.

The Lord himself has laid the foundation of his people’s hopes. It is matter

for grave enquiry whether our hopes are built upon such a basis. Good works

and ceremonies are not a foundation of sapphires, but of wood, hay, and

stubble; neither are they laid by God, but by our own conceit. Foundations

will all be tried ere long: woe unto him whose lofty tower shall come down

with a crash, because based on a quicksand. He who is built on sapphires may

await storm or fire with equanimity, for he shall abide the test.