Tag Archives: song of solomon

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — No Wonder!

Leave a comment

 

Read: Song of Solomon 1:1-4

Bible in a Year: Song of Solomon 1-3; Galatians 2

We love Him because he first loved us. —1 John 4:19

“He’s perfect for you,” my friend told me. She was talking about a guy she had just met. She described his kind eyes, his kind smile, and his kind heart. When I met him I had to agree. Today he’s my husband, and no wonder I love him!

In the Song of Solomon the bride describes her lover. His love is better than wine and more fragrant than ointments. His name is sweeter than anything in this world. So she concludes that it’s no wonder he is loved.

But there is Someone far greater than any earthly loved one, Someone whose love is also better than wine. His love satisfies our every need. His “fragrance” is better than any perfume because when He gave Himself for us, His sacrifice became a sweet-smelling aroma to God (Eph. 5:2). Finally, His name is above every name (Phil. 2:9). No wonder we love Him!

It is a privilege to love Jesus. It is the best experience in life! Do we take the time to tell Him so? Do we express with words the beauty of our Savior? If we show His beauty with our lives, others will say, “No wonder you love Him!” —Keila Ochoa

Lord, You are beautiful! No wonder we love You! Deepen our love for You today, we pray. Help us see Your beauty in new ways.Share this prayer from our Facebook page with your friends: facebook.com/ourdailybread

God’s Word tells us of His love; our words tell Him of our love.

INSIGHT: Although the writer of this book is not identified, the authorship of Song of Solomon—also referred to as Song of Songs—is traditionally attributed to Solomon (he is briefly mentioned in 1:5; 3:9-11; 8:11-12). Solomon wrote 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), and many scholars view “Solomon’s Song of Songs” (Song 1:1) as meaning “the best of songs.” For centuries, beginning around the Middle Ages, many interpreted the Song of Solomon as an allegory of Christ’s love for the church. However, most scholars today see it as an anthology of about 20 poems that describe two lovers celebrating their intimate love for each other. Song of Solomon and the book of Esther are the only two biblical books that never mention God. Sim Kay Tee

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Longing For Christ

Leave a comment

 

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love. Song of Solomon 5:8

Such is the language of the believer panting after present fellowship with Jesus-he is sick for his Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease except when they are in close communion with Christ; for when they are away from Him, they lose their peace. The nearer to Him, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven; the nearer to Him, the fuller the heart is, not only of peace, but of life and vigor and joy, for these all depend on constant fellowship with Jesus. What the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower, such is Jesus Christ to us. What bread is to the hungry, clothing to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveler in a sun-scorched land, such is Jesus Christ to us. And therefore if we are not consciously one with Him, we should not be surprised if our spirit cries in the words of the Song, “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.”

This earnest longing after Jesus has a blessing attending it: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”;1 and therefore, supremely blessed are those who thirst for the Righteous One. Blessed is that hunger, since it comes from God: If I do not experience the blessedness of being filled, I will come again in my emptiness and eagerness until I am filled with Christ. If I do not yet feed on Jesus, I will continue to hunger and thirst after Him. There is a hallowedness about that hunger, since it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord. But the blessing involves a promise. These hungry ones “shall be satisfied” with what they desire. If in this way Christ causes us to long after Him, He will certainly satisfy those longings; and when He does come to us, as come He will, how sweet it will be!

1) Matthew 5:6

The Family Bible Reading Plan

  • 1 Samuel 14
  • Romans 12

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Come Away

Leave a comment

 

Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

Song of Solomon 2:10

I hear the voice of my Beloved! He speaks to me! Fair weather is smiling upon the face of the earth, and He does not want me to be spiritually asleep while nature is all around me awaking from her winter’s rest. He bids me “Arise,” as well He might, for I have been lying long enough among the weeds of worldliness. He is risen, and I am risen in Him; so why should I still cleave to the dust? From lower loves, desires, pursuits, and aspirations, I want to rise to Him.

He calls me by the sweet title “my love” and counts me “beautiful”; this is a good argument for my rising. If He has exalted me and thinks me fair, how can I linger in the tents of wickedness and make my friends in the wrong company? He bids me “Come away”; further and further from everything selfish, groveling, worldly, sinful, He calls me; yes, from the outwardly religious world that doesn’t know Him and has no sympathy with the mystery of godliness. “Come away” has no harsh sound to my ear, and what is there to hold me in this wilderness of vanity and sin?

My Lord, I want desperately to come away, but I am held among the thorns and cannot escape from them as I wish. I would, if it were possible, close my eyes and ears and heart to sin. You call me to Yourself by saying, “Come away,” and this is indeed a melodious call. To come to You is to come home from exile, to reach the shore out of the raging storm, to finally rest after hard labor, to reach the goal of my desires and the summit of my wishes.

But, Lord, how can a stone rise; how can a lump of clay come away from the horrible pit? Please raise me; draw me by Your grace. Send Your Holy Spirit to kindle sacred flames of love in my heart, and I will continue to rise until one day I will leave life and time behind me and come away indeed.

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – The Complete Perfection of His Glory

Leave a comment
 

He is altogether desirable.  Song of Solomon 5:16

 

The superlative beauty of Jesus is all-attracting; it is not so much to be admired as to be loved. He is more than pleasant and fair–He is lovely. Surely the people of God can fully justify the use of this golden word, for He is the object of their warmest love, a love founded on the intrinsic excellence of His person, the complete perfection of His glory.

Look, the disciples of Jesus know the sweetness of his voice and are able to say, “Do not His words cause our hearts to burn within us as He talks with us on the road?” You worshipers of Immanuel, look up to His head of much fine gold, and tell me, are not His thoughts precious unto you? Is not your adoration sweetened with affection as you humbly bow before that face that is as excellent as the cedars of Lebanon? Is there not a beauty in His every feature, and is not His whole person fragrant with such a savor of His goodness that we love Him? Is there one aspect of His being that is not attractive–one facet of His person that is not a blessing to our souls and a strong cord to bind our hearts?

Our love is not as a seal set upon His heart of love alone; it is also fastened upon His arm of power, nor is there a single part of Him upon which it does not fix itself. We worship His whole person with the sweet fragrance of our fervent love. We would imitate His whole life and character. All other beings are incomplete; in Him there is all perfection. Even the best of His favored saints have had blots upon their garments and wrinkles upon their brows; He is nothing but loveliness. All earthly suns have their spots: This fair world has its wilderness; we cannot love the whole of the most lovely thing. But Christ Jesus is gold without alloy, light without darkness, glory without cloud.

Yes, “he is altogether desirable.”

Today’s Bible Reading

The family reading plan for March 9, 2015
* Exodus 20
* Luke 23

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.
Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Heavenly love-sickness!

Leave a comment

CharlesSpurgeon

‘I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him that I am sick of love.’ Song of Solomon 5:8

Suggested Further Reading: Psalm 107:17–22

Certain sicknesses are peculiar to the saints: the ungodly are never visited with them. Strange to say, these sicknesses are signs of vigorous health. Who but the beloved of the Lord ever experience that sin-sickness in which the soul loathes the very name of transgression, is unmoved by the enchantments of the tempter, finds no sweetness in its besetting sins, but turns with detestation and abhorrence from the very thought of iniquity? Not less is it for these, and these alone, to feel that self-sickness whereby the heart revolts from all creature-confidence and strength, having been made sick of self, self-exalting, self-reliance, and self of every sort. The Lord afflicts us more and more with such self-sickness till we are dead to self and its unsanctified desires. Then there is a twofold love-sickness. Of the one kind is that love-sickness which comes upon the Christian when he is transported with the full enjoyment of Jesus, even as the bride, elated by the favour, melted by the tenderness of her Lord, says in the fifth verse of the second chapter of the Song, ‘Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.’ The soul overjoyed with the divine communications of happiness and bliss which came from Christ, the body scarcely able to bear the excessive delirium of delight which the soul possessed, she was so glad to be in the embraces of her Lord, that she needed to be stayed under the overpowering weight of joy. Another kind of love-sickness widely different from the first, is that in which the soul is sick, not because it has too much of Christ’s love, but because it has not enough present consciousness of it; sick, not of the enjoyment, but of the longing for it; sick, not because of excess of delight, but because of sorrow for an absent lover.

For meditation: Do you suffer from spiritual sickness? Christ came to call those who are prepared to admit to him that they are spiritually sick (Mark 2:17). As he said of his physically sick friend Lazarus, ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God’ (John 11:4).

Sermon no. 539

7 November (Preached 8 November 1863)

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Love’s Strength

Leave a comment

Alistair Begg

Love is strong as death.   Song of Solomon 8:6

Whose love can this be that is as mighty as the conqueror of monarchs? Does it belong to the destroyer of the human race? Would it not sound like satire if it were applied to my poor, weak, and scarcely living love to Jesus my Lord? I do love Him, and perhaps by His grace I could even die for Him, but as for my love in itself, it can scarcely endure the scoffer’s jest, much less a cruel death. Surely this is my Beloved’s love that is spoken of here—the love of Jesus, the matchless lover of souls. His love was indeed stronger than the most terrible death, for it endured the trial of the cross triumphantly.

It was a lingering death, but love survived the torment; a shameful death, but love despised the shame; a penal death, but love bore our iniquities; a forsaken, lonely death, from which the eternal Father hid His face, but love endured the curse and triumphed over all. There never was such love, never such a death. It was a desperate duel, but love bore the pain. What then, my heart? Have you no emotions stirred within you at the thought of such heavenly affection? Yes, my Lord, I long, I want to feel Your love flaming like a furnace within me. Come Yourself and excite the love of my spirit.

For every drop of crimson blood

Thus shed to make me live,

O wherefore, wherefore have not I

A thousand lives to give?

Why should I despair of loving Jesus with a love as strong as death? He deserves it: I desire it. The martyrs felt such love, and they were mere men and women, so why not I? They mourned their weakness, and yet out of weakness were made strong. Grace gave them their unflinching constancy—there is the same grace for me. Jesus, lover of my soul, shed abroad this love, even Your love, in my heart tonight.

________________________________________

The family reading plan for October 13, 2014 * Ezekiel 46 * Psalm 102

________________________________________

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – A Paradox

Leave a comment

Alistair Begg

I slept, but my heart was awake.  Song of Solomon 5:2

Paradoxes abound in Christian experience, and here is one: The spouse was asleep, and yet she was awake. The only one who can read the believer’s riddle is he who has lived through this experience. The two points in this evening’s text are: a mournful sleepiness and a hopeful wakefulness. “I slept.” Through sin that dwells in us we may become lax in holy duties, lazy in religious exercises, dull in spiritual joys, and completely indolent and careless.

This is a shameful state for one in whom the quickening Spirit dwells; and it is dangerous in the highest degree. Even wise virgins sometimes slumber, but it is high time for all to shake off the chains of idleness. It is to be feared that many believers lose their strength as Samson lost his hair, while sleeping on the lap of carnal security. With a perishing world around us, to sleep is cruel; with eternity so close at hand, it is madness.

Yet none of us are as awake as we should be; a few thunderclaps would do us all good, and it may be, unless we soon stir ourselves, we will have them in the form of war or disease or personal bereavements and loss. May we leave forever the couch of fleshly ease, and go out with flaming torches to meet the coming Bridegroom! “My heart was awake.”

This is a happy sign. Life is not extinct, though sadly smothered. When our renewed heart struggles against our natural heaviness, we should be grateful to sovereign grace for keeping a little vitality within this body of death. Jesus will hear our hearts, will help our hearts, will visit our hearts; for the voice of the wakeful heart is really the voice of our Beloved, saying, “Open to me.” Holy zeal will surely unlock the door.

Oh lovely attitude! He stands

With melting heart and laden hands;

My soul forsakes her every sin;

And lets the heavenly stranger in.

________________________________________

The family reading plan for September 24, 2014 * Ezekiel 27 * Psalm 75, 76

________________________________________

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon – The Redeemer’s prayer

Leave a comment

 

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:24

Suggested Further Reading: Song of Solomon 5:1-8

When we get a glimpse of Christ, many step in to interfere. We have our hours of contemplation, when we draw near to Jesus, but alas! how the world steps in and interrupts even our most quiet moments—the shop, the field, the child, the wife, the head, perhaps the very heart, all these are interlopers between ourselves and Jesus. Christ loves quiet; he will not talk to our souls in the busy market place, but he says, “Come, my love, into the vineyard, get thee away into the villages, there will I show thee my love.” But when we go to the villages, behold the Philistine is there, the Canaanite has invaded the land. When we would be free from all thought except thought of Jesus, the wandering band of Bedouin thoughts come upon us, and they take away our treasures, and spoil our tents. We are like Abraham with his sacrifice; we lay out the pieces ready for the burning, but foul birds come to feast on the sacrifice which we desire to keep for our God and for him alone. We have to do as Abraham did; “When the birds came down upon the sacrifice, Abraham drove them away.” But in heaven there shall be no interruption, no weeping eyes shall make us for a moment pause in our vision; no earthly joys, no sensual delights, shall create a discord in our melody; there shall we have no fields to till, no garment to spin, no wearied limb, no dark distress, no burning thirst, no pangs of hunger, no weepings of bereavement; we shall have nothing to do or think upon, but for ever to gaze upon that Sun of righteousness, with eyes that cannot be blinded, and with a heart that can never be weary.

For meditation: We are never going to be free from outside distractions and wandering thoughts in this life, but we do need to seek to have some time each day when we can shut them out as far as possible and spend time alone with our heavenly Father (Matthew 6:6).

Sermon no. 188

18 April (1858)

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning “Yea, he is altogether lovely.” / Song of Solomon 5:16

The superlative beauty of Jesus is all-attracting; it is not so much to be admired as to be loved. He is more than pleasant and fair, he is lovely. Surely the people of God can fully justify the use of this golden word, for he is the object of their warmest love, a love founded on the intrinsic excellence of his person, the complete perfection of his charms. Look, O disciples of Jesus, to your Master’s lips, and say, “Are they not most sweet?” Do not his words cause your hearts to burn within you as he talks with you by the way? Ye worshippers of Immanuel, look up to his head of much fine gold, and tell me, are not his thoughts precious unto you? Is not your adoration sweetened with affection as ye humbly bow before that countenance which is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars? Is there not a charm in his every feature, and is not his whole person fragrant with such a savour of his good ointments, that therefore the virgins love him? Is there one member of his glorious body which is not attractive?–one portion of his person which is not a fresh lodestone to our souls?–one office which is not a strong cord to bind your heart? Our love is not as a seal set upon his heart of love alone; it is fastened upon his arm of power also; nor is there a single part of him upon which it does not fix itself. We anoint his whole person with the sweet spikenard of our fervent love. His whole life we would imitate; his whole character we would transcribe. In all other beings we see some lack, in him there is all perfection. The best even of his favoured saints have had blots upon their garments and wrinkles upon their brows; he is nothing but loveliness. All earthly suns have their spots: the fair world itself hath its wilderness; we cannot love the whole of the most lovely thing; but Christ Jesus is gold without alloy-light without darkness–glory without cloud–“Yea, he is altogether lovely.”

 

Evening “Abide in me.” / John 15:4

Communion with Christ is a certain cure for every ill. Whether it be the wormwood of woe, or the cloying surfeit of earthly delight, close fellowship with the Lord Jesus will take bitterness from the one, and satiety from the other. Live near to Jesus, Christian, and it is a matter of secondary importance whether thou livest on the mountain of honour or in the valley of humiliation. Living near to Jesus, thou art covered with the wings of God, and underneath thee are the everlasting arms. Let nothing keep thee from that hallowed intercourse, which is the choice privilege of a soul wedded to the well-beloved. Be not content with an interview now and then, but seek always to retain his company, for only in his presence hast thou either comfort or safety. Jesus should not be unto us a friend who calls upon us now and then, but one with whom we walk evermore. Thou hast a difficult road before thee: see, O traveller to heaven, that thou go not without thy guide. Thou hast to pass through the fiery furnace; enter it not unless, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, thou hast the Son of God to be thy companion. Thou hast to storm the Jericho of thine own corruptions: attempt not the warfare until, like Joshua, thou hast seen the Captain of the Lord’s host, with his sword drawn in his hand. Thou art to meet the Esau of thy many temptations: meet him not until at Jabbok’s brook thou hast laid hold upon the angel, and prevailed. In every case, in every condition, thou wilt need Jesus; but most of all, when the iron gates of death shall open to thee. Keep thou close to thy soul’s Husband, lean thy head upon his bosom, ask to be refreshed with the spiced wine of his pomegranate, and thou shalt be found of him at the last, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Seeing thou hast lived with him, and lived in him here, thou shalt abide with him forever.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

Morning “I sought him, but I found him not.” / Song of Solomon 3:1
Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell you the most
likely place to find him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by restraining
prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find him. Did you lose Christ by
sin? You will find Christ in no other way but by the giving up of the sin, and
seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in which the lust doth dwell.
Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? You must find Christ in the
Scriptures. It is a true proverb, “Look for a thing where you dropped it, it
is there.” So look for Christ where you lost him, for he has not gone away.
But it is hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan tells us, the pilgrim found
the piece of the road back to the Arbour of Ease, where he lost his roll, the
hardest he had ever travelled. Twenty miles onward is easier than to go one
mile back for the lost evidence.

Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close to him. But how is
it you have lost him? One would have thought you would never have parted with
such a precious friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so
comforting, and whose company is so dear to you! How is it that you did not
watch him every moment for fear of losing sight of him? Yet, since you have
let him go, what a mercy that you are seeking him, even though you mournfully
groan, “O that I knew where I might find him!” Go on seeking, for it is
dangerous to be without thy Lord. Without Christ you are like a sheep without
its shepherd; like a tree without water at its roots; like a sere leaf in the
tempest–not bound to the tree of life. With thine whole heart seek him, and
he will be found of thee: only give thyself thoroughly up to the search, and
verily, thou shalt yet discover him to thy joy and gladness.

Evening “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures.” / Luke 24:45

He whom we viewed last evening as opening Scripture, we here perceive opening
the understanding. In the first work he has many fellow-labourers, but in the
second he stands alone; many can bring the Scriptures to the mind, but the
Lord alone can prepare the mind to receive the Scriptures. Our Lord Jesus
differs from all other teachers; they reach the ear, but he instructs the
heart; they deal with the outward letter, but he imparts an inward taste for
the truth, by which we perceive its savour and spirit. The most unlearned of
men become ripe scholars in the school of grace when the Lord Jesus by his
Holy Spirit unfolds the mysteries of the kingdom to them, and grants the
divine anointing by which they are enabled to behold the invisible. Happy are
we if we have had our understandings cleared and strengthened by the Master!
How many men of profound learning are ignorant of eternal things! They know
the killing letter of revelation, but its killing spirit they cannot discern;
they have a veil upon their hearts which the eyes of carnal reason cannot
penetrate. Such was our case a little time ago; we who now see were once
utterly blind; truth was to us as beauty in the dark, a thing unnoticed and
neglected. Had it not been for the love of Jesus we should have remained to
this moment in utter ignorance, for without his gracious opening of our
understanding, we could no more have attained to spiritual knowledge than an
infant can climb the Pyramids, or an ostrich fly up to the stars. Jesus’
College is the only one in which God’s truth can be really learned; other
schools may teach us what is to be believed, but Christ’s alone can show us
how to believe it. Let us sit at the feet of Jesus, and by earnest prayer call
in his blessed aid that our dull wits may grow brighter, and our feeble
understandings may receive heavenly things.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

CharlesSpurgeon

Morning  “Thou art all fair, my love.” / Song of Solomon 4:7

The Lord’s admiration of his Church is very wonderful, and his description of

her beauty is very glowing. She is not merely fair, but “all fair.” He views

her in himself, washed in his sin-atoning blood and clothed in his meritorious

righteousness, and he considers her to be full of comeliness and beauty. No

wonder that such is the case, since it is but his own perfect excellency that

he admires; for the holiness, glory, and perfection of his Church are his own

glorious garments on the back of his own well-beloved spouse. She is not

simply pure, or well-proportioned; she is positively lovely and fair! She has

actual merit! Her deformities of sin are removed; but more, she has through

her Lord obtained a meritorious righteousness by which an actual beauty is

conferred upon her. Believers have a positive righteousness given to them when

they become “accepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1:6). Nor is the Church barely

lovely, she is superlatively so. Her Lord styles her “Thou fairest among

women.” She has a real worth and excellence which cannot be rivalled by all

the nobility and royalty of the world. If Jesus could exchange his elect bride

for all the queens and empresses of earth, or even for the angels in heaven,

he would not, for he puts her first and foremost–“fairest among women.” Like

the moon she far outshines the stars. Nor is this an opinion which he is

ashamed of, for he invites all men to hear it. He sets a “behold” before it, a

special note of exclamation, inviting and arresting attention. “Behold, thou

art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair” (Song of Sol. 4:1). His opinion he

publishes abroad even now, and one day from the throne of his glory he will

avow the truth of it before the assembled universe. “Come, ye blessed of my

Father” (Matt. 25:34), will be his solemn affirmation of the loveliness of his

elect.

 

Evening  “Behold, all is vanity.” / Ecclesiastes 1:14

Nothing can satisfy the entire man but the Lord’s love and the Lord’s own

self. Saints have tried to anchor in other roadsteads, but they have been

driven out of such fatal refuges. Solomon, the wisest of men, was permitted to

make experiments for us all, and to do for us what we must not dare to do for

ourselves. Here is his testimony in his own words: “So I was great, and

increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom

remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I

withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour:

and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that

my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and,

behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under

the sun.” “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What! the whole of it vanity? O

favoured monarch, is there nothing in all thy wealth? Nothing in that wide

dominion reaching from the river even to the sea? Nothing in Palmyra’s

glorious palaces? Nothing in the house of the forest of Lebanon? In all thy

music and dancing, and wine and luxury, is there nothing? “Nothing,” he says,

“but weariness of spirit.” This was his verdict when he had trodden the whole

round of pleasure. To embrace our Lord Jesus, to dwell in his love, and be

fully assured of union with him–this is all in all. Dear reader, you need not

try other forms of life in order to see whether they are better than the

Christian’s: if you roam the world around, you will see no sights like a sight

of the Saviour’s face; if you could have all the comforts of life, if you lost

your Saviour, you would be wretched; but if you win Christ, then should you

rot in a dungeon, you would find it a paradise; should you live in obscurity,

or die with famine, you will yet be satisfied with favour and full of the

goodness of the Lord.