St- 
 
LIFE AND SERVICE SERIES 
 Short elective courses 
 
 STUDIES IN THE PARABLES OF JESUS 
 Thirteen lessons. By Halford E. Luccock. 
 
 POVERTY AND WEALTH 
 Thirteen lessons. By Harry F. Ward. 
 
 THE LIQUOR PROBLEM 
 Thirteen lessons. By Norman E. Richardson. 
 
 INTERNATIONAL PEACE 
 Thirteen lessons. By Norman E. Richardson. 
 
 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 By Ralph Welles Keeler. 
 
LIFE AND SERVICE SERIES 92 
 
 Edited by V^ 
 
 Henry H. Meyer and David G. Downey ^>v5(^i0filCiL %\S^ 
 
 HEART MESSAGES 
 FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 By 
 RALPH WELLES KEELER 
 
 With an Introduction by 
 ROBERT W. ROGERS 
 
 THE ABINGDON PRESS 
 NEW YORK CINCINNATI 
 
Copyright, 1919, by 
 RALPH WELLES KEELER 
 
 Firrt Edition Printed February, 1919 
 Reprinted July, 1920 
 
 The Bible text in this volume is taken from the American Standard Edition 
 of the Revised Bible, copyright, 1901, by Thomaa Nelson A Sons, and is uaed by 
 permieflion. 
 
To 
 Eleanor Elizabeth Keeler 
 
 AND 
 
 Ralph Welles Keeler, Jr. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CBAPTBE ,ACE 
 
 Introduction 9 
 
 Author's Preface 11 
 
 Bibliography 13 
 
 I. The Delights of the Righteous 15 
 
 II. The Inspiration to Reverence 26 
 
 III. A Sense of God's Bountiful Care 35 
 
 IV. Courage 45 
 
 V. The Pathos of Life 54 
 
 VI. Comfort in Sorrow 62 
 
 VII. God our Refuge 72 
 
 VIII. Sorrow for Sin 81 
 
 IX. The Joys of the Sanctuary 89 
 
 X. Trust in God 99 
 
 XI. Adoration and Praise 109 
 
 XII. Gratitude and Thanksgiving 119 
 
 XIII. Hope 129 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 It was one of the fine sayings of the mystic Arndt that 
 "what the heart is in man, that is the Psalter in the Bible/' 
 and he who sought for every encouragement of the inner 
 life of God's kingdom among men went not astray in seek- 
 ing in the incomparable book a rich treasure. What Arndt 
 sought and found in the sixteenth century shone no less 
 clearly in the centuries that have since passed, as succeeding 
 generations opened the treasure and garnered each for him- 
 self out of the store that never grew less. But every gen- 
 eration must seek anew; naught that others have garnered 
 avails to satisfy the renewing needs of men. So it happens 
 that a new heart and hand and a fresh and vigorous mind 
 have gone a-searching, and lo, dear Reader, here's the treas- 
 ure trove set out fair and beautiful for you. Take it and 
 be wise; own it as your own and be happy. But before 
 you read would you hear another's witness? Here it is, 
 for I have read and am the wiser, have possessed as though 
 never before the secret of the Book of Psalms and am 
 happy. For I have read in this little book many a wise 
 saying in modern words, full of life, fresh, real, true and 
 good, and you shall read them now. I congratulate you on 
 this opportunity, and count my friend, the author, very 
 happy indeed so to serve this present age. 
 
 Robert W. Rogers. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 To many the Psalms are merely songs of yesterday. Some 
 of them have been memorized in childhood; others have 
 been read in the responsive service at the hour of worship. 
 One or two have become imbedded in the literature of suc- 
 ceeding generations. But to the masses of people the 
 Psalms seem not to have spoken in strong, convincing terms 
 of the great emotions of life to-day. 
 
 The Psalms have not been at fault. Folks have not 
 communed with them as they are wont to do with later 
 poets. Accustomed to the poetical forms of the last three 
 hundred years, men have often failed to catch the appeal of 
 these lays of antiquity, sung by Hebrews long since dead. 
 
 Yet in the upheaval of thought and social structure now 
 going on men are turning in every direction for some mes- 
 sage for life. Where better seek it than in the great songs 
 of Israel? In an hour like ours it may be that fellowship 
 can be established between those who have lived and have 
 sung of God, and ourselves who need him so sorely. 
 
 The message of the poet knows neither time, place, nor 
 age. It is marked by a universal characteristic which sets 
 vibrating heart-chords the world over. Translate it from 
 language to language, and it finds a response, if it really 
 is poetry and not merely verse. For poetry sings of the 
 universal experiences of the race, its griefs and joys, its 
 disappointments and aspirations, its loves, its hates, its 
 hopes. It is a soul singing itself out into other souls. 
 
 The psalmists were poets. So well did they sing that we 
 listen back through the ages, that we may not lose a note. 
 They did not write in rime, but with vigorous terseness 
 and a remarkable power of condensation they put their 
 poetry into rhythm with a balanced symmetry of form and 
 sense. Poetasters and the erudite rejoice in the details of 
 form and structure of these songs of Israel. 
 
 Our quest, however, is for a message. As we have the 
 
 11 
 
12 AUTHOR'S PEEFACE 
 
 Psalms they fall into three groups : personal, national, and 
 liturgical. It is the personal psalms that are studied in 
 these lessons. No matter how deeply we are concerned in 
 the broader aspects of life, our viewpoints and attitudes are 
 based on a personal philosophy. The psalmist speaks to us 
 out of his personal experience, and our own experience re- 
 sponds. With a mood like his we can think in our own way 
 to the use of his conclusions in our own life. And his 
 conclusions have value for us. They rest upon the founda- 
 tion of faith in God, upon which our own civilization and 
 spiritual relationships are also based. 
 
 The aim of these lessons is to make the Psalms live in 
 personal experience to-day. While a careful and accurate 
 exposition is given of each psalm the stereotyped method 
 of presenting it has been avoided. The significance of the 
 psalm both in the life of the psalmist and in the life of 
 the psalmist's people is explained. Emphasis is placed 
 upon the universal character of the experience or emotion 
 prompting the writing of the psalm and the value of its 
 message as a part of our thinking. And finally, the prac- 
 tical stimulus of a study of this kind is shown in con- 
 crete application to daily living. Live, pointed questions 
 for discussion help to enforce this. 
 
 Heart Messages from the Psalms was first taught to the 
 Men's Bible Class of the Pleasant Ridge Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, of which the author was 
 privileged to be the teacher for several months. Many 
 helpful criticisms and practical suggestions were received 
 during the process. The writer acknowledges his gratitude 
 for the cooperation by the men of this class which made 
 possible the "trying out" of these lessons before putting 
 them into their final form. 
 
 The author would also acknowledge with great apprecia- 
 tion the scholarly and critical help of Ellen Coughlin 
 Keeler, in the writing of these Heart Messages from the 
 Psalms. 
 
 Kalph Welles EIeeler. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 It will be a great help to any student of the Psalms to read 
 them in an edition of the Bible in which they are printed as 
 poetry and with regard to their form. An exceedingly handy 
 and helpful edition of the Psalms is The Psalms and Lamenta- 
 tions, edited by Richard G. Moulton (The Modern Readers 
 Bible), in two volumes. An illuminating Introduction to the 
 Psalms is printed in the first volume. 
 
 Of the smaller commentaries The Psalms (in two small 
 volumes) in The New Century Bible, and The Psalms (in 
 three small volumes) in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and 
 Colleges, are among the best. The former are by Professor 
 Davison and Professor T. Witton Davies, the latter by Dr. A. 
 F. Kirkpatrick. 
 
 Those having The Worker and His Bible, by F. C. Eiselen 
 and Wade Crawford Barclay, will find in it a section on the 
 Psalms which is of great value. 
 
 13 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE DELIGHTS OF THE RIGHTEOUS 
 
 additional readings, psalus 15 and 101 
 
 The First Psalm 
 
 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the 
 
 wicked, 
 Nor standeth in the way of sinners, 
 Nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers: 
 But his delight is in the law of Jehovah; 
 And on his law doth he meditate day and night. 
 And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water. 
 That bringeth forth its fruit in its season. 
 Whose leaf also doth not wither; 
 And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 
 The wicked are not so. 
 
 But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 
 Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, 
 Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 
 For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous; 
 But the way of the wicked shall perish." 
 
 Making Distinctions 
 
 The Modern Way. Most folks to-day would find this 
 psalm both quaint and old-fashioned were the poet to pre- 
 sent it in the morning paper of our hustling cities. The 
 hurrying rush of present-day business life would have it 
 paraphrased. Many would wish to repeat it thus : 
 
 "Blessed is the man who 'gets there' by any possible means, 
 That walketh in the counsel of 'big interests,' 
 That standeth in the way of political and financial advance- 
 ment. 
 That sitteth on the board of directors, 
 That looketh on his fellows with scorn and contempt. 
 That thinketh that he alone knoweth the secrets of life. 
 That pusheth and shoveth until he standeth alone, 
 That maketh his ethics to fit his expediency, 
 
 15 
 
16 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 That delighteth to grind his fellows with his little power. 
 That counteth on God as a need in time of death, 
 That rejoiceth that he is able to do the whole task of life 
 regardless of man and God." 
 
 Yet, tested by the experiences of the centuries, the psalmist 
 was right. The modern rendering saps the real joy out of 
 ^life. No one lives continuously in the spotlight of self- 
 satisfaction. There come hours when a deeper happiness 
 is demanded than the joy of achievement or the idle hour 
 of venting one's cynicism on the world. The psalmist had 
 Hhe right idea. His was an abiding happiness, which added 
 value to every commonplace experience in life. An old fogy, 
 perhaps, to the rising generation, but a man possessed of 
 a contented mind. And this not of the stagnant variety. 
 He was alive. He knew the sorrow and sin of life. He had 
 met the man who throws a wet blanket over every human 
 joy. The "knockers'^ had had their fling at him as they 
 sat swapping nothings at the city gate. He had not written 
 finis to the book of a man's activities. Eather, he had 
 gained a poise which stood by him despite the hard things 
 in life. So he wrote his psalm as a man who has looked 
 at the world and chosen its best. 
 > Making Distinctions. Good and evil never travel well 
 together. The distinction between them is too great. As 
 man has developed and life has increased in its complexity 
 this has become more apparent. Every age has had its men 
 •% of vision who have urged that "the wages of sin is death.'' 
 The advocates of the negative value of right living have 
 been in the majority. The positive doctrine that righteous- 
 ness is the pathway to fuller life is the burden of the 
 psalmist's song. There is an accrued value in doing the 
 will of God. He does not ignore the avoidance of evil. 
 Far from it. But light and life, darkness and death are 
 weighed on the opposite sides of the scales. He calls sin 
 by its first name. He places satisfaction in right living on 
 the plane of usefulness to society. There are two ways of 
 life, and as he points them out they are aflame with the 
 marks of a man's own experience. 
 
 Negative Righteousness. The negative side of the psalm- 
 ist's righteousness is seen in those things which he pur- 
 
THE DELIGHTS OF THE RIGHTEOUS 17 
 
 posely avoids. There are some experiences in which he will 
 not participate. Are the centers of his thought-life to be 
 dominated by the thoughts and ideas of evil men? They 
 talk of lust, and oppressions of the poor, of opportunity for 
 quick gain. To share in the thinking of such men would 
 make him less sensitive to any allurement that might lurk 
 in their suggestions. Will he have any part in the habits 
 of those who habitually stray from the path of right? To^ 
 know the right and yet participate in evil is folly. And 
 what about those self-sufficient men who scorn the help of 
 God, who with their defiant and cynical free thinking are 
 immune to argument or reproof ? Will he be found among 
 them? Not he. Why let go a heritage of happiness be- 
 cause other men have it not? With friend and foe among 
 those who make the right choice difficult, he writes his own 
 answer in the words : 
 
 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the 
 
 wicked, 
 Nor standeth in the way of sinners, 
 Nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers." 
 
 He knows their jeers. But he knows God also. He stands 
 on a principle. Those who think and do evil, those who 
 hurl their shafts of ridicule against things good, shall not 
 be his companions. One feels like cheering for the ancient 
 singer ! 
 
 Positive Righteousness, Negative goodness of itself is* 
 not sufficient for virile souls. The great adventure of posi- 
 tive righteousness calls to a thorough trying-out of the 
 constructive possibilities of a good life. Men yearn for a 
 chance to smash evil, not merely to avoid it. The "Thou* 
 shalt not" cries out for a companion motive of "Thou 
 shalt." Thus it was in the experience of the psalmist. And 
 is it not so with us as well? Does the mere avoidance of 
 evil, excellent as that is, satisfy our longings? Shall we 
 keep ourselves clean the while a multitude are ruined by 
 petty sins and outright violence? Are we not responsible 
 for the brothel, the murders, the sins of those whom we 
 avoid ? Shall we be satisfied with talking about the evils of 
 our community, and never wipe them out? Is there not a 
 
18 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 desire to do something for the kingdom of God as well as 
 share in its blessings? The demands of our growth in 
 fellowship with God require this even if our own yearning 
 did not crave for it. The psalmist is one with us when he 
 steps beyond the choosing of the folks with whom he will 
 associate and sets a standard of action for himself. He 
 asks for the full knowledge of God ; then he goes about the 
 task of securing that knowledge. What a giant for clean- 
 ing up a city such a man could be ! Why do we stop with 
 our own satisfaction in God ? 
 
 Some Setbacks to Folly 
 
 The Value of Meditation on God's Word. There is 
 more than one way of using God's Word. How do we use 
 it ? Do we read it hastily to grasp just its trend ? Do we 
 study it for the purpose of using its messages for argument, 
 and debate, for quoting in prayer meeting, or do we con 
 it over and over as a personal revelation of life? It was 
 this turning over of each word and phrase to which the 
 psalmist's hours of meditation were given. All divine 
 revelation became to him a guide to life. Every righteous 
 precept that was available became a part of his thinking. 
 He stored his mind with the treasures of spiritual joy. 
 He sought to know God's will for him by thinking through 
 his own life in the light of his meditations on the law of 
 God. He did not want to know the law in order to tell 
 others how bad they were. He delighted in God. He re- 
 joiced in God's Word. Of course he did not have all of 
 it that we have, but he reveled in what he had. He tried 
 it out in his relations with others. He grew enthusiastic 
 over it. His plan of life became a safeguard against 
 the lures of the ungodly, the sinners, and the scoffers. 
 Duty became easier because the plan of the psalmist's life 
 was centered in the will of God for him. What a rebuke 
 is this to us ! 
 
 The Testimony of Life. The measures of this song roll 
 
 out with the assurance of a man who "knows." The singer 
 
 ^has seen the palm tree growing by the river or fed by the 
 
 channels used to irrigate the parched soil. He has noted 
 
THE DELIGHTS OF THE EIGHTEOUS 19 
 
 its evergreen foliage and has had pleasure in its fruit. Its 
 sturdiness has appealed to him, and its constant develop- 
 ment to the fullness for which it was intended grips his 
 imagination. ''Just so," he cries, "is the righteous man^ 
 Fed by the streams of God, he develops as God intended 
 that he should develop, just as surely as do the foliage and 
 fruit of the water-nourished palm. The righteous man 
 may well be happy, for he carries through to a successful 
 end the destiny appointed to him by his Creator.^' "Elimi- 
 nate the handicap of trying to carry a smug face and a soul 
 of hell,'' he would say. "Clean house, if you would live 
 right, and refurnish entirely after the cleaning." Do 
 meditation and experience summon us to a testing of this 
 truth for ourselves ? 
 
 Raising Chaff. "Light-weight" men and women always^ 
 abound. Less than the breeze on a thresher's floor blows 
 them away. Only that which is of value is ever preserved 
 permanently. Useless things and useless folks ultimately 
 go to the scrap heap. "Chaff" souls are fanned out in 
 garnering the grain of the Kingdom. And that process is 
 at work where exorbitant charges are made as well as where* 
 souls are sold for a mess of pottage, as well where "our 
 best citizens" pay wages below a living scale as where 
 drunkards and murderers gather. Only the righteous in- 
 herit the kingdom of God. And while the chaff and straw 
 may sway in the breeze and glisten in the sunlight before 
 the day of harvest, their glory ends then. The husband- 
 man builds barns only for the grain with its life-giving 
 power. The chaff and straw are blown away or left to 
 deteriorate in the field. A chaff soul can have nothing but 
 the destiny of a chaff soul. 
 
 "For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous; 
 But the way of the wicked shall perish." 
 
 God does not mince matters when it comes to giving a 
 man his real name. 
 
 The Day of Appraisal. 'No sane man would argue with 
 the psalmist. As a man thinks and lives, so is he and so 
 shall he be. A righteous man will inherit a righteous man's 
 heritage and receive a righteous man's reward, This sounds 
 
20 HEART MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 scriptural. It is. It is from the pages of human experi- 
 ence. It does not matter what experiences a man meets 
 in life, but it does matter how he meets them. God justifies 
 •his own righteousness in the way in which righteous men 
 develop and magnify his name by their daily living. Hence 
 the righteous are daily setting their own appraisal on their 
 lives. This appraisal God confirms to them in the con- 
 tentment and happiness which they enjoy. But for the 
 wicked there is no joy, either present or future. The ways 
 in which men deceive themselves in the matter of happiness 
 are apparent even to themselves. Outwardly there may be 
 a simulation of peace and joy, but within is a riot of un- 
 rest and an awaiting for they know not what. It all savors 
 <)f "the morning after.'' They have chosen a path which 
 leads below the levels of spiritual satisfaction. In moments 
 of honest thought they realize, as did the psalmist, that 
 
 "Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous; 
 But the way of the wicked shall perish." 
 
 The End of the Trail, The end of every trail is decided 
 in part by its beginning. A life lived under the watchful 
 care of God becomes a way of joy and peace, and its jour- 
 ney ends in a life eternal. God's knowledge is not theo- 
 retical. He knows. And the journey of a righteous man 
 involves God's approval, care, and guidance. It leads to 
 God himself. God takes care that the traveler arrives at 
 the journey's end. To the latter it has all the assurance 
 expressed in Bryant's "Lines to a Waterfowl." When 
 watching it wing its way across the heavens, he cried out : 
 
 "He who from zone to zone 
 
 Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
 In the long way that I must tread alone 
 Will lead my steps aright." 
 
 God also knows the manner of life of the wicked and its 
 rebellion in ignoring the unalterable laws of his govern- 
 ment. And by those same laws he knows that the way of 
 the wicked can lead only to destruction, that the end of 
 the trail for such is spiritual death. James Russell Lowell 
 has voiced this experience ; 
 
THE DELIGHTS OF THE RIGHTEOUS 21 
 
 "O glorious Youth that once wast mine! 
 
 O high Ideal! all in vain 
 Ye enter at this ruined shrine 
 
 Whence worship ne'er shall rise again; 
 The bat and owl inhabit here, 
 
 The snake nests in the altar-stone. 
 The sacred vessels moulder near, 
 
 The image of the God is gone." 
 
 God's Providence. The confidence in God's providential 
 care expressed by the psalmist has back of it the trust of 
 the faithful worshiper of God of his day. Men then be- 
 lieved that all misfortune, trouble, and sorrow were direct 
 punishments for particular sins. It took firm conviction 
 and strong courage, therefore, to believe that "righteous- 
 ness pays," when to the righteous as well as to the wicked 
 came alike the ordinary experiences of life. Sickness, mis- 
 fortune, hardship, death — these were the common lot of 
 both good and bad. Would it not be an easy matter to join 
 with those whose doctrine was to "eat, drink, and be 
 merry,'' to seek justification for fellowship with those who 
 from the Jews' standard of righteousness were sinners, men 
 who had missed the mark or gone astray ? In the next step 
 one would become a scoffer at the religion of Jehovah. It 
 is the method used to-day to conceal personal sin. 
 
 But the psalmist thought more deeply than many of his r 
 contemporaries. His thinking led to the conclusion that 
 the providence of God is not an arbitrary matter, governed 
 by whim and notion. He saw back of it all the great laws 
 of God's character. He realized that manifested providence 
 is God's stamp on what life has brought forth for judg- 
 ment. He noted the transitory nature of any advantage 
 that the wicked might have over him. He rejoiced that, 
 while at times it might seem that the wicked and the good 
 are blessed alike, it is not so. The developing life of 
 righteousness has a happiness and contentment of which 
 the unrighteous are ignorant. Providence to the psalmist 
 lay in ultimately receiving from God such blessings as 
 his life merited according to the laws of God. With a 
 growing joy in his knowledge of the laws that lead to 
 fellowship with God he applied this knowledge to his own 
 development. 
 
22 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 By-Peoducts of Yesterday 
 
 Growing a Character. No man inherits what we call 
 'fcharacter. Physical characteristics and likenesses are 
 handed down from parent to child. Certain tendencies of 
 strength or weakness, mental and moral, are transmitted 
 from one generation to another. But character is developed 
 by each individual life itself. Its sources are found in 
 environment, training, and education. Everything with 
 which we come in contact contributes to the making of our 
 character. Every person who in any way touches our life 
 has a part in making us what we are. This emphasizes 
 the wisdom of the psalmist in avoiding all thought and 
 action that would hinder the normal development of good 
 character. It was not the sign of a weakling thus to do. 
 He was a strong man protecting and conserving his 
 strength. For he did not merely avoid evil : he sought the 
 strengthening sources of right. His fellowship was with 
 God. His character was the product of constructive forces, 
 and the wisdom of his way has been justified by the ages. 
 He made good, and we profit by it. 
 
 Habits and Destiny. Those people who lay the un- 
 happy destiny of their lives at the door of some unlucky 
 star under which they were born are mistaken. We are 
 largely the makers of our own destinies. The laws of life 
 are open to us all. The choice of life's ending is placed 
 in our own hands. But it is vain to think that destiny can 
 be decided after the life has been so far lived out that the 
 laws of life have been violated. The single actions that 
 lead to habits make the mold of our destiny. 
 
 "One deed may mar a life, 
 
 And one can make it; 
 Hold firm tliy will for strife, 
 Lest a quick blow break It! 
 
 "Even now from far on viewless wing 
 Hither speeds the nameless thing 
 Shall put thy spirit to the test. 
 
 Haply or e'er yon sinking sun 
 Shall drop behind the purple Weit, 
 
 All will be lost — or won!" 
 
THE DELIGHTS OF THE RIGHTEOUS £3 
 
 So sang Richard Watson Gilder. So thouglit the psalmist, 
 as his avoidance of evil habits proves. And so we know as 
 we recount the experiences of the years that have given 
 direction to the life that we now are living. Indeed, is 
 it not this knowledge that causes us to counsel our children 
 more wisely than we ourselves have lived ? Is it not this 
 that starts us seeking for ourselves the joy of right living 
 for the days that remain ? 
 
 The Approach to God. The psalmist knew the joy of 
 fellowship with God. We also may know that fellowship 
 if we will commune with him. Fellowship is established 
 wherever communion is sincere. He who communes with 
 the stars has a fellowship with the heavenly bodies of which 
 others are ignorant. And through fellowship comes a 
 knowledge of that with which we commune. It is our 
 growing knowledge of God that enables us to understand 
 his will. In making this plain to his disciples Jesus once 
 said, "Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I com- 
 mand you. No longer do I call you servants ; for the serv- 
 ant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called 
 you friends; for all things that I heard from my Father 
 I have made known unto you.'" The communion which 
 these men had been privileged to have with the ]\Iaster led 
 directly through their fellowship to a fuller knowledge of 
 God's will. This same opportunity is ours to-day. "I am 
 the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto 
 the Father, but by me,'' says Jesus. The approach to God 
 lies open before us all. 
 
 What About To-day? The same problem the psalmist 
 faced is with us to-day. Theological terminology does not 
 alter truth. Conditions are different. We scoff at religion, 
 not at the city gate, but at the club, in the office, at the 
 shop. We counsel with the wicked in renting property for 
 immoral purposes, in backing vile political schemes, in 
 failing to see what goes on about us. We stand in the way 
 of sinners and excuse ourselves by claiming we do it more 
 artistically, or else blame it to our temperament. Yet 
 righteousness is basically the same in all ages. Progress is 
 not in loosening God's laws. It is, rather, in recognizing 
 that the method of attaining a life of steadfast righteous- 
 
24 HEAET MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 ness changes, because of changed conditions of life and a 
 fuller revelation of God in succeeding generations. The 
 requirement of the righteousness that is acceptable to God 
 varies as man comes to understand more clearly God's will 
 for his children. 
 
 But, on the other hand, it becomes richer and more 
 complex than that which gave happiness to the ancient 
 singer in Israel. It involves all that is epitomized in the 
 words: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, 
 and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbor as thyself." Men 
 are still finding fuller content of meaning for this com- 
 mandment. The larger outreach of soul therein implied 
 brings to us to-day happiness undreamed of by those of 
 old. But we find this happiness only as we discover for 
 ourselves God's will for us as individuals. Those who 
 merely study road maps and make no journeys know little 
 ■^of the joy of traveling. To know the way of righteousness 
 and then not to walk therein gives none of the delights to 
 be found along the way. The happiness of the psalmist 
 will be for us simply a delightful picture of a good man 
 who lived in the past if we fail to put its possibilities into 
 everyday usage. The contentment that abides must come 
 from our own development. And spiritual development 
 is dependent upon spiritual practice. The appraisal which 
 God puts upon our lives is not based on what we have 
 heard, or think, or know, but on our daily doing of his will. 
 "JSTot everyone that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will 
 of my Father who is in heaven." Then heed the call 
 of Frederic Lawrence Knowles, to 
 
 "Seize thy staff! "beyond this height 
 We shall find the Infinite light! 
 Gird your thigh! This sword shall hew 
 Paths that reach the untroubled blue! 
 Though dark mountains form the stair. 
 It is ours to climb and dare! 
 Law, truth, love — the peaks are three; 
 Sinai, Olives, Calvary!" 
 
 I 
 
THE DELIGHTS OF THE RIGHTEOUS 25 
 
 Questions to Think About 
 
 In what way would we write the first psalm ? 
 
 What value is placed upon happiness in our estimate of 
 things ? 
 
 Why must happiness come from within ? 
 
 How far can others control our happiness ? 
 
 Is it always possible to distinguish between the good 
 and evil in life ? 
 
 What happens to the sinner who repents late in life ? 
 
 What reasons do people often give for not avoiding evil ? 
 
 Does spiritual life develop to fruition, or is it freely 
 given ? 
 
 What does life hold for the righteous man? 
 
 Do the outward experiences of life determine our status 
 in righteousness? 
 
 Is it a sign of weakness to shun evil? Do we gain 
 strength by facing it ? 
 
 What is the strengthening source of right ? 
 
 By what act of worship have we found the ap^^roach to 
 God? 
 
 What questions would you like to ask about this psalm ? 
 
CHAPTEE II 
 
 THE INSPIEATION TO EEVERENCE 
 
 additional beading, psalm 19 
 
 The Eighth Psalm 
 
 "O Jehovah, our Lord, 
 
 How excellent is thy name in all the earth. 
 
 Who hast set thy glory upon the heavens! 
 
 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou estab- 
 lished strength, 
 
 Because of thine adversaries, 
 
 That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 
 
 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, 
 
 The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 
 
 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? 
 
 And the son of man, that thou visitest him? 
 
 For thou hast made him but little lower than God, 
 
 And crownest him with glory and honor. 
 
 Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy 
 hands; 
 
 Thou hast put all things under his feet: 
 
 All sheep and oxen. 
 
 Yea, and the beasts of the field, 
 
 The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea. 
 
 Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 
 
 O Jehovah, our Lord, 
 
 How excellent is thy name in all the earth!" 
 
 The Basis of Eeverence 
 
 Reverence in Daily Life. Neither the robes of ecclesias- 
 ticism nor the ermine of the bench of themselves cause us 
 to pay homage to a small soul strutting in official camou- 
 flage. The same failure to be revered attends the "humble'' 
 souls of the Uriah Heep type. No one exacts reverence 
 from us unless they possess genuineness. Hypocrisy puts 
 a quirk in character which prevents us from kotowing to 
 its whited sepulcher. Burns spoke for the race when he 
 cannily remarked, "The rank is but the guinea's stamp.'^ 
 
 26 
 
THE INSPIEATIO:^' TO REVERENCE 27 
 
 Unless those qualities exist which demand respect and 
 esteem, and sometimes an element of awe or fear, rever- 
 ence on our part is entirely lacking. 
 
 It is because of this that men speak slightingly of others 
 in high position. There has not been a sufficient manifesta- 
 tion of noble character to awaken a response. Not that 
 men do not desire to be stirred by such feelings. They 
 do. The finding of one able to arouse a sense of reverence 
 within us causes rejoicing and satisfaction. The little 
 group of friends to whom we tell our troubles and some 
 whose names have become household words with us, meet 
 our requirements in this respect. We think and speak of 
 them reverently. We watch them with loving eyes. We 
 expect them to do great things. The little shrine at which 
 we revere them becomes a sacred place in our heart. Out 
 of our reverence for them comes a keener consciousness 
 of any possibilities of fine character we may possess our- 
 selves. The quest for other folks worthy of our reverence 
 becomes an adventure of expectation and interest. That 
 day when we are able to place another on the plane of 
 reverence is marked off in our list of events. For on that 
 day there comes a fresh analysis and appraisal of ourselves. 
 
 Reverence for God, A man is not less careful in com- 
 ing to an attitude of reverence for God than he is in com- 
 ing to such an attitude toward one of his fellows. It is 
 something that cannot be put on and off like a suit of 
 clothes. It is a part of one's deepest feelings. Fear smote 
 the heart of the primitive savage as he thought of his God. 
 Like a small boy of to-day caught stealing apples, he ex- 
 pected chastisement. Reverence had no place in his thought 
 of God. Only the increase of knowledge set esteem along- 
 side of fear. Of course, the attributes given to the many 
 gods of early days were a handicap to reverence. It took 
 generations of experience to accumulate material upon 
 which to base a fuller knowledge of the Infinite. The 
 meditation of such men as the psalmist helped. The ex- 
 pression of the psalm indicates the mental processes in- 
 volved. He considered that reverence for God needs as 
 sure a basis as reverence for neighbor Obad or Hczekiah. 
 Assured of the worthiness of his God to be revered, he 
 
28 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 gives full meed of the best his heart contains. Nay, more, 
 he thinks within by contrast and makes a fresh start at 
 measuring up to all that he might be. 
 
 Among the Stars. Did you ever pitch your tent on the 
 summit of a high mountain? If so, you know the poet 
 who wrote the eighth psalm. The crowded streets and the 
 careworn faces of the city seem far away in the quiet night. 
 The folly of watching the stock-market ticker is of another 
 world. The climbers up society's shaky ladder seem only 
 hectic fiction. All that is real is the strange sense of 
 aloneness with the stars. The psalmist knew the sanctity 
 of this sort of atmosphere. The affairs of life that loom 
 so large down in the valley are seen in a new perspective 
 here. What matters it whether the Joneses invite us to 
 their select dinner party? Who cares whether the 
 preacher shook hands with the Smiths before noticing us ? 
 And the fact that Byron climbed to his present job by 
 tramping over our shoulders — what of it ? Man seems not 
 so important a creature or the leading styles so heavy a 
 part of life's burden. Folks look like crawling things on 
 the dimly lit road at the base of the mountain. The stars 
 alone are great. And out of the gleam of millions of stars 
 and the soft glow of the moon comes the startling thought 
 of God who created it all. All our knowledge of God comes 
 to mind with a rush when he speaks to us at such times. 
 We review every known manifestation of his power and 
 goodness. And whether we are dollar chasers of the 
 twentieth century or an ancient watcher on an Eastern hill- 
 top, we are bound to cry : 
 
 "O Jehovah, our Lord, 
 
 How excellent is thy name In all the earth, 
 Who hast set thy glory upon the heavens!" 
 
 Some Ancient Thinking 
 
 Jehovah God. The name "Jehovah" is not a familiar 
 name for God to most people. Only during the past ten 
 years has the term been used at all widely. But to the 
 patriarchs whose life history we read in the Old Testa- 
 ment it was the name above all others. When God made 
 
THE INSPIEATION TO REVERENCE 29 
 
 a covenant with Abraham he gave his name as "Jehovah" 
 to this ancient sheik. At first the name had only such 
 meaning as Abraham's conception of God could put into 
 it. It took the passing years and the ever-increasing re- 
 lationships of the Israelites with God to deepen its mean- 
 ing. Just so the name "Father'' means merely the man 
 who "gets things" for us in childhood. The realization 
 that he also watches over us, protects us, guides us, and 
 instructs us comes with the years. That he helps us out 
 of his own experience to grapple with the problems of life 
 is frequently unrecognized until the years of maturity 
 prove him to be comrade and friend. David knew a 
 greater Jehovah than did Abraham. When the psalmist 
 sang forth his reverence for the Creator of the heavenly 
 bodies, Jehovah had become a part of Israel. So close is 
 this relationship that Israel's enemies are thought of as 
 Jehovah's enemies, and Israel's friends the friends of God. 
 Yet what babes in the universe are men compared with 
 the stars? Why should Jehovah wage his warfare through 
 the instrumentality of men ? Why trouble to subdue those 
 who oppose him? A little thinking of this sort in these 
 days of world-chaos would be refreshing. For in some 
 places men have appeared to be endeavoring to wage war, 
 subdue enemies, and establish themselves in the earth 
 through the instrumentality of God, instead of permit- 
 ting themselves to be used by God. 
 
 The Universe of the Ancients. The modern schoolboy 
 has some difficulty in understanding how anyone ever could 
 have thought the earth a flat disk. And to insist on his 
 thinking of the sky as a solid covering, studded with stars, 
 with here and there a window through which rain came 
 when opened, would cause him to challenge the intellect of 
 the one making the suggestion. Such a universe, however, 
 was the one known to the psalmist. A moon swung across 
 the sky, and each night the sun returned around the out- 
 skirts of the earth in order to be ready for the next day's 
 journey. Yet with such a conception, the glory of it all 
 was great enough to inspire reverence for the One able 
 to create it. And the psalmist gave credit for it all to his 
 God, Jehovah. Not yet freed from the influence of the 
 
30 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 anthropomorpllic conceptions of his fathers, he heheld God 
 filing each star in its permanent position and starting the 
 moon on its mission of light. The writer did not know 
 all that we know about the stars, but his mountainside was 
 aglow with the same glory that floods our mountain camp. 
 His knowledge of the universe was pitifully limited, but 
 the wonder of it all was just the same. And a God able 
 to create such wonderful works was worthy of his esteem 
 and reverence. It set him to thinking. One thought 
 rushed close after the other. The stories of Jehovah's care 
 told by his father and the other older men were all recalled. 
 What he had observed himself came to his mind. Jehovah, 
 the God of Abraham, the G^d of Jacob, and the God of 
 Isaac, was a wonderful God. He was the God of his fathers. 
 Aye, he was his God also. And Jehovah held all these 
 starry hosts in the hollow of his hand. A man might well 
 stand erect and stretch to his full height who has such a 
 God as Jehovah. How much more cause have we both to 
 reverence God and make ours the kinship he offers to us. 
 "What Is Man ?" It was no small question of speculative 
 philosophy that followed the psalmist's meditation on the 
 wonders of the heavens. He was thinking chiefly about 
 God. What majesty and power God must have to do such 
 work ! It was almost beyond his power to conceive of it. 
 But difficult as comprehending so great a God as Jehovah 
 was, it was even more difficult to understand why such 
 a God should give so important a place in his universe to 
 men. The value placed on a human life in the days of 
 David was not great. The individual was merged in the 
 community. And the welfare of the community always 
 came before the welfare of the individual. An individual 
 life, yes, many individual lives, might be wiped out without 
 much concern on the part of those left. Yet the dignity 
 of human life was made plainer when the psalmist realized 
 that the Creator of the starry heavens also was mindful 
 of man. The human race was important in God's sight. 
 Man had been made in the very image of God. Spiritual 
 possibilities within stirred him to things far beyond mere 
 earthly aims and worldly honors. Above the physical was 
 rising the intellectual. And with the development of man's 
 
THE INSPIRATION TO REVERENCE 31 
 
 mind there was also developing a fuller kinship with God. 
 The honor and glory with which man was crowned in the 
 days of our psalm may seem to he of slight value compared 
 to the glory and honor that man has received from God 
 since then — but the psalmist made his comparison with 
 his earlier days, and his conclusion was fully as significant 
 as are our own. 
 
 Estimating Values. The place which man holds in the 
 scheme of things is as varied as the knowledge which he 
 possesses. The cow may have an equal importance with 
 a playmate in the eyes of a little child. Only added years 
 and increased knowledge makes possible a correct differen- 
 tiation. It is so with all things and all people. And men 
 as a race were children once. What we call the lower 
 animals — 
 
 "All sheep and oxen, 
 Yea, and the beasts of the field, 
 The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea," 
 
 stood on the same plane with man to our primitive 
 ancestors. But as century succeeded century man's knowl- 
 edge increased. As knowledge increased and man grasped 
 its significance he revised the relative values that he placed 
 on things. His attitude toward the world and all that it 
 contains changed. He saw a difference between mere 
 animals and himself. This new viewpoint helped him to 
 become the master of the creatures round about him. He 
 began to discover himself and to estimate more accurately 
 his place in the universe. And by the psalmist's time man 
 stands preeminently master of all other animate beings. 
 The psalmist goes even further than this. He finds in God 
 the reason for man's supremacy. "Thou hast made him 
 but little lower than God/' he softly whispered. What did 
 the psalmist mean? David's God was akin to the God of 
 the twenty-third psalm, the God Jehovah whom Israel 
 knew in that day. Therefore man was a creature of dignity 
 and worth, reverencing a God mighty enough to shape in 
 flesh and blood a race with character possibilities like his 
 own. God has been the same throughout the ages. But 
 back in the days of the childhood of the race, men thought 
 
32 HEAKT MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 of God and understood him as children do. As the race 
 has matured and man's mind has matured with its ever 
 increasing knowledge as the result of the great variety of 
 human experience, God has become a vastly different 
 Being. What has happened in our day to throw back 
 parts of the race to savagery and paganism, having little 
 reverence for God and none for a human being ? 
 
 Among Oueselves 
 
 Our Starry Heavens. The Creator of the starry heavens 
 into which the psalmist gazed was great and powerful and 
 worthy. How much more so is he when we consider the 
 starry heavens of our own meditation ? Within the last few 
 years a larger view of the heavens has been secured. By 
 means of a new process with stronger lenses than had 
 heretofore been used some sixty thousand stars never before 
 known have been caught upon a photographic plate. This 
 gives to the world a larger conception of the magnitude of 
 the universe. It pushes the boundaries of the knowledge 
 of the heavens out millions of miles. It makes necessary 
 a readjustment of many notions in astronomy. With a 
 great hundred-inch lens, three times larger than any used 
 before it was made, the astronomer expects to make our 
 evening walk among the stars a new one altogether. It 
 is a long journey in thought from an earth stretched flat 
 with a heaven domed over it to the earth which we know 
 to-day, humbly whirling on its axis as it swings year by 
 year about the sun. A very minor body among the great 
 is our earth, and our knowledge that it is so gives an added 
 intensity to the wonder of the psalmist when, gazing out 
 into the night from his hilltop vantage point, he cried : 
 
 "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers. 
 The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 
 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? 
 And the son of man, that thou visitest him? 
 For thou hast made him but little lower than God, 
 And crownest him with glory and honor." 
 
 Our wonder grows as we realize not only that the universe 
 is so beyond our grasp, but also that the spiritual kingdom 
 of the Creator of all, of which we are a part through being 
 
THE mSPIEATION TO EEVERENCE 33 
 
 made in his own image, is greater in extent and power and 
 possibilities than our creeds and prayers ever credit. 
 
 A New Revelation of God. The psalmist's conception 
 of God falls much below ours of to-day. The years have 
 added to man's knowledge of God. Now and then there 
 has lived a man who ventured beyond his fellows and 
 caught a closer glimpse of his Maker. This he reflected to 
 those of his time, and they tried being Godlike. But at 
 best it was a poor conception of God that man had until 
 Jesus Christ walked upon earth. He put the generaliza- 
 tions of the learned into the concrete forms of common life. 
 His ministry drew God from the skies to the marketplace, 
 the field, and the home. Reverence for God came to be 
 based not only on the wonders of the universe, but also 
 on the power of his Spirit in human lives. The spiritual 
 universe became real in the manifested practice of its prin- 
 ciples among men. The revelation which Jesus gave of God 
 and of life's realities was as undreamed of when Hebrew 
 psalmists sang as were the new-found stars along the milky 
 way. People to-day seek the majesty and goodness of God 
 in the lives of those who have had fellowship with Christ. 
 Their questions of theology are answered in the attitude 
 of Christians in business deals. They find the argument 
 for or against Christianity in their next-door neighbor. In 
 the place of a creed to recite they seek a life to live. And 
 the new revelation of God in Jesus Christ makes it possible 
 for them to find God through men and women whose spirit 
 as well as name is Christian. The clear reflecting of the 
 spirit of Jesus Christ dispels all desire for argument and 
 inspires to that state of mind which prays, 
 
 "Just as I am, without one plea, 
 But that thy blood was shed for me. 
 And that thou bidd'st me come to thee, 
 Lamb of God, I come." 
 
 Acquired Honor and Glory. Honor and glory because 
 of God's goodness to men does not satisfy live folks of 
 to-day. Biology has taught man how he is made and has 
 given to him more adequate knowledge for the care and 
 use of his body. Psychology has surveyed the mind and 
 
34 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 laid bare the secrets of intellectual progress. The physical 
 sciences have placed in the hands of man power almost 
 unbelievable. He stands not merely preeminent among the 
 animate creations of God, he is also master of the inani- 
 mate. He gives life to the slumbering powers of earth and 
 sky, and controls them for his daily use, comfort, and 
 happiness. Yet, with all this, he craves that honor which 
 fellowship with God alone can give. A larger vision fills 
 the meditation of the watcher of the stars to-day than the 
 psalmist knew. He has seen the God of man and things 
 through the intimate eyes of Jesus Christ. And in that 
 new vital knowledge he has caught a fresh sense of the 
 worthiness of God to the profoundest reverence. For fel- 
 lowship with Jesus Christ gives a new viewpoint for ap- 
 praising God's power and love and man's relationship to 
 him. As man comes to view himself in the light of this 
 larger relationship his reverence for God increases. And 
 that which is the greatest element in inspiring reverence 
 for God is man's own knowledge of the power of God of 
 developing through Christ that image in which he himself 
 is born — such a likeness to God that it is recognized by 
 his brother men. 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 What is the basis for reverence? 
 
 What have reverence for man and God in common ? 
 
 In what way did the psalmist express his reverence for 
 God? 
 
 How did the ancient conception of the universe influ- 
 ence the way in which he expressed it? 
 
 How has increased knowledge brought fuller content to 
 the psalmist's song? 
 
 To what extent does our conception of God enrich life 
 more fully than that of the psalmist ? 
 
 How does man acquire his important place in the uni- 
 verse ? 
 
 How does Jesus's revelation of "the Father" affect our 
 conception of God? 
 
 What part have we in developing reverence for God in 
 those who know not fellowship with Jesus Christ? 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A SENSE OF GOD^S BOUNTIFUL CARE 
 
 additional beading, psalm 145 
 
 The Twenty-Thied Psalm 
 
 "Jehovah is my shepherd ; I shall not want. 
 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; 
 He leadeth me beside still waters. 
 He restoreth my soul: 
 He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's 
 
 sake. 
 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of 
 
 death, 
 I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; 
 Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 
 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine 
 
 enemies; 
 Thou hast anointed my head with oil; 
 My cup runneth over. 
 Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the 
 
 days of my life; 
 And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for ever." 
 
 A Shepheed's Meditations 
 
 Goat Philosophy. The goat element in a man predomi- 
 nates in the atmosphere of modern life. Pushed by the 
 ceaseless round of business, patriotic demands and social 
 duties, he plunges forward day after day breaking open 
 pathways into pastures he knows not. The idea of leader- 
 ship leaves little opportunity for thoughts of being led. 
 "He wins who puts it over," is the prevailing slogan. The 
 result is too often a browsing in the vacant lots of intellect 
 and emotion where discarded garments predominate over 
 that which might nourish a soul. The wild forcing one's 
 >vay to a place ahead of one's fellows frequently leads to 
 
 35 
 
36 HEAET MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 an isolation and loneliness of life that cries out for some 
 voice to guide. And in the experiences of life which 
 demonstrate the human limitations of the most efficient 
 there is a yearning to be led as a sheep by a shepherd, to 
 have a care manifested for the needs which goat philosophy 
 fails to provide. It is at such times that the shepherd's 
 psalm sings itself into the heart with a new tune — the 
 quiet, assuring tune used by a mother to lull her child to 
 sleep. 
 
 Why Not Sheep? Out on the open hillside the psalm- 
 ist's joy in God as his shepherd becomes concrete. Here 
 the dangers to the flock and the need of the sheep are 
 apparent. The watchful shepherd with his unwearying 
 care of his charges becomes a figure of importance. The 
 poetic relationship between shepherd and sheep suddenly 
 becomes real. The song is from a page of life. The min- 
 istry of a man who knows the needs of those who trust in 
 him looms up as a part of the scheme of things. The 
 ninety and nine and the one lost lamb cease to be parable 
 and exist as fact. There is a strange new significance in 
 the idea of a Good Shepherd. We recognize the glory of 
 just being sheep and, with the psalmist, cry most rever- 
 ently: "I need a shepherd. My shepherd is Jehovah, 
 God." 
 
 A Page from a Shepherd's Meditations. The long days 
 and nights on the hills of Palestine had been more than 
 hours of wage-earning to the singer of our psalm. Like 
 all great poetry, his song grew out of a life of service. And 
 out of the service which he had rendered to the sheep 
 had come a great reward. The task which he had done 
 so faithfully had enlarged his vision. The battles with 
 the beasts that had sought food from his flock had endeared 
 the flock to him. The searching for tender grass and 
 sweet, cool springs had emphasized to him the helpless- 
 ness of his dumb charges. The foolish straying from the 
 paths of safety had taught him how much they needed a 
 guide. And the bruises and the scratches and the frequent 
 rescue from certain death dignified his importance in the 
 lives of the sheep who knew not how well they were being 
 watched over and protected. With his flock asleep he 
 
A SENSE OF GOD'S BOUNTIFUL CARE 37 
 
 studied the heavens and thought upon his experiences. 
 Did not the sheep, whether they knew it or not, need a 
 shepherd? Must not a shepherd, to be of actual service, 
 know and understand his sheep? They were a foolish 
 flock. Until they learned his voice and became accustomed 
 to his ways they were hard to lead. Time and patience 
 counted, though. After the weeks they trusted him and 
 trailed along after him. To him they looked for food 
 and water. They seemed to know that he would lead them 
 to some cool spot for rest when the midday sun burned 
 hot. And he knew his sheep. How like his God, this 
 shepherding! What more natural, then, that he be fired 
 with a new vision of Jehovah — a God to whom his people 
 were as sheep of a trusty shepherd ? 
 
 A Light in the East, Day breaks with added glory in 
 human experience when one awakens to a new life-relation- 
 ship. Everything takes on new significance. Things past 
 gain fresh interpretation. Future hopes lay hold of greater 
 possibilities. Life centers around a new point. The 
 recognizing of the similarity in relationship between God 
 and the psalmist and the shepherd and his sheep explained 
 many things to the happy singer. Suddenly he realized 
 how constant is God's care. With assurance he could say, 
 "I shall not want.^^ For if he would go to any extreme 
 of danger for the sake of his flock, would not God do as 
 much for him ? '^ Jehovah is my shepherd." What a new 
 meaning to life! What a point around which to center 
 life's hopes and fears, its ambitions and perplexities, its 
 joys and sorrows ! Across the horizon a new figure stood 
 silhouetted. The skyline had become animate. Could it 
 be that man might follow a Shepherd's call as did his 
 sheep ? 
 
 The Shepherding of God. Wisdom, strength, and 
 authority are essential to genuine leadership, whether it 
 be of sheep or men. Wise men are needed to plan, to 
 counsel, and to guide. Strong men are necessary to stand 
 the storm. Such strength is not merely the ability to with- 
 stand the storm oneself. There is the larger need of 
 bringing the flock of people safely through, their trust but 
 temporarily shaken, firm and sure. Of such a character 
 
38 HEAET MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 is the shepherding of God. The psalmist puts it in terms 
 of his own experience. Pastures green with needed nour- 
 ishment are provided. Waters for refreshment and rest 
 are sought out when the strife grows too intense. Out into 
 the complex roads of life the Shepherd leads the tired 
 soul. One does not have to seek the way alone. The 
 Shepherd guides. Moral and spiritual discernment is not 
 very keen when one seeks the way of life without a guide. 
 The way appears not always to be a traveled path to him 
 who sees it for the first time. He fain would hesitate for 
 fear the Shepherd blunder and lead astray. And that 
 would be bad for the traveler. But the psalmist does not 
 stop at the thought of what the Shepherd's failure might 
 mean to the traveler. To the psalmist's mind failure 
 means more to the Shepherd than to the traveler. Long 
 since the God of Israel had declared : 
 
 "Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to 
 anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth; keeping 
 lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and trans- 
 gression and sin.'' 
 
 He knows the paths of righteousness which he himself has 
 made. And to prove himself such as he has declared him- 
 self to be, he will lead men in the paths of peace. 
 
 "The King of love my Shepherd is. 
 
 Whose goodness faileth never; 
 I nothing lack if I am his, 
 And he is mine forever." 
 
 Sheep Experience 
 
 Just Sheep, It is inconceivable to-day that God should 
 have any other attitude toward the well-being of man than 
 that indicated by Jesus in his parable of the lost sheep. 
 God made man in his own image. He gave to him the 
 capacity for possessing those qualities of life which have 
 made beautiful the lives of those who have carefully ob- 
 served the laws of the highest human development. The 
 wise life of a righteous man is a vindication of his creation. 
 
A SENSE OF GOD'S BOUNTIFUL CARE 39 
 
 But God did not make him an automaton. In the capacity 
 involved in "the image of God" he left a real need for 
 divine care and guidance. When man wanders away it 
 is this need that ultimately proves to be the point of con- 
 tact by means of which God brings him back. Before this 
 point of contact is reached, however, God seeks for weary 
 hours. And this not that he may locate the man or woman 
 who has wandered, but that he may so adjust the multi- 
 tude of circumstances that approach may be possible to the 
 heart of the individual. Jesus was doing this very thing 
 when the Jews raised an objection. Had they given the 
 matter a little unprejudiced thought, they would have re- 
 called the fact that their own Scriptures, the Old Testa- 
 ment, both showed the significance of human life and gave 
 utterance to the people's avowed recognition of Jehovah 
 as their Shepherd, and as a Shepherd, too, who was owner 
 as well. 
 
 Bypaths and Pitfalls. The stretch of the pathway of life 
 seen at any one time is very short. Fair traveling sud- 
 denly runs into almost impassable territory, and a hard, 
 rocky bit of the journey frequently opens into delightful 
 vistas of easy going. The blinding dust and burning sweat 
 of a desert mile ends in an oasis of rest and comfort. The 
 uncertainty of the way leads to overassurance of a knowl- 
 edge of it. A few good guesses develop dangerous self- 
 confidence. Physical satisfaction is sought in fields whose 
 yield is poisonous. Mental excursions into attractive by- 
 paths shut out from sight the faithful Guide. And reli- 
 gious experiments pitch us headlong into pits from which 
 we are lifted through the humiliation of contrition and 
 forgiveness. The "blazings" of some men lead other men 
 astray long after those who marked the way are once more 
 safely on the high road. It is no poetic fancy that finds 
 expression in the psalmist's song. That God leads implies 
 the need of leading. The decision of life-plans is often 
 unwisely made because of failure to recognize God's will. 
 Business deals go to smavsh when the righteousness of God 
 is ignored. Hearts break with grief if the comfort and 
 guidance of God are overlooked. Human sheep need the 
 same wise shepherding that all sheep need to have. This 
 
40 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 the singer of later years knew well when he added to the 
 psalmist^s utterance the experience of the ages : 
 
 "He leadeth me! O blessed thought! 
 O words with heavenly comfort fraught! 
 Whate'er I do, where'er I be, 
 Still 'tis God's hand that guideth me." 
 
 The Psalm in Life. All ages find help and comfort in 
 the shepherd^s psalm. From childhood on to old age it 
 gives the message that is timely and fit. As the years in- 
 crease the psalm gathers to itself all the rich experiences 
 of one^s life, to give them back with new and finer meaning 
 as each need arises. And it takes years of experience to 
 grasp fully its deepest significance and joy. Two little 
 boys — one three, one five — one day were taught the psalm 
 in Sunday school. And they understood it as well as boys 
 of their age were capable. They went home and brought 
 out the red NoaVs ark. Quickly sorting out the crude 
 wooden animals, they selected two with cotton pasted on 
 them. These were the sheep of the da/s lesson. The green 
 rug was the pasture. The black iron register was the still 
 water. Their exposition of the psalm was true to their 
 own life-experience. And to that experience it ministered. 
 The boys grew to manhood. They married, built homes, 
 and had children. Then, in the prime of life, fatal illness 
 struck down the younger brother. The last night was 
 passed by these two men together. The one, strong and 
 vigorous, sat by the bed on which the other lay wasted and 
 weak. They talked of those things of which brothers talk 
 at such a time. And then they talked of the twenty-third 
 psalm. But the psalm did not speak to them of toy sheep 
 that night. They had lived many years and had gone 
 through varied experiences since they first heard its mes- 
 sage. They had grown to be men. And the psalm had 
 grown with them. Its message on this last night together 
 before the one should know the meaning of the shepherd- 
 ing and the other should wait and wonder, was : 
 
 "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
 I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; 
 Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." 
 
A SENSE OF GOD'S BOUNTIFUL CARE 41 
 
 They had followed the Shepherd on the hills and through 
 the valleys. They had found him bountiful in his care 
 through the experiences which they understood in part. 
 Now they trusted him fully for that part of the journey 
 which went down through a path known only to those who 
 had traversed it — and to the Guide. For they felt assured 
 that He would lead to fields beyond the thought of human 
 mind. 
 
 The Valley of Fear. Every life has its valley of fear. 
 And it is not always the valley of the shadow of death, for 
 to countless thousands the open tomb and the risen Christ 
 have forever dispelled the shadow of that valley. But there 
 remains to many even of these the fear of the tragedies 
 of life: sorrow, misfortune, broken homes, shattered am- 
 bitions, ruined health, years of physical suffering and 
 agony. There is also the valley which spiritual cowardice 
 dreads. To those obsessed with this fear comes the un- 
 willingness to venture into larger experiences, lest, per- 
 chance, the foothold already secured be lost. The possi- 
 bility of God's failure to come up to the faith which would 
 send them on into a fuller joy of life forever holds them 
 back. They dread a separation from God which might 
 result from testing the experimental opportunities of the 
 spiritual life. Such valleys of fear are present constantly. 
 The consequence is a halting life that makes but little 
 progress. It is unable to leave that which it possesses for 
 the larger possibilities of that which it might obtain. But 
 to those who know the Guide in whom the shepherd trusted 
 there is no such fear. They go forward with Robert 
 Browning, singing, 
 
 "Then, welcome each rebuff 
 That turns earth's smoothness rough, 
 Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand, but go! 
 Be our Joys three-parts pain! 
 Strive, and hold cheap the strain; 
 Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge 
 the throe!" 
 
 Being Shepherded. As one reads the experience de- 
 scribed in the twenty-third psalm his whole nature yearns 
 for the joy of its writer, and he forthwith declares that 
 
42 HEART MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 he too will have that psalm written large in his life. The 
 thought of Jehovah's watching over him, providing for his 
 wants, protecting him in time of trouble, relieving him in 
 seasons of distress, makes a strong appeal. And well it 
 may. For who would not share in the ancient poet's sense 
 of utter dependence upon One able to do all things ? But 
 being shepherded demands more than all this. It has in 
 its very nature claims upon the one shepherded. One 
 must be known as a member of the flock. He may not live 
 his Christian life unrelated to his fellow Christians. He 
 must partake of such food as seems wise in the mind of the 
 Shepherd. He must be willing to be led where pastures 
 are green and waters quiet and refreshing. Straight paths 
 must become a desire. Compromise and side-stepping 
 moral issues must cease. He must yield to all that soul 
 restoration implies. Life must respond with concrete do- 
 ing of things by a different rule. The deep experiences of 
 the valley must be gone through with a sheep's implicit 
 confidence in the shepherd. He must permit the Shep- 
 herd's touch as he seeks the bruises which need anointing. 
 These sins, excused on the ground of temperament, must 
 be probed. The keen satisfaction of having the Shepherd 
 know and participate in the whole life must be the ex- 
 hilarating impulse of each day's living. Under these con- 
 ditions, could there be greater joy imaginable than the 
 consciousness of being led daily according to the best that 
 God can plan ? Yet the fullness of this joy the psalmist 
 only faintly visioned. He tuned his harp at too early a 
 day. But to us is the full strong chord struck by Jesus, 
 who said, "I am the Good Shepherd." For he leads his 
 sheep not only "to dwell in the house of Jehovah," but 
 straight into the presence of God. And that they may 
 arrive safely, he lays down his life for them. 
 
 "Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chorda 
 with might; 
 Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, passed in music 
 out of sight." 
 
 And he helps his sheep make music like his own. 
 
 Guests of God. There is great joy in being the guest 
 
A SENSE OF GOD'S BOUNTIFUL CARE 43 
 
 of another. Everyone has this experience at times. But 
 who can estimate the full satisfaction of being the guest 
 of God ? For such are all who know the deeper meanings 
 of this wonderful psalm. Life at its best, if it is lived in a 
 positive manner, meets oppositions, makes enemies, and 
 develops a need of the protecting care and comfort that 
 God alone can give. To such a host we come at the close 
 of the day. Tired and distracted with the toil and prob- 
 lems of life, it is God whose communion with us brings 
 rest and peace. He gives to us the spiritual hospitality 
 which our souls crave. There is no need of ours to wliich 
 he will not minister. And as day follows day, and we 
 find his ministry to our personal needs unfailing, we are 
 more than ever constrained to repeat with the psalmist : 
 
 "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine 
 
 enemies: 
 Thou hast anointed my head with oil; 
 My cup runneth over. 
 Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the 
 
 days of my life; 
 And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for ever." 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 To what extent does goat philosophy prevail among men ? 
 
 In what sense have all men and women the sheep in- 
 stinct ? 
 
 How came the psalmist to think of God as his shepherd ? 
 
 What are some of the things which the shepherd relation- 
 ship implies? 
 
 State some of the ways in which God leads men. When ? 
 Where ? 
 
 How far does our own experience parallel that of the 
 psalmist ? 
 
 Why is the wise life of a righteous man a vindication 
 of his creation ? 
 
 What capacity for likeness to himself did God give to 
 men? 
 
 In what ways has man weakened his ability to appropri- 
 ate all this endowment ? 
 
44 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 What danger do we run of being overconfident in our 
 knowledge of life's pathway? 
 
 How does the content of the twenty-third psalm deepen 
 as we grow older ? 
 
 From what fears besides the fear of death does God 
 relieve us ? 
 
 Cite the obligations of one who is shepherded by God. 
 
 How may we become and ever remain the guests of God ? 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 COURAGE 
 
 The Twenty-Seventh Psalm 
 
 'Jehovah is my light and my salvation; 
 
 Whom shall I fear? 
 
 Jehovah is the strength of my life; 
 
 Of whom shall I be afraid? 
 
 When evil-doers came upon me to eat up my flesh, 
 
 Even mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. 
 
 Though a host should encamp against me, 
 
 My heart shall not fear: 
 
 Though war should rise against me, 
 
 Even then will I be confident. 
 
 One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after: 
 
 That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of 
 
 my life, 
 To behold the beauty of Jehovah, 
 And to inquire in his temple. 
 For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in his 
 
 pavilion : 
 In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me; 
 He will lift me up upon a rock. 
 And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies 
 
 round about me; 
 And I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; 
 I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto Jehovah. 
 
 'Hear, O Jehovah, when I cry with my voice: 
 
 Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 
 
 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unl) 
 
 thee, 
 Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek. 
 Hide not thy face from me; 
 Put not thy servant away in anger: 
 Thou hast been my help; 
 
 Cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 
 When my father and my mother forsake me, 
 Then Jehovah will take me up. 
 Teach me thy way, O Jehovah; 
 And lead me in a plain path. 
 Because of mine enemies. 
 
 45 
 
46 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine adversaries: 
 
 For false witnesses are risen up against me, 
 
 And such as breathe out cruelty. 
 
 / had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of 
 
 Jehovah 
 In the land of the living. 
 Wait for Jehovah: 
 
 Be strong, and let thy heart take courage; 
 Yea, wait thou for Jehovah." 
 
 The Path to Courage 
 
 Who Is Courageous? The school bully is the courage- 
 ous fellow to the undiscriminating thought of boyhood. 
 Who, like him, is able to bluster and swagger before his 
 fear-smitten comrades ? Only the later years bring a dis- 
 tinction between him and the smaller lad who really dared 
 an uneven battle. With this knowledge comes the realiza- 
 tion that there are also intellectual and spiritual bullies. 
 Not all that passes for courage has the earmarks of gen- 
 uineness. That quality of mind which enables one to en- 
 counter dangers and meet difficulties with a firmness of 
 spirit, free from fear, alone deserves the name. This ex- 
 cludes the wild feats of the foolhardy as well as the bully's 
 ill performed acts. There is a background which gives 
 courage to the courageous. Neither the bully nor the fool- 
 hardy have this. The one uses his overestimated strength 
 to cow others, the other often seeks the spotlight through 
 a bit of opportunism. 
 
 That man is morally courageous who knocks down an- 
 other larger than himself because of an insult to woman- 
 hood. His ideals give him a strength which his arm does 
 not possess. He uses what he has in a noble cause. He 
 who pioneers for some new thought at a time when it is 
 a generation too early for his contemporaries shows intellec- 
 tual courage. The earth would still be regarded as flat 
 had he failed to come along. It is his sort who gave our 
 fathers the light which we use to cheer the pioneers of 
 to-day. The prophets belonged to his order. So did the 
 Christ. Spiritual courage plunges through the limitations 
 of a formal church out into the plains where men are 
 privileged to walk with God. It makes doors into such a 
 
COURAGE 47 
 
 church, through which the foreigner and ignorant may 
 enter. 
 
 A knowledge of what they possess physically, intellec- 
 tually, and spiritually backs men of this fiber. And to men 
 like these the psalmist was a comrade. "Whom shall I 
 fear?'' he cries, and, "Of whom shall I be afraid?" No 
 braggart was he, rolling up his sleeves to meet all comers. 
 He met them, though, when they came. He was a man 
 conscious of his own limitations and aware of the source 
 of strength which he needed in addition to what he pos- 
 sessed. All that he had he staked on the promises of God 
 and his own experience with him. 
 
 Where Do They Get It? Quality of character cannot be 
 purchased at the five-and-ten-cent store. Courage is not 
 a bargain-counter offering. Physical courage is often due 
 to a feeling of dependence upon the human machine to 
 do what one wills. A feeling of fitness, having its source 
 in care of the body and training in the use of one's hands, 
 has brought this about. Intellectual courage has its basis 
 in a conviction of the individual that truth is greater than 
 what men think about truth. This accounts for a Luther 
 nailing up protests at variance with the thought of his 
 time. It also explains the man who prefers being in the 
 minority, politically or religiously, rather than standing 
 pat with those able to grant preferment. It is he who 
 smashes machines and is branded an outlaw. The old 
 order has no use for such. 
 
 Spiritual courage is developed in personal experience 
 with God. It knows to what other men have attained in 
 spiritual life. It has an accumulation of personal evidence 
 on the subject. It dares to accept God in full on the 
 basis of knowledge and experience. This makes it hard 
 for the man who has no knowledge of what God has done 
 for men and little or no personal experience in the matter 
 to understand a life marked by spiritual courage. Against 
 all forms of courage those who lack it rave. Failing to 
 recognize the validity of its source, they sneer at it. Un- 
 willing to pay the price of its attainment, they wave it 
 aside as something not worth while. The result is disas- 
 trous. It gives us not only a multitude of physical cowards, 
 
48 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 for whom we can often find excuse; it also gives ns the 
 intellectual and spiritual cowards who too often veil their 
 cowardice behind a camouflage of conservatism and ortho- 
 doxy. One man courageous, no matter what it cost, is 
 worth a multitude of cowards who obstruct the path of 
 progress. 
 
 Where the Psalmist Learned the Secret. Those who 
 wrote the Psalms did not look on life with sour expression. 
 Somehow the pictured saints always impress us as having 
 lost the zest of life. We err at this point. They shivered 
 in the cold and perspired in the heat. Their songs, for 
 the most part, are buoyant with life, red-blooded life that 
 will arm for battle and slay the enemy while a song of 
 praise to Jehovah-God is on their lips. It is unfair to 
 compare these men with those whom the wits call "sisters" 
 to-day. The days of the psalmists were frequently filled 
 with the alarms of war. Fathers and sons were summoned 
 to leave home and fight then as now. The soldiers of 
 Israel were a busy lot of men. Those who came as plun- 
 derers had to be conquered. The enemy eager to annex a 
 section of land needed alert attention. They had to sally 
 forth against attack from all sides. They thought in terms 
 of war. Our day has learned a new vocabulary, the vocabu- 
 lary of military equipment, tactics, and maneuvers, the 
 terminology of the sea, the air, the trench. Hatred of a 
 despicable foe has woven itself into the songs of the people. 
 Shortly we shall be able to stand by the psalmist^s side 
 and understand what he says. Even his conception of 
 Jehovah was that of a "warrior-God." Not "an idol made 
 of mud" to offer war-prayers to, but a God mighty in 
 battle. 
 
 The courage of the psalmist has all this back of it. 
 Why fear, with Jehovah at hand to scatter trouble's dark- 
 ness and to act as a defense against all assaults ? If ene- 
 mies rush upon him like wild beasts, why show fear? 
 So convinced is he of the practical backing of Jehovah 
 that an army hurled across his path would not disturb 
 him? Vain boaster? No. He based his conviction on 
 a faith that had never been betrayed. Unlike some who 
 would turn the world upside down in order to demonstrate 
 
COURAGE 49 
 
 their ability to do it, he chants his song of courage against 
 a day that may come without his seeking. Simplicity of 
 faith like this defies the world. Some years ago in Hart- 
 ford, Connecticut, Arba Langton, a man of simple faith, 
 hung a sign outside of a little mission which he conducted. 
 It read, "The sword of the Lord and Langton." His was 
 a life of courage akin to the psalmist. He knew what 
 a man can do when God is his fellow worker in every 
 task of life. Simplicity of life, a knowledge of God^s ways, 
 fellowship with Jehovah — the secret itself is simple ; to 
 possess it demands a man. 
 
 Where Courage Wields Its Power 
 
 Interviewing An Ancient. There was no reporter from 
 a Jerusalem "daily" to interview the psalmist in order to 
 write him up, give his history to the people, and explain 
 how he came to write the psalm. That is left for those 
 who read his song to-day. We are able to interview him 
 through the psalm itself. Poetlike, he sings himself into 
 his lines. He makes clear that the confidence of which 
 his courage is the expression is the cause of his thanks- 
 giving to Jehovah. Yes, he would spend much time with 
 God. Busy? Decidedly so. A living to earn, a family 
 to support, the state to preserve, the church to maintain, 
 battles to fight. Quite busy. But, you see, trouble mixes 
 up with all of these routine matters of a day. And in 
 trouble Jehovah will shield him as one is sheltered from 
 heat and storm. Why not learn Jehovah's ways? More- 
 over, in the sterner strifes of life Jehovah will stand about 
 him as an impregnable fortress. 
 
 How satisfyingly human was the psalmist! He sang 
 a song because experience had written the words and music. 
 Later, when the outlook is dark and foreboding, he uses 
 his former confidence to strengthen his weakened faith. 
 Not that he boasted of what he used to be able to do. He 
 reviewed what Jehovah had done for him. In so doing 
 he made the courage of the blue-sky days become the cour- 
 age of the days when courage sources seemed cut off. How 
 does he differ from folks to-day? Not much. Only the 
 
50 HEAET MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 generation rushing pell-mell where they know not, give a 
 scant glance to those who, like the psalmist, fortify their 
 hours of trouble with the courage of the days when youth 
 helped all to run well. The psalmist's neighbors treated 
 him the same way. But he did not care. Neither do 
 those of to-day who are like-minded. 
 
 Courage Grafters. Small men seek courage for per- 
 sonal ends. If they acquire a little courage, it usually 
 makes them bullies of one sort or another. If it does not, 
 it sets them to swelling up their muscles for the admiration 
 and intimidation of those less ostentatious. The psalmist 
 sought personal courage. It became a part of his individ- 
 ual development. But he did not desire it in order that 
 his name might appear in Who's Who. He considered his 
 enemies to be the enemies of Jehovah, and Jehovah's 
 enemies his own. Therefore courage to him became an 
 instrument in destroying those who opposed his God. He 
 justified his use of courage by the conceptions of his time. 
 In his use of it for Jehovah he rendered service to his 
 fellow man. He was almost modern in his practice at this 
 point. The emphasis on war sets him back a bit, as it 
 has some folks to-day. Our conception of God and man 
 does away with our justifying the use of God-giveh cour- 
 age for personal ends. The doctrine of noblesse ohlige calls 
 for the giving of strength to the weak by the strong. 
 Iron-muscled men have little patience with physical 
 weaklings until they feel grateful for a perfect body. Those 
 possessed of courage to think ahead of their fellows fret 
 at the lagging procession of dullards. And those who 
 have dared to meet God with a pure heart are in danger 
 of becoming self-righteous as they see the multitude dis- 
 cussing ways and means of approaching God. When cour- 
 age fails to see visions for those less endowed, when it grows 
 peevish over the lesser attainments and falterings of others, 
 the danger signal is set at the next switch. 
 
 "Help Wanted'' The kingdom of God has large need 
 of courageous men and women. One of its foundations is 
 "love and service for others.'' What a large use of courage 
 can be made on this platform. To fight the liquor traffic 
 in the face of physical danger is courageous. When we 
 
COURAGE 51 
 
 stand by our well-thought-out convictions concerning the 
 value of hygiene in the tenement district, despite the cry 
 that the people love dirt and disease, courage is necessary. 
 To order out vicious tenants found using our property for 
 immoral or vicious purposes demands both courage and 
 sacrifice. To put into practice our preaching that girls 
 who work should be paid a wage sufficient to give them 
 independence hits our courage where the dollars speak. A 
 lack of courage here, however, neutralizes the efforts of 
 Christian men and women to lead folks to Jesus Christ. 
 Sufficient spiritual courage is necessary to practice the 
 teachings of the Kingdom before there will be any great 
 rush for entrance on the part of those outside. The King- 
 dom has the sign hung out, "Help wanted." Why do we 
 wait to take it down ? Is it courage that we lack ? There 
 is plenty of it available. 
 
 Preparedness 
 
 For the Dark Days, Preparedness is no new doctrine. 
 Its uniqueness is in the fact that so few people recognize 
 its value until too late. The admonitions and encourage- 
 ments of the aged should inspire those who in youth accept 
 life's burdens, for preparedness means the doing of neces- 
 sary and frequently difficult tasks when the rest of the 
 world is at play. Relatively small is the number of those 
 found ready for the emergencies either of misfortune or 
 opportunity. Recognizing no possible opportunity, they 
 fail also to accept the experiences of others as an indica- 
 tion of the universality of misfortune or sorrow. A clear- 
 cut knowledge of God is a necessity when the stress of life 
 is great. In the days of adversity the psalmist recalls that 
 when Jehovah urged that he seek him, he obeyed. This 
 gave him courage to endure. "Thou hast been my liclp." 
 What if he is as friendless and forsaken as a deserted child, 
 Jehovah will care for him. Those who have never experi- 
 enced spiritual loneliness cannot sympathize with this mood 
 of a man in distress. Such as have, however, take the same 
 way out that he did. "Teach me thy ways"; "lead me in 
 a plain path." He would have everything out in the 
 
52 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 open. The fear of false friends and enemies who purred 
 over him in the guise of sympathizers troubled him. The 
 psalmist dwelt among folks of the sort who discredit by 
 faint praise. He knew the sleek, suave ''brother" who knew 
 all the hurtful things to say to all who would listen. This 
 sort of comment about a man eats at the heart like a 
 canker. Surely the man needed a faith that God's good- 
 ness was to be shown to him in this life. But the faith 
 which gave him courage would have been lacking had he 
 listened to those who had no time for the fellowship with 
 God which was his delight. 
 
 Concerning That Fellowship. One comes to know God 
 only through fellowship with him. Life failures strewn 
 along the path of the ages testify to that. And the men 
 and women who have walked with courage through almost 
 impossible experiences witness to the accessibility of God 
 for this fellowship. A great number of books are written 
 to-day on "How"— "How to cook," "How to swim," "How 
 to live on seventeen cents a day." The bookstalls are full 
 of them. But who shall write the books on "How to have 
 fellowship with God"? No modern scribe can do this 
 better than it has already been done. The pages of "The 
 World's Best Seller" fairly bristle with suggestions. Why 
 go outside of the Bible for the way? "I am the way, the 
 truth, and the life : no one cometh unto the Father, but by 
 me," Jesus said in response to a query from one of his 
 disciples. One method by which he made his saying con- 
 crete was to know the Scriptures. One must know about 
 God before he can know God. This does not mean a 
 fantastic use of Scripture or the selection of a verse at ran- 
 dom. It means an intelligent study of the Bible and 
 about the Bible. Jesus also prayed. Prayer was intimate 
 communion with God as Jesus used it. Only the baring of 
 one's personality brings a similar response from another. 
 Constant watchfulness to live Christlike soon results in 
 a new meaning to the phrase, "Our Father." Impatient 
 for quick results, too often a short cut is tried. It always 
 leads to a dead wall, where one must turn back. Our 
 eagerness never hurries God, but our earnestness impresses 
 him. Delayed blessings may be due to failure on our part 
 
COURAGE 53 
 
 to follow the Guide. Are we as anxious to do the things 
 he wants us to do as we are to have him do the things 
 which we want done ? Fellowship with God is a certainty, 
 but it comes by the way of the cross. 
 
 Arms or the Man? In the hour of apparent defeat the 
 real man stands forth. Ordinary victory gives no fair 
 criterion of a soldier. The hard months in the trenches 
 have shown the sort of stuff of which armies are made. 
 The psalmist would have made good with the Allies at 
 the front. When his sword broke he did not throw it 
 away and skulk to the rear. Instead "he believed to see 
 the goodness of Jehovah^' and fought a victorious fight with 
 his broken weapon. By so doing he won a victory twice: 
 once over his difficulties and once over himself. The cou- 
 rageous fighter in life's battles — those common things of 
 every day — is doing what this Israelite did. The King- 
 dom is advanced by men like him. No greater and no 
 less were his opportunities than ours. Weapons do not 
 decide a conflict. The real fight is with the man himself. 
 And the testing question continually is, "Am I simply a 
 craven or a strong, courageous knight?" Let us then be 
 "Knights of the Spirit." 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 Compare courage and foolhardiness. 
 How is ordinary courage developed? 
 How did the psalmist become courageous? 
 What is the significance for life of intellectual courage? 
 Where do we find courageous people ? 
 How does spiritual bullying manifest itself ? 
 Cite some instances of courage. 
 
 How does the doctrine of "preparedness" enter into the 
 life of the courageous ? 
 
 In what places is Christian courage needed to-day ? 
 What is God-given courage? 
 How does one acquire it? 
 
CHAPTEE V 
 THE PATHOS OF LIFE 
 additional reading, psalm 90 
 
 The Thiety-Ninth Psalm 
 
 "I said, I will take lieed to my ways, 
 That I sin not with my tongue: 
 I will keep my mouth with a bridle, 
 While the wicked is before me. 
 
 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; 
 And my sorrow was stirred. 
 My heart was hot within me; 
 While I was musing the fire burned; 
 Then spake I with my tongue: 
 Jehovah, make me to know mine end. 
 And the measure of my days, what it is; 
 Let me know how frail I am. 
 
 Behold, thou hast made my days as hand-breadths; 
 And my life-time is as nothing before thee: 
 Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. 
 Surely every man walketh in a vain show; 
 Surely they are disquieted in vain: 
 He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather 
 
 them. 
 And now. Lord, what wait I for? 
 My hope is in thee. 
 
 Deliver me from all my transgressions: 
 Make me not the reproach of the foolish. 
 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; 
 Because thou didst it. 
 Remove thy stroke away from me: 
 I am consumed by the blow of thy hand. 
 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, 
 Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: 
 Surely every man is vanity. 
 
 'Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and give ear unto my cry; 
 
 Hold not thy peace at my tears: 
 
 For I am a stranger with thee, 
 
 A sojourner, as all my fathers were. 
 
 Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, 
 
 Before I go hence, and be no more." 
 
 54 
 
THE PATHOS OF LIFE 55 
 
 Is It Worth the Candle? 
 
 Why Not Complain? Why not complain if we are sick 
 and our neighbor is vigorous and strong? Especially if 
 we have endeavored to live right, pay our debts, treat our 
 neighbors with fairness and the world at large with jus- 
 tice, and our neighbor treats God as a byword and does 
 none of those things expected of a good citizen. Why not ? 
 A good complaining eases the mind, gives vent to one's 
 feelings, and lets everyone know that we are not unmindful 
 of the injustice of our situation. The psalmist had excel- 
 lent reason for taking this view of things. Sickness in 
 his day was popularly regarded as proof of God's displeas- 
 ure. It was an occasion for the scofer to hurl his taunting 
 jibes. Even the kindly disposed found cause to wag their 
 head. Why not burst forth with counter jibe, recalling 
 some undesirable event in their experience? A display of 
 rage might at least drive away those who persisted in 
 their unwelcome attentions. The argument would have 
 been easy to yield to, since to ancient Israel sickness which 
 resulted in death must be an indication of an interruption 
 of fellowship with God. Our habit is to question God's 
 love for us at such times. Or else we plaintively query, 
 "What have we done to merit it?" The burden of our 
 illness or the near approach of death too often drives us 
 to the placing of responsibility upon God to whom, here- 
 tofore, we have given little if any consideration. Evidently, 
 the psalmist had a goodly amount of well-trained will 
 power. He resolved to be doubly careful of every word 
 he uttered, every act he did. No one would trap him 
 into murmuring against God. Of what value is faith, if 
 not for times like this ? It is difficult to imagine this sick 
 man appearing in prayer meeting, week after week, report- 
 ing how he had failed to make good during the week gone 
 by, but that he would make the next week a remarkable 
 demonstration of his faith. He recognized the stubborn 
 element in himself and harnessed his mouth as with a 
 bridle. He controlled his tongue and kept from speaking 
 with bitterness and cursings against his lot. He was 
 sick, probably peevish, his mind a burning furnace of 
 
56 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 fevered suggestions. Holding the current religious phi- 
 losophy of his day, it was not easy to suffer seyere illness. 
 Happily, his practical religion outran his theory of truth, 
 and he disappointed those who came around to see him 
 break loose and rave. Somehow the reality of God pos- 
 sessed him. Like men of to-day who show remarkable 
 Christian fortitude in times of crisis, he demonstrated that 
 the restraining power of religion is not an idle phrase. 
 Do we question in what way he would have sinned if he 
 had complained against God? What do you say to-day 
 when Christians complain of their lot? 
 
 The Philosophy of Silence as Practiced ly the Psalmist. 
 Constant repression of intense emotion reacts with bad 
 results. The sick man of our study found *T£;eeping his 
 grievance on the inside of him'^ an aggravation to his 
 sickness. His pulse grew more rapid and his respiration 
 increased. He soon had to do something or collapse. Many 
 a twentieth-century attempt to keep silent before the 
 criticisms of friends and enemies has at last given way to 
 some form of words. The result has often surprised those 
 waiting for the breaking point to arrive. Like the leering 
 Israelites who expected the psalmist to make a show of 
 himself, modern tormentors have been disappointed. There 
 are two ways which people use in trying to secure relief 
 for wrought-up feelings. The user of violent oaths employs 
 one way, the man of prayer the other. That the first 
 method is a failure need not be said. Prayer leads the 
 soul into the place where one's life is viewed as a unit in 
 a great scheme of things the relationship of which must 
 be understood in order to discover its significance. This 
 is one of the practical values of prayer. "Why not phi- 
 losophize a bit?'' said the psalmist to himself. In com- 
 munion with God we are able to face the fact that life, 
 in its present form, must end some time for each of us. 
 A man cannot live forever. Why not recognize the short- 
 ness of life? The fathers of to-day buried the fathers of 
 yesterday. Why not be ready to take our place, in due 
 time, in the caravan which presses on "to the pale realm 
 of shade, where each shall take his chamber in the silent 
 halls of death"? Sickness is a great handbook on profit- 
 
THE PATHOS OF LIFE 57 
 
 able thinking concerning the brevity of life. The slowing 
 down of machinery reveals every rattle due to worn-out 
 parts, loosened bearings, and overstrain. With full speed 
 on, it looks as though it might last forever, unoiled, un- 
 repaired, unattended. What is life, after all ? The psalm- 
 ist spreads out the four fingers of his right hand. A hand- 
 breadth, the shortest measure he knew, compassed life 
 when compared to eternity. No time available for useless 
 things. Conservation of time and energy is a valuable asset 
 here. The whole of life seems insignificant when viewed 
 from a high attitude. Life itself appears cheap. Men are 
 murdered, shot in battle, hung, electrocuted, killed by 
 trains, commit suicide. What's the use ? Why give special 
 honor to any individual, whatever his position or wealth? 
 Finally all go out, escorted by the undertaker. ''Vain 
 shoV is right. Count the useless things done during life's 
 brief span. Check up the needful and worthy things left 
 undone. Every man, apparently, has a philosophy of his 
 own concerning life worked out in the laboratory of his 
 own pleasure. "Sick man's ravings?" Do you think so? 
 Then recall your sick-bed meditations and the thoughts 
 which have run through your mind as over the body of 
 some loved one or friend a minister has said, "Earth to 
 earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." The revision of our 
 thinking when in the lingering presence of death is oft- 
 times as radical as it is wholesome. 
 
 Oteblooked By-Products of Life 
 
 In the Test-tube of Experience. To claim that man's 
 chief concern in life is getting and spending is to indicate 
 a preference for the philosophy of the cave-man. The 
 cosmic purpose is much larger than the mere perpetuation 
 of life. We cast our thesis in ancient mold if we stop 
 at that. The by-products of life are its real glory. In 
 them do the richer values of living manifest themselves. 
 They make the sunset more than a lurid ball of fire seen 
 through a million particles of dust. They give to en- 
 deavor a high ideal. They make the body subservient to 
 the aspirations of a mind fired by the possibilities of God. 
 Otherwise, why struggle along with life? It is brief, full 
 
58 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 of trouble and sickness, and ends in physical breakdown 
 and death. Would it not be as well to order the physician 
 to stop coming, dismiss the nurse, and throw the medicine 
 out of the window ? There must be something that makes 
 life worth the living amid all its troubles and misfortune. 
 Even those pious souls who sing "On Jordan's stormy bank 
 I stand and cast a wistful eye,'' ask the minister to pray 
 for their recovery when pneumonia has brought them face 
 to face with death. Old earth seems to be a pretty good 
 place to stay when leaving it becomes a near certainty. 
 "My hope is in thee," sang the psalmist. And thereby he 
 shouted aloud to the world that the spiritual nature which 
 had developed within him wl^ile he did the common toil 
 of life was something far more valuable than that which 
 had occupied so much of his time. In the selection of 
 the experiences which went into his life's making, those 
 with God easily separated themselves as the most valuable. 
 The struggle to secure a home and food and clothing in 
 its high satisfaction was as nothing compared with these. 
 Life's shadows were closing in on him. Life's last night 
 had almost arrived. Material things, yes, even the chil- 
 dren of his youth, would soon be shut out from him. His 
 body would decay. But God lived. And he knew God. 
 The going up to Jerusalem to be made a son of the law 
 at the age of twelve, had been, perhaps, a perfunctory 
 ceremonial. But the years of training at the feasts in the 
 temple had made the ceremonial a living experience. The 
 by-product of fellowship with Jehovah lifts high above 
 the main stress of life. It foreshadows the challenge of 
 a day then unborn, "0 death, where is thy sting ? grave, 
 where is thy victory ?" 
 
 A Wise Prayer. Renewed strength for wasted limbs is 
 not the burden of the sick man's prayer. Certainly he 
 would be well if that were possible. He was human. But 
 the consciousness of his fellowship with God made his sins 
 loom up as mountain ranges when the fog lifts from the 
 valley. Holding the view of his time, sin, to him, was the 
 cause of his sickness. His prognosis of his own case gave 
 him a bit of uneasiness. All the neighbors knew that 
 he was sinful because he was sick. He did not want to 
 
THE PATHOS OF LIFE 59 
 
 be the byword of those dominated by moral perversity. His 
 silence in their presence he attributes to his own belief that 
 God was responsible. Hence in the working out of God's 
 will he would offer no complaint. He will not let anyone 
 else know how he feels. Moreover, he acknowledges his 
 sin. But he would like to have the ban lifted. The hand 
 of God working as conscience eats away all the desirable- 
 ness of man. Physically and mentally he is unfit. His 
 beauty is consumed as is a coat in which the moth-grub 
 feasts unseen. The stamp of man's frailty is seen most 
 clearly here. Does the psalmist blame himself or God? 
 Apparently himself, else he would not so eagerly seek for 
 such a readjustment of his own inner life as he does. He 
 seeks a deep inward peace. 
 
 Profitable Persistence. There are prayers made to which 
 the petitioner expects no answer. He says his prayers. 
 The sick man goaded by an unhappy conscience really 
 prayed. He had been taught that there were three kinds 
 of supplication, each, in a different way, superior to the 
 other. Ordinary prayer was made in silence. The emo- 
 tional nature might be stirred but little in such dignified 
 petition. To cry aloud one's prayer indicated more concern 
 over the object sought. To seek God's favor with tears 
 indicated such burden of soul as necessitated an answer 
 before rest could be enjoyed. All three methods are used 
 in the extremity at hand. Eestoration of health would 
 do two things : give back the joy of living, and guQ evidence 
 of the forgiveness of sin. Persistent prayer to God brings 
 results. Through its process one comes to a fairer appraisal 
 of the justice and wisdom of that for which he asks. 
 This in turn adjusts the mind to accept the answer, 
 whether favorable or unfavorable, as God's will and to say, 
 "Thy will be done." There is no evidence that the psalm- 
 ist recovered. There is, however, an eloquent witness to 
 a nobility of soul that was satisfied to look to God for 
 results. How does this compare with our conception and 
 use of prayer ? 
 
 Wayfarers 
 Immigrants. Life is frequently pictured as a pilgrim- 
 
60 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 age ; man, as a traveler. We are immigrants to earth. We 
 shall emigrate from earth's shores. Aliens and strangers, 
 we strive to learn the essentials of life-citizenship that we 
 may pass the examination on the way out. A sojourner 
 was the psalmist. The word suggests temporary residence 
 dependent on the good will of the owner. God owns the 
 earth; hence man is a tenant, a "stranger,'^ a "sojourner." 
 As strangers were cared for by Israel, so the psalmist would 
 ask clemency from God. How far do we look up to God 
 with this conception? Or have we caught the spirit of a 
 later teaching? Are we looking beyond this life for 
 reality ? The end of things came with death to the psalm- 
 ist. The frailty of life and the uselessness of its vanities 
 filled the sunset with a pitiful pathos. He had not yet 
 caught the vision of a life beyond. His cause for com- 
 plaint, had he chosen to make it, could have been justified. 
 Why should he not desire a bright sky for life's day, since 
 its night was so dark and gloomy? Put in his place, one 
 might almost chant with him the plaint of the wayiarer 
 who sees nothing but gloom and discouragement in life, 
 and the end a sort of rest, although an unsatisfactory rest 
 at that: 
 
 "When down long lanes with weary feet 
 I trudge towards close of day, 
 I yearn to rest beside the stream 
 And breathe the new-mown hay. 
 
 "But ever must I hasten on. 
 
 Though rough the path, and get 
 What scanty joy the journey gives. 
 For soon the sun will set, — 
 
 "And ere its glorious light withdraws 
 From all that life counts best, 
 I must be past the shadow'd vale, 
 Across the ford, at rest." 
 
 Life*s Pathos. The pathos of life is not in its brevity 
 or its troubles. It is in the lamentable fact that so many 
 do not see what might be until too late. Busied with non- 
 essentials, we rush through life laying aside its real tasks 
 for another day. This means that we shall have to say. 
 
THE PATHOS OF LIFE 61 
 
 when old age grasps us by the hand, "There are so many 
 left-over things I want to finish/' There will also be a 
 number of regrets to classify with the undone tasks. Old 
 age is revered when along the path it has come it has left 
 life brighter and easier for those who follow. The sun- 
 set lights the west with a message of hope, a psalm of 
 welcome. Friends grieve at the going of one who has put 
 content into friendship, neighborliness, good citizenship, 
 and Christian character. The approaching night may find 
 such a one weak and feeble. But the tolling of the bell 
 in the steeple of the church at the corner vibrates with 
 the satisfying echo of "Well done !'' 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 What is life's real pathos? 
 
 How does psalm ninety throw light on psalm thirty- 
 nine? 
 
 What was thought to be the relationship between sin 
 and suffering? 
 
 How much of life is really worth while ? 
 
 What is the reaction of complaining upon the com- 
 plainer ? 
 
 Of what value to-day is the psalmist's philosophy of 
 silence ? 
 
 In what way are people to-day like the psalmist's neigh- 
 bors? 
 
 How does prayer help in time of trouble ? 
 
 How does prayer help in time of joy ? 
 
 Why is the wayfarer's philosophy unsatisfactory? 
 
 What sort of life gives consent to the final "Well done" ? 
 
CHAPTEE VI 
 
 COMFOET m SOEEOW 
 
 additional readings, psalm 43 
 
 The Foety-Second Psalm 
 
 "As the hart panteth after the water brooks. 
 So panteth my soul after thee, O God. 
 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: 
 When shall I come and appear before God? 
 My tears have been my food day and night, 
 While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? 
 These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me. 
 How I went with the throng, and led them to the house 
 
 of God, 
 With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holy- 
 day. 
 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? 
 And why art thou disquieted within me? 
 Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him 
 For the help of his countenance. 
 
 "O my God, my soul is cast down within me: 
 Therefore do I remember thee from the land of Jordan, 
 And the Hermons, from the hill Mizar, 
 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterfalls: 
 All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. 
 Yet Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the day- 
 time; 
 And in the night his song shall be with me. 
 Even a prayer unto the God of my life. 
 I will say unto God my rock, 
 Why hast thou forgotten me? 
 
 Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 
 As with a sword in my bones, mine adversaries reproach me, 
 While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? 
 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? 
 And why art thou disquieted within me? 
 Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him. 
 Who is the help of my countenance, and my God." 
 
 62 
 
COMFORT IN SORROW 63 
 
 The Thirsty Populace 
 
 Life's Commonplaces. Like sin and suffering, sorrow 
 knows no aristocracy. Its fingers mark the lines of ex- 
 perience upon the face of rich and poor. Nor is there any 
 distinction made between saint and sinner. Sorrow meets 
 everyone at the crossroads early, and thereafter appoints 
 frequent trysting places along life's highway. There is 
 nothing so common as sorrow. Both sin and suffering 
 contribute to it from their boundless store. And goodness 
 itself, nothing loth, helps to fill brimful the cup already 
 nearly overflowing. Wiseacres and others not so wise have 
 philosophized on the why of it all, but to no avail. Learned 
 treatises have been written to show the inherent nature of 
 this heritage in which all folks share. But going through 
 sorrow is an experience to which academic discussions yield 
 scant help. To the woman enduring the poignancy of sor- 
 row which only women know, the "Cheer up, sister," of 
 those who cannot know, is almost mockery. There is a 
 lift, however, in the song of a man who has known sorrow 
 of soul and yet found that which not only sustained him, 
 but also held inviolate the integrity of his faith. In the 
 fellowship of such a veteran in life's common heritage 
 one takes courage. He looks about him to take fresh 
 appraisal of the circumstances out of which his sorrow 
 comes. He looks within himself to check up his own resist- 
 ing powers against moodiness and despair. He seeks out 
 one who has traveled the same road and asks for advice. 
 He asks the advice because he needs it and wants it, but 
 not until he thinks through the process by which the other 
 man came out of the bogs, and not until he adopts the 
 principles involved in the other man's coming through. 
 
 The Psalmist Ojfers a Suggestion. Antiquity of itself 
 has nothing which commends it. Straight-back chairs or 
 cord beds fail to woo us from the comfort of a porch-chair 
 or a felt mattress just because these uncomfortable articles 
 of furniture belonged to our great-grandfather's age. The 
 method used by King Hiram's workmen, however, in mov- 
 ing the massive blocks of stone from the quarry to their 
 place in Solomon's Temple, if it could be discovered, would 
 
6-1 HEAET MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 find a place alongside of modern physics, for it would fit 
 those problems of life where material construction is going 
 on. Thus the hoary antiquity we pass in traveling back to 
 the psalmist does not cause us to think of him as ancient. 
 He has a contribution for life to-day. He is modern. He 
 is one of us. His problem of sorrow is our problem. And 
 he would make a suggestion. The suggestion is that we 
 endeavor to discover ourselves in our sorrow. The psalmist 
 was not troubled by the physchologists. When he wrote 
 his song of sorrow, God and his sorrow were uppermost 
 in his mind. A captive, doubtless, up in the hill country 
 of Dan or Cgesarea Philippi. Taunting enemies on all 
 sides, a conscious fellowship with Jehovah within his soul, 
 but the sight of impotent idol worship all about him, he 
 surely had cause for sorrow. It was spiritual sorrow. He 
 thought of the hart during the prolonged season of drought. 
 Thirsty and distressed, the weary animal sought the brooks, 
 that it might have relief. The psalmist remembered one 
 of these poor creatures which he had seen. Its sides 
 heaved with the anguish of its thirst. That illustrated the 
 way he felt with reference to his separation from the 
 house of the Lord. To his thirsty soul Jehovah was ^^the 
 fountain of life," a living God as contrasted to the poor, 
 useless substitutes to which his captors bowed down. Why 
 could he not have been content with the religious satis- 
 factions where he was? Why not? Ask the hart panting 
 after the water brooks why a drink from the salty Dead 
 Sea would not do as well as from a spring in the moun- 
 tains. Ask of the bleeding soldier on distant battlefield 
 crying out for nurse and surgeon why the suggestion of 
 a good time in the near-by city when the battle is over 
 will not satisfy. The psalmist, an alien prisoner where 
 gods were worshiped who did not satisfy, wanted his 
 God, Jehovah. This was his need. The lack of God's 
 presence was the cause of his sorrow. As a sailor afloat 
 on a life-raft for days without fresh water, so he thirsted. 
 Has the need in your sorrow ever made God as necessary 
 as that? 
 
 Received at Court. Modern church methods have not 
 added anything to the ancient's conception of the signifi- 
 
COMFORT IN SORROW 65 
 
 cance of appearing before God. Three times a year the 
 Jews went up to Jerusalem to appear before God in the 
 temple. The feast of the passover, the feast of harvest, 
 and the feast of ingathering demanded of every male Jew 
 his appearance in the temple. And each time were there 
 the joyous psalms, the fellowship of devout pilgrims, the 
 sacrifice, and the worship. An impression was made which, 
 repeated three times annually, soon plowed a deep furrow 
 into the mind. So in the loneliness of captivity the yearn- 
 ing for the sound of the temple musicians and the mystery 
 of the temple itself predominates. Sorrow centers its long- 
 ing on that which is dearest. In the temple the presence 
 of God would be felt. While men stood in a hushed 
 silence he would manifest himself. Then, as one refreshed 
 by pure, cool water after a weary thirst, the soul rises to 
 ecstatic joy and the life is reattuned. It was a great 
 event. Received as royalty in the court of the great King ! 
 No wonder the psalmist sorrowed. The religion offered 
 him by those who knew not his God was too shallow for 
 consideration. Mayhap he had not appreciated his oppor- 
 tunities when available. Far be it from us of to-day to 
 throw stones. Not only glass, but thin glass at that, is the 
 house in which we live. While we may not attach as much 
 significance as did the psalmist to the privilege of the 
 presence of God, our opportunities are more varied and 
 the fellowship offered is more real. We are accustomed to 
 seek God's presence personally. Our admittance to his 
 court is all our own. We ourselves must qualify "to see 
 God.'' And more of us than the religious census enumer- 
 ates are striving in one way or another to realize the 
 presence of the Most High. Sorrow usually is the experi- 
 ence that helps us into the presence of God. We need 
 comfort then, ^nd somehow we look beyond the strength 
 of human beings when our sorrow becomes acute. Regard- 
 less of creed, nearly all men long for God's presence when 
 sorrow overtakes them. 
 
 The Good Old Days 
 
 Hard Luck Stories. Another man's discussion of his 
 sorrow is to most of us a hard-luck story. Why should 
 
66 HEAKT MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 he burden the world with the tale of what disturbs his 
 life? Does he not know that every one has his share of 
 sorrows ? His tears are his own aif air. We are accustomed 
 to greet him with the expression, '^I have troubles of my 
 own; don^t mention yours." But when the sorrow is our 
 own it is a different story. Something unusual has oc- 
 curred. The world should give heed. Perhaps the general 
 scheme of the universe has slipped a cog. Possibly God 
 has dropped out of the affairs of men. The advice which 
 we offered to our neighbors seems inadequate for our own 
 need. There is a reproach in the look of those whom we 
 burden with our sorrow akin to the taunt hurled at the 
 psalmist, "Where is he, if not at hand in the hour of 
 sorrow?" For a time we are captive among the enemies. 
 Our failure to take our own advice looks like an admission 
 of its uselessness. The joyousness that has been ours makes 
 the contrast of our present state of mind the more bitter. 
 The psalmist "poured out his soul," for he conceived of 
 his soul as a thing apart from his whole "self ^ and thought 
 of it as acting upon his "self" from without. Our con- 
 ception places the soul at the vital center of life. We 
 become all "broken up" over our sorrow. With the singer 
 we sit down to recount the good old days. He was accus- 
 tomed to lead bands of happy pilgrims up to Jerusalem for 
 the feasts. The songs of Zion had burst merrily from his 
 lips. The joy that was overwhelms him as he recalls it. 
 And out of the bitterness of his sorrow and the faith that 
 is not yet spent he gains new strength. Notwithstanding 
 all that is, he will yet praise God for the help which being 
 in his presence gives. 
 
 ''God's in His Heaven/' In spite of a cloudy, drizzly 
 Saturday the sun bursts forth in all of its glory on Sunday 
 morning. Clear days for a long stretch dull the apprecia- 
 tion of the brightness of the sky. The misfortune of hav- 
 ing drifted away from God is felt keenly in times of sorrow. 
 God somehow is of more significance when apparently a 
 bit out of reach. The clearing of the mind when sorrow 
 breaks into tears stings to consciousness life as it really is. 
 The coating of gayety, self-deception, and similar attempts 
 at camouflage thin out and disappear, leaving the spul bare 
 
COMFOET IN SOEROW 67 
 
 and sensitive. The memory of days of fellowship with 
 God comes as a smarting rebuke. The sorrow intensifies 
 what faith might have wrought had the soul been true. 
 The realization of this brings with it the difficulty of 
 recognizing that our personal experience does not alter 
 the truth of the mill-girPs song : 
 
 "God's in his heaven — 
 All's right with the world!" 
 
 When this fact is recognized, the way out of the hours of 
 gloom and tears becomes more clearly outlined. When 
 faith follows cheerfully the lead of God, the memory of 
 former delights gives the needed strength to go through 
 the ^^deep waters of the present.'^ Has not the memory of 
 God's goodness in other days made the garden of sorrow 
 to blossom with lilies of hope? The long look, the cor- 
 rective perspective, comes then. "A day is as a thousand 
 years'' and the events of the bitter hour do not make up 
 the entirety of life. 
 
 Why Cast Down? A well-balanced life notes carefully 
 the counters on both sides of the scales. Like the see-saw 
 of childhood, life should be a series of adjustments in 
 balancing. Sometimes we allow sorrow unduly to depress 
 us. Is it out of order in these days of investigating com- 
 missions to project an inquiry into our own mental state ? 
 The analysis of our feelings often helps us to overcome 
 them. At least it puts us in a position to know what must 
 be mastered. "Why art thou cast down, my soul?" 
 was not an idle query to the psalmist or an extra phrase to 
 fill a measure. It was a part of the process wherewith he 
 was lifting himself out of the depths of his sorrow. It 
 almost looks as though he had overestimated the weight of 
 his sorrow. That bump when we stumbled up the stairs 
 raised a tremendous cry, but mother's kiss put us quickly 
 into the running again. Folks are much alike. The 
 psalmist still had his hope in God. We have the promises 
 of God as well as our past knowledge of his favor. "Job's 
 Comforters" in times of sorrow are an encumbrance to the 
 earth, as are those who hold a funeral service every time 
 they visit the sick. Far more useful are those choice in- 
 
68 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 dividuals who come in to find out the "why^' of it all and 
 then help ns correct the causes. A bit brusque we find them 
 sometimes, and not overwelcome. But who welcomes the 
 stunning blow between the eyes that enables the life-guard 
 to snatch us from the undertow and drag us safely to 
 shore? Many of our "soul-cast-down" experiences are un- 
 necessary. We see this for others. They see it for us. 
 Why not become introspective enough to see it for our- 
 selves ? The battletorn soldier grows restive in his hospital 
 cot. But not because of sorrow over his misfortune. No 
 self-pity for him. His sorrow is all because he cannot at 
 once return to the trenches and fierce bloody warfare. 
 Psalmist-like, he has a hope. And it keeps him going 
 until he is patched up again and fit for battle. Personal 
 sorrows are minimized these days. The greater sorrow 
 of a race at war has overshadowed all else. How great a 
 boon just now is the way of the psalmist: "Why art thou 
 cast down ? Hope thou in God V 
 
 The Way Out 
 
 ''First Aid'' for Sorrow. Sorrow feeds upon itself. If 
 we are to expect the greatest help from God, we must start 
 by using all the self-help of which we are capable. The 
 writer of the forty-second psalm would doubtless have 
 hesitated to give lectures on "Methods of Overcoming Sor- 
 row." Yet his own experiences set forth in song present 
 an eSicient method. Unlike many an expert who presents 
 theories which he has not proven, this singer of Israel 
 makes his own sorrow lighten our pathway in similar 
 experiences. The analyzing of our feelings is the first step. 
 Can we find a cure for our sorrow if we do not determine 
 its cause? This leads at once to a going over of what 
 God has done for us in times past. This gives a basis for 
 comparing our lot with the lot of others. And who yet 
 has been willing to take up another's sorrow in the place 
 of his own ? The deaf grieve for the blind, and the blind 
 pity the deaf. Each has acquired a philosophy which 
 makes easier the handicapped journey. Both blind and 
 deaf have realized the necessity of overcoming their feelings 
 
COMFORT IN SORROW 69 
 
 in the matter. So must we. The heroism which they 
 manifest drives us to the conclusion that we must pull our- 
 selves out of our despair. Away from friends and loved 
 ones, the psalmist listened to the torrents and eddies of the 
 Jordan. To him they typified the flood of misfortunes 
 which he thinks God is sending upon him. All troubles 
 came from God, in his thinking, as well as all things good. 
 He is overwhelmed. 
 
 "Yet Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the day- 
 time; 
 And in the night his song shall he with me. 
 Even a prayer unto the God of my life." 
 
 It is a great thing to tell of sorrow when the final word 
 is "victory.'' The telling shames the crowd who "enjoy 
 being miserable," and their number is almost incalculable. 
 Victory sounds in the psalmist's measures because he helped 
 God to help him by doing all he could do by way of prepara- 
 tion. 
 
 Going to Headquarters. Many a battle has been lost 
 because subordinates have failed to go to headquarters for 
 guidance and plans. To take our sorrow to God and ask 
 "Why?" in the spirit of "Thy will be done" is no easy 
 task. It necessitates the laying aside of a critical attitude 
 toward God. It involves a readiness to accept the result 
 of the reasoning together. It means that we come per- 
 plexed, not demanding explanation. This was the psalm- 
 ist's attitude. God was to him one who should protect 
 him. Had God forgotten him? He would inquire and 
 find out. A Jehovah worshiper ought not to be moping 
 around at a disadvantage before taunting idol worshipers. 
 Moreover, the process hurt; it was a sword in his bones, 
 the seat of pain. To know one's God is able to deliver 
 from trouble, and yet no relief appears, is a hard matter 
 to explain to the scoffer. He would talk it over with God 
 himself. wise man of ancient time, who taught you the 
 method of the Master? For so Jesus directed men to do. 
 In his presence are comfort, help, and understanding. In 
 the psalmist's resolution to go to headquarters with his 
 sorrow is the prelude to our latter-day hymn : 
 
70 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 "Are we weak and heavy laden. 
 
 Cumbered with a load of care? 
 Precious Saviour, still our refuge, 
 
 Take it to the Lord in prayer. 
 Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? 
 
 Take it to the Lord in prayer; 
 In his arms he'll take and shield thee, 
 
 Thou wilt find a solace there." 
 
 The Father's Knowledge. The child lacks the wisdom 
 of his father. He thinks in terms of his own needs, while 
 the father thinks in terms of the child^s development. A 
 man sounding forth the message of God once said: "My 
 thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my 
 ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than 
 the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and 
 my thoughts than your thoughts^^ (Isa. 55. 8, 9). Yet, 
 as the presence of the father helps the child to become 
 more like the father, so does a consciousness of the pres- 
 ence of God help us to think through our troubles from 
 God's viewpoint. Especially is this true since Jesus Christ 
 came into the world. We are apt to expect relief from sor- 
 row too quickly. It takes time. Our entire nature has 
 to recover from the shock. God knows this. He gives us 
 the needed comfort and gradually leads us back to the 
 normal experiences once more. Are we the same? No, 
 not if we have put our faith absolutely in God. We are 
 richer in experience, stronger in faith, and more abundant 
 in our knowledge of his fatherly goodness. Our renewed 
 praise of God begins before the dark clouds lift. As we 
 emerge into the light of the day our soul is aglow with 
 the sunrise of a steadfast purpose. Come what may in 
 the to-morrows yet uncalendared, we will sing with the 
 captive on Hermon: 
 
 "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? 
 And why art thou disquieted within me? 
 Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, 
 Who is the help of my countenance, and my God." 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 What effect has sorrow on the mind? On the body? 
 Can you prove that sorrow is common to all people? 
 
COMFORT IN SORROW 71 
 
 How does the way we meet sorrow affect its influence 
 on us? 
 
 Why do we cry out for God in time of sorrow ? 
 
 In what way did Jesus minister to the sorrows of life? 
 
 What are some of the ways in which we may help our- 
 selves in sorrow? 
 
 How does a consciousness of the presence of God help? 
 
 To what extent may we have that assurance of his 
 presence ? 
 
 In what sorrows have we found God a comfort? 
 
 How has our own experience enabled us to comfort 
 others ? 
 
 What demand does the sorrow of others make upon a 
 Christian to know and understand the way out? 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 GOD OUR REFUGE 
 
 additional reading, psalm 139. 1-13 
 
 The Foety-Sixth Psalm 
 
 "God is our refuge and strength, 
 A very present help in trouble. 
 
 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change. 
 And though the mountain be shaken into the heart of the 
 
 seas; 
 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled. 
 Though the mountains tremble with the swelling thereof. 
 
 (Selah.) 
 
 "There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of 
 God, 
 The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. 
 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: 
 God will help her, and that right early. 
 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved: 
 He uttered his voice, the earth melted. 
 Jehovah of hosts is with us; 
 The God of Jacob is our refuge. (Selah.) 
 
 "Come, behold the works of Jehovah, 
 What desolations he hath made in the earth. 
 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; 
 He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; 
 He burneth the chariots in the fire. 
 Be still, and know that I am God: 
 I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in 
 
 the earth. 
 Jehovah of hosts is with us; 
 The God of Jacob is our refuge. (Selah.)" 
 
 What About the Prophets? 
 
 Among the Jingoists. Wise ones who know past, pres- 
 ent, and future are ever with us. The more ignorant 
 they are the more insistent is their cry to be heard. Soap 
 
 72 
 
GOD OUR REFUGE 73 
 
 boxes serve as their forums on innumerable street corners. 
 Crowds with widely varying heart hunger listen to their 
 prophecies with eager hope. Nor is their fraternity 
 limited to the curbstone university. Throughout the life 
 of any city they may be found in goodly numbers. Their 
 dress is in accordance with their audience, their manner 
 of speech akin to the society in which they move. But 
 their message is practically the same. Everything eco- 
 nomically is wrong. It is getting worse. Unless the 
 oppressed rise up, the future will be unbearable. The 
 nation is going to the dogs. Religion has lost its flavor. 
 Dark, dismal, and full of despair are the days ahead. Fre- 
 quently this type of prophet seeks popular notice by 
 extreme statement. His message is not a fundamental 
 conviction, the outcome of his life and thought. Like the 
 gloomy individual who scatters gloom wherever he goes, 
 the jingo prophets leave behind them a discontent without 
 any remedy for it. Because of some defect in their own 
 make-up they endeavor to "make the world bitter'^ for 
 everyone with whom they come in contact. They are the 
 "joy-killers'^ of the earth. From the beginning their 
 brood has made the wheels of progress drag. Purely 
 destructive in their viewpoint of men and things, oppor- 
 tunists for their own advantage, they hold at attention 
 multitudes who otherwise would be on the march. The 
 universe, man, God — everything is out of joint. They nail 
 a placard with the legend "Icabod" on to the whole busi- 
 ness and move on to a new soap box — after selling some 
 printed copies of their speech. 
 
 Wholesome Isaiahs. Welcome the prophet of con- 
 structive progress ! May his tribe increase. Man needs 
 an uplift and outlook. He needs to know things which 
 he can make count. He wants to know how he may fortify 
 his future days, not merely how he can spoil those of 
 others. He is hungry for a philosophy of life that is 
 workable, that takes in other folks, himself, and God. 
 If economic conditions are wrong, what can he do to right 
 them? If he became a landowner, would he still en- 
 courage the soap-box oratory? The nation may be going 
 down hill. If so, why? What is his contribution to the 
 
74 HEART MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 saving of the situation? It is his nation, after all. And 
 as for religion, he needs religion. If it is out at the 
 elbows, where ds the fault, with religion or with men? 
 There are prophets who bring hope to men who question 
 thus. How Isaiah of old answered the yearning of the 
 noble spirits of his day in this respect ! Of course every- 
 one does, not want a message that makes a demand upon 
 the hearer, but among the crowd are those who listen to 
 the way pointed out. These, like the Jews whose spirit 
 is reflected in the psalm, give expression to their gratitude 
 when the morning of realization dawns clear and bright. 
 The optimistic brother who bases his hope on experience 
 and vision and high ideals is a choice addition to any 
 group of men. The prophet whose utterances are based 
 on sound principles helps to readjust economic injustice, 
 to stabilize the life of the nation, to revive religion from 
 a death of dogma to a life of experience. The singer of 
 our song was one of this forward-looking band. His is 
 the spirit of Edward O'Shaughnessy when he sings : 
 
 "We are the music makers, 
 
 And we are the dreamers of dreams, 
 Wandering by lone sea breakers, 
 And sitting by desolate streams; 
 
 World losers and world forsakers. 
 
 On whom the pale moon gleams; 
 Yet we are the movers and shakers 
 
 Of the world forever, it seems. 
 
 One man with a dream, at pleasure. 
 Shall go forth and conquer a crown, 
 
 And three with a new song's measure 
 Can trample a kingdom down." 
 
 Stating a Proposition. No one has yet discovered a 
 way of keeping poise in the midst of all sorts of disaster 
 without strength other than his own. "Isles of safety" 
 are needed by all. The psalmist rejoices in God as his 
 refuge, and not only his, but the refuge of a city full of 
 men, women, and children. What a city it was ! Jeru- 
 salem, the center of the Jehovah worship. In the presence 
 of an attacking enemy, here was safety. Why? The 
 
GOD OUR REFUGE 75 
 
 presence of Jehovah was there. With him in the midst 
 of the city and the people, what a ground of confidence 
 was theirs ! Jehovah has just proven himself ^'a very 
 present help in trouble/^ After that demonstration of 
 his protection, what if earthquakes do come, what if the 
 nations of the earth do become embroiled in unimaginable 
 conflict? "God is our refuge and strength." He will 
 protect us and set things right. The psalmist sings in 
 terms of community religion. It is national safety, na- 
 tional faith, national trust in God, in which the individual 
 participates because he is blessed in being a unit in the 
 community. Why fear with such solidity of belief ? Why 
 not rather say to posterity, "Link your community life up 
 with God? You as individuals will then be buttressed by 
 a hope and faith in God which is shared by all; God will 
 then be able to bless you more abundantly than now you 
 permit him/' 
 
 By Way of Illustration 
 
 Our Home Town. The true citizen has a high estimate 
 of his native town. No one is able to convince him dif- 
 ferently. This conviction goes with him throughout life. 
 The home town ever holds high place in our thought. Its 
 way of paving the streets, its alertness in adopting electric 
 lighting, its fine park, its excellent department stores, its 
 noble institutions — why, there could not be a more perfect 
 place to live. Its influence on our lives is mixed into 
 our earnest conversations with friends and is the keynote 
 of our more public utterances. The familiar scenes take 
 form in our dreams and our very slumber is made sweet 
 by holy memories. We hear the murmur of near-by 
 streams and find rest in that deep peace which, in far- 
 away days, we knew amid the hills of home. We can 
 understand the heart of the psalmist when he sang a song 
 of holy memories: 
 
 "There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city 
 of God, 
 The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. 
 God is in the midst of her." 
 
76 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 The Awakening. No facile writer, however realistic, 
 can portray the difference between our town as we 
 dreamed it and as we found it when we revisited it after 
 twenty years. We are glad that the many folks whom we 
 regaled with its wonders did not accompany us. The 
 whole town seems to have suffered a shrinkage. The won- 
 derful hotel opposite the railroad station looks like a 
 remodeled barn without much paint used in the process. 
 The streets are remarkably narrow. The noble shade 
 trees which we loved are not as large as we remembered 
 them. What a little old shack the courthouse is! And 
 the swimming hole — well, the less said the better. Surely, 
 we never got so mussed up and dirty as the urchins found 
 diving from a slippery, slimy bank into a most uninviting 
 coffee-colored pool. Something must be wrong. But there 
 is nothing wrong. We have developed. We now see 
 things with the eyes of maturity. Bread and molasses are 
 as sweet as in the days of childhood, but the drip of the 
 molasses through a hole in the bread does not make the 
 appeal it once did. The reality of the town is unchanged. 
 The sterling character of the people is the same. Faith in 
 God is the same. The things which we forgot to boast 
 about all come back to us as we worship again in the old 
 church. It is not as magnificent as we remembered it, 
 but the spirit of God is there. The stained-glass windows 
 with the names of the soldiers slain in battle let through 
 the sunlight broken into a glory which says, "I died for 
 you." The tablet erected to a fireman killed while rescu- 
 ing an old lady, still proclaims its message of sacrificial 
 service. The externals of the town may have changed a bit 
 with our new perspective, but as we crowd with the 
 others about the altar to receive the symbols of the broken 
 body and shed blood of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ 
 we are convinced, with the psalmist, "God is in the 
 midst of her." 
 
 The Day of Testing. True religion, however it is ex- 
 pressed in varying creeds, unites men in times of great 
 moral crisis. Catholic, Jew, and Protestant unite to fight 
 a common moral foe. In such a battle differences are for- 
 gotten and the common fact that the Spirit of God is the 
 
GOD OUR REFUGE 77 
 
 refuge of all predominates. What religion the community 
 actually possesses suddenly emerges in a community con- 
 sciousness and a fight is waged that ends in victory. Tliis 
 underlies the stability of our town. We may be unable 
 to understand or accept each other's explanation of his 
 relationship to God, but we are keen enough to recog- 
 nize the elements of righteousness in his viewpoint and 
 living. Our aim is common ; our thinking and our methods 
 of approach are at odds. Our town is great, after all. 
 Perhaps not for the reasons of which we bragged, but for 
 better reasons. The Spirit of God manifesting himself 
 in righteousness is among our folks. Here is our refuge 
 and strength. Here is a foothold to take another step for- 
 ward. Here are hope and faith and greater possibilities. 
 No wonder the psalmist grew exultant. "God is in the 
 midst of her; she shall not be moved," he sang of his 
 Jerusalem. United faith had enabled Jehovah to give 
 them the victory against great odds. Let the nations 
 roar and the kingdoms stir to battle! Zion, city of 
 David, is secure. God has but to speak, and the earth 
 melts and its proud inhabitants are scattered away. What 
 a God of battles is Jehovah ! Our father's God, the God 
 of Jacob, is our security! Would anyone fail to rejoice 
 in his home town when he could sing thus about it? 
 Are we a part in making such a song possible in our day ? 
 
 Blown Straws Indicating Direction 
 
 Revising Estimates. Increase of knowledge ought to 
 result in revised estimates of folks and things. An actual 
 experience has broadened the outlook of the psalmist. 
 God's manifested protection of Jerusalem and its people 
 was sufficient data on which to base a hypothesis. He 
 asks those hearing his song to look and see for themselves 
 what God has done. Especially let those nations who have 
 participated in Israel's history as enemies take notice. 
 Let them also take warning from what they see. What 
 God has done to the Assyrians he will do to other nations 
 until warfare shall cease. Jehovah worship must prevail 
 in the earth. Those accepting Jehovah as their God will 
 participate in it. God and his righteous principles of life 
 
78 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 must prevail. His will must be done by men. Only then 
 will there be any lasting peace. The process may be 
 costly and bloody, but it seems to be the only way. The 
 real prophets are right. And the psalmist urges all peo- 
 ples to rally around them. If it is a good doctrine for 
 his town, why not for other towns ? His town-ideal, "God 
 is in the niiclst of her,^^ he would have other towns adopt. 
 Hear him as he himself joins the ranks of the prophets and 
 makes Jehovah declare: 
 
 "Be still, and know that I am God: 
 I will be exalted in the earth." 
 
 The Joy of Jerusalem. If a crowd will go wild over the 
 victory of their football team, what must be the feelings 
 of a city full of folks just saved from death from a ruth- 
 less enemy? The grewsome particulars of what defeat 
 under such circumstances means, are familiar to everyone 
 in our day — brutality and ruthlessness, fire and pestilence, 
 old men and little children haggled, women and girls 
 debauched and left to die of exposure. Jerusalem had 
 escaped all this. Well might her people rejoice. They 
 did rejoice. And they praised God for his goodness to 
 them. They realized in a new way the value of their 
 loyalty to him. Their faith enlarged. The fact that 
 righteous citizens make a righteous city well pleasing in 
 God's sight was brought from the realm of the ideal into 
 the reality of everyday experience. Count the towns now 
 free from the liquor traffic which rejoice as did Jerusalem. 
 Enumerate the communities where commercialized vice is 
 no longer allowed to lift its head. Look about and note the 
 towns where woman- and child-labor laws are giving prac- 
 tical promise of a sturdier posterity. There was a reason 
 why Jerusalem stood. There is a reason for the joy of 
 our own towns saved from the insidious enemies who, in 
 the guise of pleasure, destroy our citizenship. "God is in 
 the midst of her," is the grateful refrain of this after- 
 the-battle lyric. If we can say as much for our town, 
 it will be possible to gain the same sort of victory and 
 to sing a like lyric of happy community life. 
 
 Safe for Democracy, It is hypocritical cant for us to 
 
GOD OUR REFUGE 79 
 
 cry, "God save the heathen," when our own communities 
 are without God and abominably sinful. Only the living 
 according to high ideals in the homeland makes possible 
 the sending of high ideals abroad. For what sort of 
 democracy do we want the world made safe? Are we 
 willing to demonstrate economic justice? The ungodly 
 points a finger of scorn at the divergence between our creed 
 and practice at this most vital problem in practical Chris- 
 tianity. Will we take brotherhood away from the rhetori- 
 cians and help it to walk in flesh and blood freely among 
 all men? The trenches have done this. Can the Church 
 of Jesus Christ do less ? Can sacrifice be given the broad, 
 free scope in undiscriminating service that it has in our 
 songs and the "finally, brethren," of our Sunday exhorta- 
 tion? For what sort of democracy do we want the world 
 made safe? The psalmist knew what he would propose. 
 It would be a democracy wherein all men recognized 
 God and did his will. It would be a democracy which 
 exalted God and therefore caused love to prevail among 
 men of every color and race. The Spirit of God is moving 
 in the hearts of men to-day as in early times. Could we 
 do better than permit God's Spirit to prevail, take the 
 course of events out of our blundering wisdom and make 
 the world safe for democracy by making it the kingdom 
 of God on earth? That day is certainly coming, for, 
 through our night, "mornward the stars move on." With 
 radiant faith, let us sing with Gerald Massey : 
 
 Though hearts brood o'er the past, our eyes 
 
 With shining futures glisten; 
 Lo! now the dawn bursts up the skies: 
 
 Lean out your souls and listen! 
 
 The earth rolls freedom's radiant way 
 And ripens with her sorrow; 
 
 The bars of hell are strong to-day, 
 But Christ shall rise to-morrow. 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 What effect do "gloom peddlers" have upon our ideals 
 and relationships with others? 
 
80 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 Compare the usefulness of constructive optimists like 
 Isaiah and the psalmist with the prophesying of jingoists ? 
 
 Had the psalmist and his people any greater need of 
 of an unassailable refuge than we have? 
 
 To what extent have we made our "home town" as bad 
 as it is? 
 
 To what extent have we made our "home town'' as good 
 as it is? 
 
 Are we alive to our privilege of helping to make it 
 possible to say, "God is in the midst of her"? 
 
 In what way does our psalm help us to see the real 
 values in community life? 
 
 In what ways does "individual" religion fail to make 
 a community righteous? 
 
 Discuss the customs, habits, and life of "our town" 
 which, if adopted universally, would "make the world safe 
 for democracy." 
 
 For what sort of democracy are we willing to work ? 
 
 How long are we willing to work at this task? 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 SORROW FOR SIN 
 
 FiFTY-FiEST Psalm 
 
 "Hare mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingklndness: 
 According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out 
 
 my transgressions. 
 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, 
 And cleanse me from my sin. 
 For I know my transgressions; 
 And my sin is ever before me. 
 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, 
 And done that which is evil in thy sight; 
 That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, 
 And be clear when thou Judgest. 
 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; 
 And in sin did my mother conceive me. 
 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; 
 And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom. 
 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: 
 Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 
 Make me to hear joy and gladness. 
 That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 
 Hide thy face from my sins. 
 And blot out all mine iniquities. 
 Create in me a clean heart, O (Jod; 
 And renew a right spirit within me. 
 Cast me not away from thy presence. 
 An* take not thy holy Spirit from me. 
 Restore unto me the Joy of thy salvation, 
 And uphold me with a willing spirit. 
 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; 
 And sinners shall be converted unto thee. 
 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my 
 
 salvation ; 
 And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 
 O Lord, open thou my lips; 
 And my mouth shall show forth thy praise. 
 For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I give It: 
 Thou hast no pleasure In burnt-offering. 
 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: 
 A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not deipiie. 
 
 81 
 
82 HEAET MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: 
 
 Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 
 
 Then wilt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness. 
 
 In burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering: 
 
 Then will they offer bullocks upon thine altar. 
 
 Chickens Come Home to Roost 
 
 Sin Lodge, No. 37. Definitions give no satisfaction to 
 a mind harassed by troubled thoughts of sin. Every new 
 limitation put upon its seriousness lifts clearer into con- 
 sciousness the sin itself. The faster we rush along in our 
 eifort to shake ourself free from the thought of it, the 
 more insistently it cries for our attention. Sin is a 
 Nemesis. No amount of self-delusion drives it away. It 
 has ever been so. The psalmist gave little concern to to- 
 morrow when he committed the sin which now assails him. 
 But to-morrows unnumbered gave room for its conse- 
 quences in his thinking, and, do his best, he was unable 
 to escape it. Down through the years it followed him, 
 or else ran ahead and met him along the way. It flayed 
 and stung his conscience so that he had no peace. He 
 belonged to the "Ancient Order of Sinners,'' whose fel- 
 lowship is still among us. All the grips and passwords 
 were familiar to him. No handbook was needed in order 
 that he might deliver the charge to new and younger 
 sinners. "I know my transgression," he admitted with 
 heavy heart; "my sin is ever before me.'' Well qualified 
 was he for fellowship with sinners of all ages. _ The 
 torment of his mind would have found comradeship in 
 Dante's Inferno, while the polished malefactor of our 
 own generation would be a boon companion to him. Like 
 well-bred chickens, sin always comes home to roost. At 
 most inconvenient times it demands a hearing. Nor will 
 it be put off without some sort of satisfaction. How we 
 plunge into good works to quiet sin's nagging ! And how 
 futile are our efforts in getting results! The demand 
 continues that the issue be met and fairly considered. 
 It is at this point that we quail. Why are we so afraid 
 to meet the demands of our sins honestly and frankly? 
 Are we unwilling to pay the exactions which our fellow- 
 ship with sin must finally make? 
 
SORROW FOR SIN 83 
 
 Guilty or Not Guilty? The man who refused to plead 
 until he had heard the evidence against him is not a 
 creation of the wit of a daily paper. He is a type of 
 individual produced in large numbers in all generations. 
 Such a man, when sin taps him on the shoulder to claim 
 its reward, is sorry, not that he sinned, but that he has 
 been discovered. This accounts for the many subterfuges 
 used by lawyers in defending in court men known to be 
 guilty of the offense charged. The sad part of it is 
 that the guilty often escape conviction and the judge pro- 
 nounces '^Discharged." Small comfort in such exonera- 
 tion. When Charles Steele, in The Right of Way, turns 
 on the man whom he had just successfully defended 
 against the charge of murder, as he makes to thank 
 him, he exclaims, "You are guilty." Nor is his attitude 
 isolated. ^lost people feel the same way when they read 
 of investigations which result in a whitewashing of the 
 accused. And the individual concerned always feels that 
 way. For, though God remains indefinitely the "unknown" 
 quantity in lifers equation, few there are who expect to 
 pass over the Great Divide without in some way finding 
 reality for the symbol. The need of God becomes so 
 great that the hollowness of assumed righteousness be- 
 comes appalling. Sin, then, must be dealt with according 
 to the facts. The psalmist had come to this conclusion. 
 Whatever life had given him of joy or position or wealth, 
 it was all fleshless bones because of sin and of being with- 
 out fellowship with God. He therefore sought relief from 
 the torments of his conscience in prayer to Jehovah. He 
 laid his heart bare and confessed what he had done. He 
 offered no excuse of extenuating circumstances, tempera- 
 ment, or ignorance. He pleaded guilty without qualifica- 
 tion. And he asked God's mercy in his behalf. 
 
 An Hour with the Judge 
 
 The Value of Clearness. The amplification of the 
 meaning of sin was necessary for the psalmist, not for 
 God. It is the guilty man who must understand clearly 
 the significance of what he has done when he seeks mercy 
 
84 HEAET MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 at the hands of God. So the psalmist elaborates. He 
 has transgressed. Some defection from God has occurred. 
 Or, perchance, he has rebelled against God^s laws or against 
 God himself. He has committed iniquity. He has per- 
 verted the right or indulged in depraved conduct. He 
 has sinned. Some error has been committed. He has 
 wandered from the right way. He has missed the mark 
 in life. In making the matter clear he has stated the full 
 case against himself. His very clearness has stamped him 
 guilty. Did he sidestep his statement when he realized 
 what he had said? Not he! He wanted to be freed 
 from it all. In order to be freed he must confess it. A 
 bad case, surely. Our case is bad, as well. Perhaps ours 
 is a bit worse. For, to his knowledge of the law of God 
 we have added the teaching of Jesus concerning the 
 thinking of evil. Where does this new content to the 
 meaning of sin put our case? Have we made clear to 
 ourselves the significance of the chair we occupy in our 
 hour in court with God ? 
 
 Say It. What would you say if you were in the place 
 of the psalmist? Sin confessed abjectly, what next step 
 would you take? It was no dress rehearsal that the 
 singer of "The Song of a Sinful Soul" was going through. 
 It was a page from life. It was all stern indictment, self- 
 indictment at that. Tragedy may be analyzed with com- 
 posure when read some hundreds of years after it occurs. 
 But even youthful love gives heartaches at its sudden 
 breaking off. And it was no teen-age romance with 
 which the poet was concerned. Driven by his sin, he 
 was seeking relief. In order to find it he had followed 
 the teachings of his fathers. He had confessed his sins 
 before God. But admission does not give full relief. The 
 psalmist wanted to be rid of his sin. He was as willing 
 to have it torn from him as we are to leave a nerve-racking 
 tooth in the dentist's office. So he pleaded with all the 
 terminology with which his day was familiar to be freed 
 from that which was making life scarcely worth living. 
 There is no stopping to discuss the theological value of 
 the methods which he is about to suggest. He knows 
 what he wants and he uses all the knowledge he has to 
 
SORROW FOR SIN 85 
 
 make the matter clear. Sinners of times more modem 
 than this Israelite pleader have considered God as a great 
 bookkeeper. And many there are who think that in some 
 way they will be able to juggle the trial balance. "Blot 
 out my transgressions/' he urges. With intense expect- 
 ancy he lifts up his face and cries out. "Wash me thor- 
 oughly from my iniquity/' he continues, as he recalls the 
 thoroughness with which the fuller washes the clothes. 
 "Cleanse me from my sin"; pronounce me "clean" among 
 my people, he adds, as though to let no phase of his desire 
 escape attention. That he states that he was born in 
 iniquity is not a slur against his mother, but an expression 
 of his inherited belief — the inherited sinfulness of man. 
 He knows that God desires inward purity and asks for 
 that wisdom which is spiritual discernment. All the 
 ceremonial of his religion comes to mind. As the leper 
 is sprinkled in the rites of cleansing with a bunch of 
 hyssop for a sprinkler, so he would be treated. His clothes 
 he would have washed according to the rites of purifica- 
 tion. Is he merely a ceremonialist ? Will forms and 
 observances do? No. Through all of his prayer is the 
 earnest longing: 
 
 "Create within me a clean heart, O (Jod, 
 And renew a right spirit within me." 
 
 No half-way measures satisfy a soul truly sorry for sin. 
 It must be all or nothing. And all includes not only the 
 satisfaction of forgiveness. It also takes in the presence 
 of God's Spirit. Salvation is no narrow term. It em- 
 braces all that God has in mind for man. This includes 
 forgiveness, a new life, and development in God-likeness. 
 The psalmist was making a big petition that day. Are 
 we equal to him in our thought of what God will do for 
 us if we permit him? 
 
 Who Pays the Cost? 
 
 The Aftermath. That sacred spot where God forgives 
 our sin should not receive all of our attention for the 
 
86 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 rest of our life. No doubt, the psalmist could have sung 
 with great gusto, had it been written in his time: 
 
 "Happy day, happy day 
 When Jesus washed my sins away: 
 He taught me how to watch and pray, 
 And live rejoicing every day." 
 
 There is no evidence in his psalm, however, that he pitched 
 his tent and remained there until the day he was buried. 
 There are a number of matters to be attended to when 
 God forgives a man of his sins. What about the people who 
 have suffered and must continue to suffer because of a 
 man's sins, now forgiven? Is there no payment to be 
 made to them? Must they ever bear burdens because 
 we ignored God's laws? Where is justice to be found if 
 that were so ? The psalmist would have his heart "tell its 
 raptures all abroad.'' He would do even better than that. 
 He would teach transgressors the ways of God. He would 
 strive to convert sinners to God. But what about his cry, 
 "Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, God"? Was he a 
 murderer? If so, did his forgiveness by God close the 
 case so far as he was concerned? Hardly. Somewhere 
 in his song he strikes a note that summons us like a bugle 
 call to attention: 
 
 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: 
 A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." 
 
 The humility of a genuine penitence which ends in for- 
 giveness does not permit the closing of the door of the 
 past that the one forgiven may pass on unconcerned into 
 the days ahead. Nor does it permit the seeking of satis- 
 faction in boasting of the sinfulness of by-gone days. It 
 stirs the new-born soul to acts of restitution. Not only 
 will the tongue sing aloud of God's righteousness; the life 
 also will be characterized by righteousness similar to God's. 
 Sorrow for sin does not cease when forgiveness causes a 
 new day to dawn in human experience. It goes on through 
 life as a silent unseen companion of the inner sanctuary. 
 It points out the newer pitfalls and slippery places, but it 
 also whispers of bygone wrongs that may yet be righted. 
 
SOREOW FOR Sm 87 
 
 The nagging of sin itself is gone. The persuasiveness 
 of sorrow for sin steps in to take its place. The after- 
 math of forgiveness needs our attention in more ways 
 than one. 
 
 The Joy of Salvation. He who first united the term 
 "joy'' with salvation made a real contribution to life. Had 
 he said "happiness" he would have failed miserably. For 
 salvation unites one in fellowship with God. Could any 
 word but joy express that union? And the joy is not 
 mere satisfaction in having broken loose from sin's firm 
 hold. It is found, rather, in the privilege of sharing God's 
 great task in giving to men the heritage which he in- 
 tended them to have. What a different experience is the 
 joy of salvation from the experience of the harrowing of 
 conscience ! The one is a stimulus, the other a drag. And 
 stimulus is needed, for the task is great. Other folks are 
 just as stubborn as we are. Their sin is none of our 
 business, so they say. We cannot preach them into our 
 way of thinking. "You did not always think this way," 
 they answer. Among the psalmist's people thousands of 
 sheep and goats and doves were slain to help men to 
 see God's wisdom and the beauty of his righteousness. 
 They called it a sacrifice for sin. The cost was all paid 
 by the slain dumb beasts. But the results were not very 
 encouraging. Years later they crucified Jesus Christ out- 
 side the city of Jerusalem. Many have been the men and 
 the women who have found the way because of his sacri- 
 fice. Just as the sacrifice of sheep availed nothing be- 
 cause it was external, so the sacrifice of Jesus benefits 
 us not at all unless we participate in it. 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 What is sin ? 
 
 Why does the thought of our sins torment us ? 
 
 Who are involved in trouble by sin ? 
 
 How far does God's forgiveness of our sins make matters 
 right with those whose lives are affected by our sins? 
 
 Why is it necessary for us to acknowledge ourselves 
 guilty before we can ask forgiveness? 
 
88 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 To what extent is "a clean heart" essential to good 
 living? 
 
 In what way are we offering to Grod the sacnnce of 
 "a broken and a contrite heart"? 
 
 How may we show to others the way to forgiveness 
 for sins ? 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE JOYS OF THE SANCTUARY 
 
 additional readings, psalm 122 
 
 The Eighty-Fourth Psalm 
 
 "How amiable are thy tabernacles, 
 O Jehovah of hosts! 
 
 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah; 
 My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God. 
 Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, 
 And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her 
 
 young, 
 Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, 
 My King, and my God. 
 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: 
 They will be still praising thee. (Selah.) 
 
 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; 
 In whose heart are the highways to Zion. 
 Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place 
 
 of springs; 
 Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings. 
 They go from strength to strength; 
 Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion. 
 
 Jehovah God of hosts, hear my prayer; 
 
 Give ear, O God of Jacob. (Selah.) 
 
 Behold, O God our shield. 
 
 And look upon the face of thine anointed. 
 
 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. 
 
 1 had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, 
 Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 
 
 For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: 
 Jehovah will give grace and glory; 
 
 No good thing will be withhold from them that walk up- 
 rightly. 
 O Jehovah of Hosts, 
 Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee." 
 
 Is THE Question Debatable? 
 
 A Matter of Opinion: or. Is It Training and Habit? 
 For a long time the psalmist has been prevented from 
 
90 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 worshiping Jehovah in the temple at Jerusalem. His heart 
 has been made heavy by the forced absence. The house 
 of God was a joyous place for him. He had been brought 
 up to attend its services regularly and gladly. When 
 twelve years of age he had become a son of the law and 
 a member of the congregation of Israel. From that time 
 on he had learned to love its services more and more. 
 The joyous songs of the pilgrims going up Mount Zion 
 was happy music in his ears. The antiphonal chantmg 
 of the psalms thrilled his soul with its wonder. The 
 message of the Scriptures was as the voice of God to him. 
 Even the slaying of lamb and kid and snow-white dove 
 upon the altar of sacrifice had drawn him closer to the 
 place set apart where all his nation came to acknowledge 
 their allegiance to Jehovah. It was all a part of his life. 
 When he prayed at home, he knelt with his face toward 
 Jerusalem. And now, after long absence, to be per- 
 mitted once more to stand in the courts of Jehovah ! Is 
 it not well to ask how our love of the Church of the Living 
 God compares with his ? Does our entire being cry out in 
 its desire to bow at the altar of our church? Do we sing 
 of the worthiness of the place where God's presence is 
 sought? Across the fields or down the street a bell is 
 tolling the hour of worship. Do we respond with a happy 
 assurance within that the services and ministries of our 
 church mean to us all that they might have meant? Do 
 we find God's presence when we enter his house to offer 
 praise to his name ? Is it a matter of opinion, or is it some- 
 thing deeper that causes a man to cry : 
 
 "How amiable are thy tabernacles, 
 O Jehovah of hosts! . ^^ ^ » 
 
 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of 
 
 Jehovah; ^ ,. . ^ ^ .. 
 
 My heart and my flesh cry out unto the livmg God. 
 
 Why Go to Church? There are those who think that 
 "church-going" is a device thought up by a group of people 
 who are endeavoring to have all others follow their plan. 
 They place the church in the list of causes instead of 
 results. The church usually comes vitally into a man's 
 
THE JOYS OF THE SANCTUARY 91 
 
 experience after he gets acquainted with God. Love of 
 worship is an expression of God's love within. Every live 
 soul, whether joyous or sad, seeks communion with God. 
 In isolation its own experiences are magnified, its joys 
 underestimated, its sorrows enlarged. In company with 
 a number of like-minded people a better perspective is 
 obtained, a common message is received, and hymns which 
 give voice to the whole range of soul-need are sung. With- 
 out this sense of God's presence there, the church is merely 
 a place where we may be christened, married, and, finally, 
 buried. This was not the psalmist's conception of God's 
 house. The spirit of worship thrilled his soul. He longed 
 to be where he could give expression to it. True, he 
 worshiped Jehovah where he was, but the need of public 
 worship set his mind eagerly toward the hour when, as in 
 other days, he would be in Jerusalem. His ability to 
 worship God wherever he was, apparently had not lessened 
 his sense of need of worship in God's house. Has learn- 
 ing to realize God's presence at all times in all places 
 caused us to lose sight of the need of such worship? Do 
 we not feel the need of uniting with others in the ex- 
 pression of our love of God? Has not something gone 
 wrong with the reasoning of our generation in this re- 
 spect? People sometimes attend church for a Sunday or 
 two after a death in their family. They then recognize 
 the fact that in worshiping with others, a man gains con- 
 fidence in his religious faith, receives strength to live 
 better, has new visions of spiritual possibilities opened 
 before him, and learns how to render to God the praise 
 which his heart ever yearns to give. Have we learned 
 what real worship is? Or have we merely been "going 
 to church"? 
 
 A Church Home. The individual who first said "a 
 church home" had some of the spirit of the psalmist in 
 him. "Home is where the heart is" some singer of our 
 day has sung. And the heart of the psalmist was in 
 the temple. He thought of the privilege enjoyed by the 
 birds. Both sparrow and swallow nested in the crevices 
 about the temple buildings. When they winged their way 
 across the sky toward evening it was to spend the night 
 
92 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 where incense burned amid the atmosphere of worship. 
 He thought also of the ministers of the temple, those 
 who day by day performed the services appointed by God. 
 How fortunate they were ! Their home was in the temple. 
 They lived and toiled there. There was no worship which 
 they could not hear, even if their duties prevented actual 
 participation. Is the psalmist's expression at this point a 
 comment on our neglect of privilege or a challenge to the 
 better use of it ? Our mode of worship does not necessitate 
 the continuous presence in the church building. Does 
 this cut us off from such joy as the psalmist had? There 
 are thousands to-day whose entire life is developed with 
 the church as its center. They not only rejoice in the 
 worship in which they are permitted to participate, they 
 also enter into the minister's privilege of aiding others 
 to worship God in spirit and in truth. Here they learn 
 of the service God would have them render during the 
 hours of earning a livelihood or attending to life's duties. 
 Here they come with a report of their successes or fail- 
 ures to learn how better to live and how better to suc- 
 ceed. These help the minister to help them to worship 
 God acceptably. They help the minister to render the 
 largest service of which he is capable. The church where 
 such a one has worshiped feels a loss when above the cold, 
 still body the minister reads, "I am the resurrection, and 
 the life : he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall 
 he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall 
 never die." The church has been home, and there is sor- 
 row in the home for the loss of one of its circle. 
 
 The Reciprocity of Religion 
 
 The Joy of Getting. An invitation to worship God 
 ought to be an interesting proposition to a man who is 
 always alert to his own highest advantage. The rumor of 
 countless offerings taken in the churches has doubtless 
 caused many to overlook this phase of the question. It is 
 not all giving, for those who worship God in spirit and 
 in truth. It may be for those whose worship is mere 
 formality, but folks like the psalmist get returns out of 
 
THE JOYS OF THE SANCTUARY 93 
 
 all proportion to what they give in this respect. Without 
 egotism the singer joins the throng of those concerning 
 whom he says, 
 
 "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; 
 In whose heart are the highways to Zion." 
 
 His utterance sounds like a good old Methodist class 
 leader's testimony. Can anyone be other than happy 
 whose heart is set on the worship of God ? Happy in the 
 process of worship is such a one, and happy in the results 
 which flood his soul in response to his earnest worship. 
 The blessings which come from the w^orship of God are 
 exceedingly practical. They know no limitation of coun- 
 try, time, or race. The ancient Israelite in Jerusalem, the 
 uncouth Negro in Africa, and the debutante of our modern 
 American city, each alike may be recipients of the same 
 great blessings. The blessings of the worshiper are spirit- 
 ual and as such permit the individual to make their ap- 
 plication in life's affairs practical. What spiritual vision 
 floods the soul as one unreservedly communes with and 
 praises God! New courage and strength are received to 
 back up faltering purposes. A new light shines along the 
 pathway ahead. The burdens brought into the service 
 of worship are transformed into opportunities. Unsur- 
 mountable obstacles disappear with the new perspective. 
 After such an hour with God the happy worshiper goes 
 forth richer than when he came. With a song in his heart 
 he turns the barren places and hard experiences of life 
 into fruitful vineyards and helpful, joyous occasions. 
 Many a dull and desertlike life has been made as a garden 
 of roses by some one who has come fresh from the presence 
 of God. Has anyone ever blessed your life in this way? 
 Memory will furnish a goodly list of bright spots of this 
 nature if given an opportunity. And just ahead are 
 countless lives reaching out a hand to touch the joy of 
 your soul as you pass them in the highway. '^But you give 
 out again what you get?" Yes, and in so doing come to 
 realize the significance of worshiping God, the enjoying 
 such fellowship with him as to be strong oneself and in 
 that strength to go forth to bless others. 
 
94 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 The Strength of the Pack. One's spiritual strength 
 is an individual development, but it finds its best expression 
 in company with others. There is more than poetry in 
 the hymn beginning: 
 
 "Blest be the tie that binds 
 
 Our hearts in Christian love, 
 The fellowship of kindred minds 
 
 Is like to that above. 
 Before our Father's throne 
 
 We pour our ardent prayers; 
 Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, 
 
 Our comforts and our cares." 
 
 Men are bound together by the love of God. The psalm- 
 ist knew this. He knew how they are strengthened by 
 a knowledge of a common fellowship. He had felt his 
 heart leap at the sight of families whom he knew as they 
 joined the happy pilgrims bound for Jerusalem. God 
 had been good to them also. What, a son has died ? Yes, 
 but God's strength was sufficient. How we multiply the 
 psalmist's experience ! The "fellowship of kindred souls" 
 has helped us to bear burdens, endure sorrows, overcome 
 obstacles, rise up when overtaken and struck down. For 
 those of the fellowship understand our problems. We 
 know the hardships of their journey. Our deeper experi- 
 ences are alive with the consciousness of our mutual de- 
 pendence. We stand erect with the strength of all as we 
 go forth to meet the issues of each new day. The joy of 
 it all reaches its best expression when together we praise 
 God in his house. It is the yearning for this worship that 
 brings us together in the church. It is the strength re- 
 ceived from worshiping together that makes the world so 
 much brighter. Are you getting from the fellowship of 
 worship all that you possibly can ? 
 
 Neglect or Lack of Appreciation? There are some peo- 
 ple who spend their evenings singing, "0 that will be 
 glory to me," who have forgotten all about the church 
 around the corner. Living so near that they may *^run in 
 to the church," they are busy buttoning their coat when 
 they reach it and pass right by. A few years on the 
 
THE JOYS OF THE SANCTUARY 95 
 
 frontier would do wonders for such people. When a man 
 has to drive a team twenty miles in order to take his 
 family to church they all appreciate the service. In com- 
 munities where they do not see a preacher oftener than 
 once a year, where the dead are buried '"without benefit 
 of clergy/' one has a different feeling about the church. 
 The debauches of many a mining camp would give much 
 had they stayed where the influence of the church is felt. 
 The lumber-jacks welcome the sky-pilot and hear his mes- 
 sage with burning heart and tear-wet cheeks. Would these, 
 thus limited in their opportunity to worship God, find 
 comradeship with the psalmist? In his exile from the 
 house of God he put it thus: "I had rather perform the 
 humblest service at the temple of him who tolerates no 
 evil than be entertained as a guest where wickedness 
 makes its house.'' Is one day in the house of God so 
 prized by us that no effort is too great for us to make in 
 order to get there? What about the tired excuse, the 
 clothes excuse, the preacher-did-not-speak-to-me excuse, the 
 do-not-approve-of-one-of-the-officials excuse, and all the 
 others? Is it neglect with us or are we too stupid to 
 value rightly a great privilege because it is so close at 
 hand ? 
 
 At the Turn of the Eoad 
 
 This Way In. The blessings of God await those who 
 go after them. There is no urging them on us. If we 
 do not want them, we are not obliged to have them; but 
 if we do want them, we must seek them. It may be true 
 that God blesses us where we are if we "walk uprightly," 
 but we are better informed as to what "walking uprightly" 
 is when we regularly hear God's word interpreted to us by a 
 minister of God. Business drives us with unrelenting vigor 
 six days a week. Household cares and duties fill every 
 hour with some new demand. Scarcely is there time to 
 attend to the neighborhood social obligations. Much less 
 is there time for the deep and thoughtful study of God's 
 Word. What is the function of the minister ? Not to pre- 
 pare sermons for us and have us at home reading the cart- 
 load of Sunday newspaper delivered by a boy about day- 
 
96 HEAET MESSAGES EEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 break. Not to administer the sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper when we are at home cleaning the "flivver" for 
 an afternoon spin. Not to preach the obligations for serv- 
 ice resting on every member of the community while we 
 are trying to close a real-estate deal over the back fence. 
 The minister of God has his time set aside to make clear 
 God's will for men. He brings to his pulpit a message 
 fresh for each day's need — our need. If we are present, 
 he quickens our conscience by applying truth to our way 
 of living. He ever keeps us reexamining ourselves. He 
 lifts us up to see visions we had not dreamed God wanted 
 us to know about. Of course the minister can study the 
 Bible for us if necessary. But we will get nothing from 
 his study unless we are on hand to hear his report. Are 
 we afraid of what he may have to say ? It may all be good 
 news, who knows? Already our presence at the service 
 of worship has brought us blessings which would have been 
 lost forever had we not been in the church. Why not try 
 wearing a well-used path from our door to the church? 
 It will take us to many a new blessing. 
 
 *'Go to Church Sunday/' There is something incon- 
 gruous in such a slogan. Imagine the psalmist launching 
 a "Go up to the temple Sabbath." How the Philistines 
 would have jibed ! What they would have said would not 
 have sounded well even in the streets of Ascalon. They 
 would have forthwith buckled on their armor and ad- 
 vanced upon the Israelites with arms steeled by the knowl- 
 edge that Jehovah no longer was the "God of hosts." "Ha 
 ha" and "ha ha" would have echoed through the valleys. 
 And the psalmist's song would long since have been con- 
 signed to the limbo of discarded verse. Instead of such 
 a method the psalmist let others know of the joy that wor- 
 ship in the sanctuary gave to him. He sang of the added 
 strength which comes to God's worshipers. He rejoiced in 
 no uncertain notes over the privilege of "appearing before 
 God." He wanted everyone in all places to know that he 
 worshiped Jehovah and got strength, inspiration, courage, 
 uplift, and satisfaction from such worship. If anyone 
 would know real joy, let him learn the comfort of God's 
 house, the wisdom of God's Word, the harmony of God's 
 
THE JOYS OF THE SANCTUARY 97 
 
 songs. "Go to church Sunday'* ? Rather, worship Jehovah 
 in the beauty of holiness ! Not a formality for a day, but 
 a living experience for all life. Not a response to a booster 
 movement, but a constant satisfying of the souPs need in 
 regular public communion with the soul's Saviour. The 
 psalmist was a bit advanced for our times. What has kept 
 us behind his day? 
 
 How Do We Worship? Perhaps the trouble lies here. 
 Many who assemble regularly in the church have never 
 been taught how to worship. They come bustling into 
 church a few minutes late. They enter with noise and are 
 seated with confusion. The first few minutes are spent 
 in looking about to see who are present. The atmosphere 
 which they bring into the service is not that of worship at 
 all. We should enter God's house in the spirit of wor- 
 ship. We should be there before the hour for the service 
 to begin and spend the intervening moments in meditation. 
 What have we come for? What need can God supply at 
 this hour? What attitudes of mind and heart must be 
 changed before he can bless us? We should pray silently 
 for God's presence, for the inspiration of the minister, for 
 the awakening of souls that are half asleep. We should 
 worship in the singing. Our offering should be given with 
 a sense of its usefulness in God's work. We should permit 
 the minister actually to lead our minds in prayer, .thus 
 making his petition our own. With open mind and hunger- 
 ing heart we should seek light and spiritual food in his 
 message. Do we worship God in spirit and in truth? 
 Wherein do we fail ? Perhaps in our ignorance of the way 
 we have missed the psalmist's joy in the service of the 
 sanctuary. Are we willing to learn to go the full length 
 and worship God as God? Such response on our part 
 might shortly find us singing with our joyous psalmist: 
 
 "Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: 
 Jehovah, will give grace and glory; 
 No good thing will he withhold 
 From them that walk uprightly. 
 
 O Jehovah of hosts, 
 
 Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee." 
 
98 HEART MESSAGES EROM THE PSALMS 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 What influence has God's house had in your life? In 
 your home? Among your loved ones? 
 
 To what extent has your absence from the services of 
 worship influenced others to remain away? 
 
 ' Do we feel sorry enough for the heathen who do not 
 know God to use the great privilege which we have of 
 worshiping him? 
 
 How many folks know that you prize the worship of 
 God's house? 
 
 Do you plan to have time for worship ? 
 
 What does worship signify to you? 
 
 Have you ever learned how to worship ? 
 
 What suggestions would you make to yourself in the 
 matter ? 
 
 How can you help to make public worship of more value 
 to others? 
 
CHAPTEK X 
 
 TEUST IN GOD 
 
 additional beadings, psalms 122 and 123 
 
 The Ninety-First Psalm 
 
 'He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High 
 
 Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 
 
 I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; 
 
 My God, in whom I trust. 
 
 For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, 
 
 And from the deadly pestilence. 
 
 He will cover thee with his pinions. 
 
 And under his wings shalt thou take refuge: 
 
 His truth is a shield and a buckler. 
 
 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. 
 
 Nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 
 
 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, 
 
 Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 
 
 A thousand shall fall at thy side, 
 
 And ten thousand at thy right hand; 
 
 But it shall not come nigh thee. 
 
 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, 
 
 And see the reward of the wicked. 
 
 For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! 
 
 Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; 
 
 There shall no evil befall thee, 
 
 Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. 
 
 For he will give his angels charge over thee, 
 
 To keep thee in all thy ways. 
 
 They shall bear thee up in their hands, 
 
 Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 
 
 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: 
 
 The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under 
 foot. 
 
 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I de- 
 liver him: 
 
 I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 
 
 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; 
 
 I will be with him in trouble: 
 
 I will deliver him, and honor him. 
 
 With long life will I satisfy him. 
 
 And show him my salvation." 
 
 99 
 
100 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 Teaveler's Luck 
 
 The Highway of the Years. The journey of life is not 
 as monotonous as many newspaper paragraphers seem to 
 imply. Certainly, it is exciting and varied to the foot- 
 loose adventurer seeking new and unknown bypaths. Each 
 new day develops some untried possibility in life-journey- 
 ing. It is none the less generous in its offering of oppor- 
 tunity for great days to those set in one place by the ties 
 of home, family, customs, and necessary toil. The multi- 
 plying experiences of the most ordinary existence lend a 
 color and atmosphere often unnoticed as one trudges along 
 in the blinding dust and sweat. The days bring with 
 them a consciousness of the likeness of all human ex- 
 perience. Looking back over the years gives a new and 
 more appreciative appraisal to bygone experiences and a 
 keener realization of life's real values. Perhaps this is one 
 of the compensations of old age. At least, the recognition 
 of God's goodness when one comes to the end of the road 
 makes fragrant with grateful memory the thoughts of his 
 help throughout the years. Nor is it necessary to wait 
 until the foothills of the downward journey are reached to 
 enjoy such satisfaction of soul. The psalmist in the vigor- 
 ous years of his manhood was able to sing : 
 
 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High 
 Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." 
 
 Many of the long stretches of life's routine are made glad 
 by such a feeling of trust in God. Old age holds no terrors. 
 The sinking sun will be all glorious and golden. The heart 
 lifts up the courageous shout : 
 
 "Grow old along with me! 
 The best is yet to be. 
 The last of life, for which the first was made: 
 Our times are in his hand 
 Who saith 'A whole I planned,' 
 Youth shows but half; trust God: See all nor 
 be afraid!" 
 
 ''Isles of Safety." Where traffic is heavy in the larger 
 
TRUST IN GOD lOi 
 
 cities "isles of safety" are placed in the middle of the 
 street. Amid the confusion and uproar and the jam of 
 vehicles and pedestrians one is there secure. Though out 
 of breath and flustered, one has opportunity for retaking 
 his bearings. He goes forth for the balance of the cross- 
 ing rested and reassured. Busy highways are not the only 
 place where such "isles of safety" are needed. Heart hii^h- 
 ways become frequent scenes of disconcerting confusion. A 
 good start becomes a hopeless uncertainty half-way over a 
 crisis crossing. Dismay gives place to the buoyant going 
 forth. Distrust of self lends strength to the possibility 
 of disaster. The singer of his trust in Jehovah knew the 
 need of isles of safety." He considers the best of such 
 It \l T?T^' ^l ^L^^^ "dwelling in the secret place of 
 the Most High." There are those who go plunging past the 
 traffic police. Wise in their own conceit they imacrine 
 themselves able to escape skidding automobile or skittish 
 horse Not so the psalmist. He trusted in the security 
 afforded him. Else why should it be there for him ^ Is 
 Jehovah a sort of hiding place along the way? Yes iust 
 as a mother-bird lifts her wings to protect her younV so 
 IS God thoughtful of his safety. No ordinary "isle of 
 safet/' this. It is God in whom he puts his trust. The 
 same God whom Abraham trusted, the God of Moses— 
 the Almighty. Why worry about inconsequential things ? 
 What are a few stone-bruises from the sharp, harsh experi- 
 ences of life with such assurance! Who would be con- 
 cerned over the scratches from the briars of unsympathetic 
 and scornful fellow travelers ! "He is my refuge and my 
 fortress " he trustfully sings on. A sure purpose is pos- 
 sible where trust is absolute. All of his own powers were 
 free for the needs of the problems before him. So certain 
 is he that God will do for him all that he has promised 
 that he is ready to do his part in qualifying for the pro- 
 tection m which he so implicitly believes. And he is 
 willing to let everyone know where he stands. By so doing 
 he doubles his protection, for he must of necessity now 
 do his part or else become a butt for the ridicule of those 
 who still live on with a faith in their own ability to make 
 the crossing, even of life's deepest experiences, unaided. 
 
102 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 Such not only find no cause to say "I told you it could 
 not be done/^ they also receive a challenge to join the 
 ranks of those prudent travelers who watch for guide- 
 posts and signs warning of danger. 
 
 The Unseen Foe. It is difficult to prepare for unseen 
 foes. Life is full of Indian fighting. Harmless-looking 
 experiences prove to be the hiding place of arrows of death. 
 Inviting byways turn out to be set with the insidious 
 snares of soul fowlers. Gas masks become a necessity in 
 places which seem to be wholesome. Pestilence lays hold on 
 character while one turns to look around. The pages of 
 Life's Guidebook are replete with all the horror of such 
 things. And the life described therein is of men and 
 women who thought they knew all the arts of life-traveling. 
 In his Poems of the Yukon, Robert W. Service pictures 
 the hell on earth that possesses the lives of men and 
 women in that far-off, wild country. And those who come 
 out of Alaska after a few years there tremble for those 
 who must stay on. Strong, educated. God-fearing, they 
 succumb to the unseen foes which beset the soul in a 
 country lacking in the restraints of conventional com- 
 munities. Nor are those who live in the cultured centers 
 of our land free from the unseen foes of life. All around 
 us they strike and men fall. Wherever we go the story is 
 told with the same plot, the names alone being different. 
 It furnishes headlines for the newspaper each morning, 
 business for lawyers and judges, and sad obituary material 
 for ministers and friends. Folks save themselves from sun- 
 stroke by proper diet, dress, and headgear. They put their 
 trust in that which is able to protect them. But against 
 the blistering heat that shrivels the soul and warps life 
 they too often feel no need of protection. They are like 
 the student who could parse sentences, analyze a flower, 
 and dissect a frog, but had never thought of learning to 
 swim until the boat in which he was rowing began to 
 sink. They put their trust in those things which cannot 
 help the soul to maintain its integrity when the unex- 
 pected temptation appears. The psalmist appears like a 
 wayfarer fully equipped compared to such travelers. He 
 jiiaj not kpow the way he is going, but he has no question 
 
TEUST IN GOD 103 
 
 in his mind concerning the wisdom and trustworthiness of 
 his Guide. 
 
 Guidebooks and Guides 
 
 Accurate and Reliable. If this can be said of one^s 
 watch it is a time-piece to go by without concern. It 
 notes the passing time with certainty. Five o'clock by 
 it to-morrow will hold the same place in the passing day 
 as did five o'clock yesterday. Trains may be caught by 
 trust in its reliability. Business appointments may be 
 kept. The man who claimed that he set the sun by his 
 watch may have used hyperbole, but what he meant was 
 that his watch never failed him. That is the way the 
 psalmist felt about God. His faithfulness was not open 
 to debate. It was dependable. Each day of life added 
 to the psalmist's assurance at this point. The very fact 
 that God never failed in keeping his promises made him 
 a certain protection. Apparently, the psalmist had as 
 great need of defense against other people as men have 
 to-day. There were those who delighted in speaking evil 
 of others in those days. Men were as willing then as now 
 to profit from the labors of others. Under the guise of 
 friendship they were adept at "feeling out" a man's 
 thoughts, opinions, and ambitions in order to spread them 
 out in the light of day to retard his progress. Bitter- 
 ness, maliciousness, and backbiting are not modem dis- 
 coveries in doing evil. Why seek a patent for the ability 
 to spread false stories by mere suggestion or query, ^T)o 
 you think thus and so?" The folks whom the psalmist 
 knew were so like us that he implies the need of a shield 
 large enough to cover him all over. And God's faith- 
 fulness is all of this. If a man can realize God's pro- 
 tection in life's battles, he will be able to give a good ac- 
 count of himself. Inspired by the protection of God, the 
 psalmist was able to give valiant battle to his adver- 
 saries. He was not a coward. He was willing to meet 
 every wile of sin, either within himself or against him. 
 His trust in God did not lessen the fight in him. It gave 
 him poise, strength, and the ability to place each blow 
 where it would count. What sense of God's faithfulness 
 
104 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 to care for us do we have when our trust in God is abso- 
 lute? Are we acquainted with God's ways with men? 
 
 A Human Singer. The song of our study was not spun 
 by the muse. The singer used experience and fact for his 
 measures. He was not only a poet, but also somewhat 
 of a historian. The ^Herror by nighf' and the "pestilence 
 that walketh in darkness" and '^the destruction that wasteth 
 at noonday/' fill one with a sense of horror akin to the first 
 reading of "The Murder in the Rue Morgue/' by Edgar 
 Allan Poe. All that the imagination can conceive may be 
 crowded into those few lines. All the open or secret 
 hostilities to one's life may be read into the verses. They 
 become alive with all the modern interpretation of assaults 
 on the soul and subsequent consequences. Where did the 
 psalmist get his figures of speech? Out of the history of 
 his own poeple. His trust in God was based on the long 
 look as well as on personal experience. He could see the 
 ancestors of his fathers toiling as slaves in Egypt. He 
 pictured the plea of Moses and the visitation of the plagues 
 upon the people of Pharaoh. The glow in his eyes deep- 
 ened as he saw the heads of families splashing the blood 
 of a slain lamb on the doorpost and lintel of each Israelite 
 home. Why did they stand, staff in hand, eating un- 
 leavened bread with the lamb ? Ah, the morning told why. 
 All Egypt was shocked by the cry from every Egyptian 
 home. "Our first-bom is slain ! Our first-born is slain !" 
 But God had been with the harassed slaves. Unharmed he 
 led them forth as freedmen. The Red Sea opened to let 
 them pass. And in its waters they saw their enemies and 
 one-time masters drowned. Could he sing of trust in 
 God ? Listen to his voice : 
 
 "A thousand shall fall at thy side. 
 And ten thousand at thy right hand; 
 But it shall not come nigh thee. 
 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold 
 And see the reward of the wicked." 
 
 Why not sing with such a song in one's heart? Is 
 that a sense of safety to let go by unheralded? "Such 
 safety is mine, such safety may be yours/' the song says 
 
TKUST IN GOD 105 
 
 clearly, "if absolute trust is placed in God." In what 
 sense is that safety characteristic of the life of a Christian 
 man to-day? Our singer was one of the folks. His song 
 has a pride of nation in it. And that pride is because his 
 people trusted in God. Can a nation be safe without 
 God's protection? Where do we count in the answer to 
 questions like this? 
 
 A Part of the Process. Things do not happen. Cause 
 and result travel the same road. They may not swing 
 along arm-in-arm. They may be days or even years 
 apart. But once cause goes down the way, it is certain 
 that residt will be along in due time. The realization 
 of this truth has saved many a traveler embarrassment 
 and suffering. It enables one to accept bravely the uni- 
 versal experiences of life and to avoid, with wisdom, many 
 unnecessary experiences. All unpleasant experiences are 
 not evil. Some of them are hard to endure. They bring 
 gray hairs and furrowed brow. Spiritual growth fre- 
 quently accompanies them. But some of them are evil. 
 And from these the psalmist would have us free. His 
 method is to make 
 
 "The Lord, which is my refuge, 
 Even the Most High, thy habitation." 
 
 To have the mind occupied with thoughts of God, his 
 ways, his promises, his laws, his requirements — can the 
 mind while so occupied yield to those thoughts which lead 
 to evil? The psalmist sings of a life of safety based on 
 thinking of God. Sin will become repugnant during such 
 a process. Temptation will make very little headway, no 
 matter how insinuating. Misfortune will be traced to its 
 actual source. Sorrow will yield a closer fellowship with 
 the heavenly Father. Death will be a culmination of 
 Life. The psalmist urges the experience of him who 
 boldly declared, "I know whom I have believed/' Travelers 
 unnumbered have been trudging along life's highway for 
 centuries. The milestones have been labeled with prac- 
 tically the same experience. The bypaths and pitfalls have 
 ever been numerous. But "God-thinking" men and women 
 have checked off the milestones with courageous heart and 
 
106 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 unquestioning mind. The firmness of their step and the 
 purpose of their journey have carried them past the snares 
 and pestilence unharmed. Their "habitation" has been 
 God, and no "plague" has come nigh "their dwelling." 
 Have we fully learned that the greatest security, and 
 consequently the sweetest peace, is found in the realiza- 
 tion of the Divine Presence? 
 
 Companions of the Way 
 
 The Unseen Guard. The ancient Israelites conceived 
 of the hosts of God surrounding and protecting them. An- 
 other singer phrased it thus: 
 
 "The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that 
 
 fear him, 
 And delivereth them." 
 
 It is this unseen guardianship which gives heart in the 
 dark hours of struggle for high ideals and noble living. 
 It is into the hands of the Unseen Guard that every 
 mother intrusts her children when they leave home for 
 the first time. It is the Unseen Guard who patrols the 
 portals of our hearts and summons us to awaken and 
 give battle when our spirit seems not to fight against its 
 foe. It is this unseen companion of the way who ever 
 whispers to take the advice of Richard Watson Gilder, who 
 sang: 
 
 "Keep pure thy soul! 
 Then thou shalt take the whole 
 Of delight; 
 
 Then, without a pang, 
 
 Thine shall be all of beauty whereof the poet sang — 
 The perfume, and the pageant, the melody, the mirth 
 Of the golden day, and the starry night; 
 Of heaven and of earth. 
 O, keep pure thy soul!" 
 
 Our trust in God which prompts us to "think of God" 
 helps us here. "Blessed are the pure in heart," said 
 Jesus Christ, "for they shall see God." And only the 
 riewpoint of God in a man's mind makes possible such 
 
TRUST IN GOB 107 
 
 thinking as gives purity of heart, and such life-practices 
 as make enjoyable the actual fellowship of God as Com- 
 panion of the Way. 
 
 The Sure Promises of God. Do we realize how certain 
 these promises are? No "maybe/' or "possibly/' or "per- 
 haps/' weakens their power. They are from the Source 
 of all power, and he never fails. Those who have faith in 
 such assurances as they travel along have hearts embold- 
 ened for all that the journey may encounter. Now and 
 then a gloomy individual claims that "the promises did 
 not work" with him. Like many of us, he failed to recog- 
 nize the conditions which must be met in order that God 
 may justly fulfill his promises. He would take all that 
 he could get and give nothing in return. The result of 
 such an attitude in dealing with God is that one usually 
 gets nothing. The promises of God were sure to the 
 psalmist because he trusted in God absolutely. Do we? 
 Or do we assume that we may run to cover at the critical 
 moment and then Gk)d will look after the rest? There 
 is an argument and an explanation, a promise and a way 
 of obtaining it, in the closing strains of the singer's con- 
 fession of trust in God. He breaks forth into melody as 
 the mouthpiece of God, putting his own experience into 
 terms which will fit all generations. He lifts his voice 
 and to our day declares with gladness to those who trust 
 in God: 
 
 "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I de- 
 liver him: 
 I will set him on high, because he has known my name. 
 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; 
 I will be with him in trouble: 
 I will deliver him, and honor him. 
 With long life will I satisfy him, 
 And show him my salvation." 
 
 A modern poet, George Keith, has sung to the great 
 comfort of God's people a like message : 
 
 "How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 
 Is laid for your faith in his excellent word! 
 What more can he say than to you he hath said. 
 To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? 
 
108 HEAKT MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 "In every condition — in sickness, in health; 
 In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth; 
 At home and abroad; on the land, on the sea — 
 'As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be. 
 
 " 'The soul that on Jesus still leans for repose, 
 I will not, I will not desert to his foes; 
 That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, 
 I'll never, no never, no never forsake!*" 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 In what sense is life a journey ? Describe it. 
 
 Why do we need "isles of safety^' along the journey? 
 Where do we find them? 
 
 From what unseen foes against our spiritual life do we 
 need protection? 
 
 How does trust in God help us in this respect ? 
 
 How has God manifested his faithfulness in your life? 
 
 To what extent are we making God our "habitation'' ? 
 
 In what way do we daily increase our trust in God? 
 
 How does trust in God, such as the psalmist's, help us 
 in times of perplexity? 
 
 In what way does practical demonstration of our trust 
 help others? 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 ADORATION AND PRAISE 
 
 The Onb Hundred and Third Psalm 
 
 'Bless Jehovah, O mj soul; 
 
 And all that is within me, bless his holy name. 
 
 Bless Jehovah, O my soul, 
 
 And forget not all his benefits: 
 
 Who forglveth all thine iniquities; 
 
 Who healeth all thy diseases; 
 
 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; 
 
 Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 
 
 Who satisfieth thy desire with good things, 
 
 80 tJiat thy youth is renewed like the eagle. 
 
 Jehovah executeth righteous acts. 
 
 And Judgments for all that are oppressed. 
 
 He made known his ways unto Moses, 
 
 His doings unto the children of Israel. 
 
 Jehovah is merciful and gracious, 
 
 Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness. 
 
 He will not always chide; 
 
 Neither will he keep his anger forever. 
 
 He hath not dealt with us after our sins. 
 
 Nor rewarded us after our iniquities. 
 
 For as the heavens are high above the earth. 
 
 So great is his lovingkindness toward them that fear him. 
 
 As far as the east is from the west, 
 
 So far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 
 
 Like as a father pitieth his children. 
 
 So Jehovah pitieth them that fear him. 
 
 For he knoweth our frame; 
 
 He remembereth that we are dust. 
 
 As for man, his days are as grass; 
 
 As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 
 
 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; 
 
 And the place thereof shall know it no more. 
 
 But the lovingkindness of Jehovah is from everlasting to 
 
 everlasting upon them that fear him, 
 And his righteousness unto children's children; 
 To such as keep his covenant. 
 And to those that remember his precepts to do them. 
 
 109 
 
110 HEART MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 Jehovah hath established his throne In the heavens; 
 
 And his kingdom ruleth over all. 
 
 Bless Jehovah, ye his angels, 
 
 That are mighty in strength, that fulfill his word, 
 
 Hearkening unto the voice of his word. 
 
 Bless Jehovah, all ye his hosts, 
 
 Ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 
 
 Bless Jehovah, all ye his works. 
 
 In all places of his dominion: 
 
 Bless Jehovah, O my soul." 
 
 The Music op the Soul 
 
 The Adoration, Learned men offering precious gifts 
 as they bow at the feet of the infant Jesus is the pic- 
 ture of adoration that comes to mind whenever the sub- 
 ject is broached. The mother and the tiny babe sur- 
 rounded by the surprised cattle in a stranger's stable, the 
 stately visitors who have come camel-back over the desert, 
 the wonderful richness of their gifts — from childhood the 
 scene has taken firm hold upon the imagination. And 
 now, with the driving stress of an upturned world, it be- 
 comes a lesson in homage to the God whom peoples of the 
 widest possible diversity are claiming as their God. 
 Elaborate forms of worship, intricate creeds, lengthy 
 prayers — all that was a part of a gradual development in 
 the times of quiet and peace to-day fail to answer man's 
 religious needs. He yearns for some way of paying homage 
 to God that will be an expression of his own innermost 
 desires and needs. Amid the turmoil and the disquiet- 
 ing news, and among the lonely and those whose service 
 stars of blue have been replaced by shining gold, there 
 is a longing for a simple approach to God. New songs 
 of praise are being born in heart-experiences which may 
 be sung to God alone. Kecognition of his sustaining 
 strength is begetting a desire to spread at God's feet soul- 
 offerings which are exceedingly personal. Men and women 
 to whom the forms and ceremonies of established religious 
 institutions are strange and unfamiliar are seeking to 
 make clear to God the earnestness of their hearts, just as 
 the wise men of the Bethle]iem stable showed to the new- 
 born baby King their high respect and worship. How 
 
ADORATION AND PRAISE 111 
 
 shall they do it? Are we providing ways for the heart- 
 psalms born of bitter grief to sing their way to God? 
 Are we breaking new paths which will be accessible to 
 those who need a way to God at once? Adoration and 
 praise are waiting for God in places where they would 
 not have been looked for a few years ago. What obliga- 
 tion does this fact put upon us to show others practical 
 ways of expressing to Grod the things that they do not 
 know how to tell? 
 
 Ancient Songs of Praise. A man has been doing some 
 hard thinking who phrases the outburst of his song in the 
 words. 
 
 Bless Jehovah, O my soul; 
 
 And all that is within me, bless his holy name. 
 
 Many there are who bless or extol the name of God who 
 confine the entire process to their lips. Not of this multi- 
 tude was the psalmist. He would glorify God with all 
 that he possessed. Not only with his soul, which to him 
 was self or personality, would he pay homage. The whole 
 range of his powers is summoned to unite in praise of 
 the one alone worthy of all praise. As though he stood 
 outside of himself for a minute, he exhorts every power 
 which he possesses. The sin of forgetfulness comes to 
 his mind and he warns his soul to remember all that 
 Jehovah has done for him. Iniquities have been blotted 
 out. SuJBPering and disease have been done away with 
 and those who have observed it have known that he was 
 in favor with God. Both he and his people had been 
 saved out of Babylonian destruction. As with a crown 
 God's goodness and mercy had rested upon him. From 
 the grave of exile he and his neighbors had come forth to 
 the freshness of life and its joys in the land of their youth. 
 Vigor like that of the eagle soaring toward the sun was 
 his. His heart was full of emotions that were of the 
 most personal sort. Bless Jehovah? Of a truth "out of 
 the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh" in the case 
 of the psalmist. And in the homage prompted by the con- 
 fession of what God had done for him he spoke in words 
 that express the feeling of those countless thousands who 
 
112 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 give God praise and credit for the things in their lives 
 for which he is responsible. Why is it that our song of 
 praise to God so often flats? What purpose of mind 
 had the psalmist in his adoration of Jehovah that we lack ? 
 There's a Song in the Air. Across the hearthstones of 
 the peoples of all nations lie the shadows of war. In 
 countless hospitals men are lying with bodies shattered and 
 reason gone. Within sight of "No Man's Land" sons and 
 brothers, husbands and sweethearts are buried. Where 
 is the God of whom the psalmist sang ? Have folks been 
 mistaken in accepting at face value all that the ages have 
 handed down concerning his love and care for man? Is 
 there homage yet to be offered to a God whose worshipers 
 have been using their every power to destroy each other? 
 The mind questions as the heart breaks at the memory 
 of the news from overseas. Is it a time to lift the voice 
 in praise of God for his lovingkindness and tender mercy ? 
 Josiah G. Holland, a poet of our own day, has breathed 
 for us a song that we sing in the twilight hours of the 
 day: 
 
 "There's a song in the air! 
 There's a star in the sky! 
 There's a mother's deep prayer, 
 And a baby's low cry! 
 And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing, 
 For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!" 
 
 We sing it in the twilight hours, for then is the time 
 when we can best think clearly and without confusion. 
 Wliat God means in our lives is more apparent at such 
 a time. With the psalmist we recognize what we would 
 be without God. The news of battle, the treachery of men, 
 the hopeless outlook of the future — they all seem to melt 
 into the vision of the song as we remember Him of whom 
 the poet sings. The ages have fought themselves into 
 the light with his name on the lips of men. The dark- 
 ness of night has time and again rolled back with the 
 promise of morning because of his teachings practiced 
 by men and women. And now it is for the sake of his 
 Kingdom that blood has been shed, homes have been 
 
ADORATION AND PRAISE 113 
 
 thrown into grief, lives have been made lonely for the 
 rest of life's journey. And in it all stand out in sharp 
 relief the blessings which have come to us as individuals, 
 which God gave, but which we accepted as though from our 
 own hands. There is more reason for us to pay homage 
 to God than there was for the psalmist to praise him. 
 Are we permitting the confusion of the times to blind us 
 to our obligation and privilege? The King of our song 
 is the Saviour of men. Let us praise him ! 
 
 God's Goodness and Mercy 
 
 Rejoicing in Judgment. It is easy to approve the 
 judgments that fall upon others. We are always able to 
 see why they deserve all they get. It is not so easy to 
 adjust our mind to the acceptance of judgments that 
 come to us. Why is this? Have we failed to conform 
 our conception of God to the entirety of his nature ? Do 
 we think of him only as a dispenser of blessings without 
 giving consideration to the laws by which he is able to 
 thus bless? The psalmist seems to have been able to 
 rejoice in judgments which concerned himself. Of course 
 the one under consideration was a judgment which blessed 
 him and others while they were oppressed. But the burden 
 of his song indicates that he felt his own responsibility for 
 the attitude of God toward him, for he was not an un- 
 spotted saint. He was acquainted with sin. He knew 
 the rites of purification from sin. Therefore in the joy 
 of his adoration of Jehovah he praises him as one who 
 "executeth righteous acts.'' This hits both ways, and the 
 psalmist accepts the full swing of its significance. Do 
 we? Or do we praise God when things go smoothly and 
 forget him or blame him when, because of our own 
 stupidity, or sin, the course of our life becomes storm- 
 stirred and unhappy? 
 
 Near-sighted Vision. The defects in human vision 
 cause men to get queer ideas of what they see. Were 
 they to recognize the defect and use a corrective before 
 giving their conclusions it would not be quite so bad. But 
 many will not do this, and their friends are constantly 
 
114 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 embarrassed. The embarrassment arising over a man's 
 near-sighted vision of God and his goodness becomes the 
 man's own. It first limits him in his ability to think 
 clearly about God, and then drives him into chidings which 
 are not based upon the facts themselves but upon his con- 
 fused conception of them. No full-voiced praise rises 
 from such men and women. There is always a question 
 which makes the throat clutch and the song refuse to 
 come. The punishments which men receive in this life 
 for their sins should not prevent them from taking the 
 long look. The psalmist philosophizes. He says : 
 
 "Jehovah is merciful and gracious, 
 Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness. 
 He will not always chide; 
 Neither will he keep his anger forever. 
 He hath not dealt with us after our sins, 
 Nor rewarded us after our iniquities." 
 
 The psalmist would put some good people in the class 
 of the criminal who, deserving life-imprisonment and 
 getting only ten years, complained about the hardship of 
 justice. "God is always the benefactor," sings the ancient 
 poet. His punishments are so insignificant compared with 
 the blessings which he has showered upon men. little 
 minds that fail to see the boundless mercy of God even 
 in his judgments! 
 
 "There's a wideness in God's mercy. 
 Like the wideness of the sea; 
 There's a kindness in his Justice, 
 Which is more than liberty." 
 
 So sang Frederick W. Faber. So the psalmist sang. 
 
 A Father's Consideration. Every man who has heard 
 the voice of a little child saying "Father*' to him under-, 
 stands what the psalmist meant when he said : 
 
 "Like as a father pitieth his children. 
 So Jehovah pitieth them that fear him." 
 
 What father has not tried to devise ways by which the 
 boy or girl might grasp his more mature judgment con- 
 
ADORATION AND PEAISE 115 
 
 ceming the things that they should or should not do? 
 The light of love turning to perplexity in the little boy^s 
 eyes — who has not seen it and prayed for better wisdom 
 with which to make things plain? Does God think of us 
 in that way? Is he concerned that we shall get his 
 viewpoint? We grieve that the childhood days will be 
 over so soon. God remembers the mai:eup of man and 
 knows that his days of earthly life are all too short to 
 have him trudging along misunderstanding his heavenly 
 Father. The young man who thanks his father for the 
 advice and loving care that permitted him to avoid the 
 pitfalls of youth is one with the full-grown man who 
 praises God for his father-love and protection along the 
 passing years. For with that relationship assured the 
 coming years are robbed of their greatest terrors. Do we 
 feel this relationship when we pray "Our Father"? Are 
 we living as sons and daughters worthy of such a father's 
 love? 
 
 The Day's Opportunity 
 
 An Eight-Hour Day? When Jesus was about to give 
 sight to a man born blind he uttered the following sig- 
 nificant words: "We must work the works of him that 
 sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man 
 can work." There was no time limit on his efforts to help 
 men. There is no time limit used by God in .blessing 
 mankind. But men themselves too often put a limit of 
 this sort on the homage and praise which they give to 
 God. What is the reason? Are we so intent upon the 
 lessening of our hours of physical labor that we apply 
 the same principles to our heart-song to our Creator ? Life 
 is short. Most of us are far behind in giving to God the 
 praise due him for personal blessings received. If we 
 make each day glow with our song of devotion we cannot 
 catch up what we have neglected to do in the days now 
 past. We are craving his righteousness for our children's 
 children. Shall we be miserly in our homage to one from 
 whom we expect blessings for our own flesh and blood when 
 we are gone? Of course each day is crowded, and to- 
 morrow will be more crowded than to-day. What then? 
 
116 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 Charles Wesley must have thought about this matter, for 
 
 he sings: 
 
 "O for a thousand tongues to sing 
 
 My great Redeemer's praise, 
 
 The glories of my God and King, 
 
 The triumphs of his grace." 
 
 Praise such as he would give could not be given in a 
 lifetime with but one tongue to utter it. What shall we 
 say, then, who do not even keep our one tongue busy with 
 the song which is ever striving within us for vocal ex- 
 pression? Have we limited G^d to an eight-hour day? 
 Or do we put that limit upon our homage to him and 
 expect him to work twenty-four hours a day for us ? 
 
 The Open Shop, There is no closed door to those who 
 would praise God for his goodness. Nor is there any 
 discrimination made as to who may have his blessings. 
 Entrance to fellowship with him is for all on the same 
 conditions. Here is where we have an advantage over the 
 psalmist. Only the Israelites were God's children, in his 
 thinking. But for our day the entire race of men may 
 qualify by accepting the conditions. What new vision 
 comes into the psalm as we sing it with our newer oppor- 
 tunity and privilege ! "Whosoever will may come !" What 
 a babel of tongues are demonstrating the democracy of 
 the kingdom of God to-day! The ends of the earth are 
 contributing their own peculiar words to the song. And 
 a meaning born out of an ever-widening range of human 
 experience is sweeping the song heavenward with a homage 
 that the psalmist could not know. Only when the various 
 tongues live in our own neighborhood do we begin to 
 make definitions. We make them; God does not. The 
 psalmist has said it for us, although he knew not how 
 he prophesied: 
 
 "The lovingkindness of Jehovah is from everlasting to ever- 
 lasting upon them that fear him, 
 And his righteousness unto children's children; 
 To such as keep his covenant, 
 
 And to those that remember his precepts to do them, 
 Jehovah has established his throne in the heayens; 
 And his kingdom ruleth over all." 
 
ADORATION AND PRAISE 117 
 
 Why should we make tests of nationality? of education? 
 of social status? How do we reconcile this attitude with 
 our prayer, "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and 
 the glory" ? If our own praise of God were perfect, would 
 we keep from him the praise of those who would sing our 
 song if our love would teach them the music ? 
 
 The Homage of Toil. Songs of service find a ready 
 response to-day. The reality of religion is more and 
 more manifesting itself in life relationships. The poet 
 whose phrases ring out in music from the multitude gets 
 his inspiration from the toilers of the world, whether 
 they be the captains of industry or the humble feeders 
 of a blast furnace. Men are being rated in accordance 
 with the living of the creed that they profess. Homage 
 to God is being lived out in the trying experiences of the 
 day's work. What sort of a contribution to the praise 
 of God are we making in this respect? The pressure of 
 modern life is rapidly tearing away every shred of pre- 
 tense from men. Folks are coming to be known for just 
 what they are. The war has laid hearts bare without 
 reserve. God is being known in new terminology. Where 
 do we stand in all this? The daily task given us to do 
 may become a dreary routine or a psalm of praise. With 
 our minds set to do God's will and to "forget not all his 
 benefits" we may have a large part in the song which 
 the world is trying to learn through bloodshed, suffering, 
 and woe. Wherever we are placed is our opportunity. 
 Are we equal to it? In our search for words with which 
 to express our adoration of God and our Master, Jesus 
 Christ, let us so toil day by day that here and there a 
 note will be struck that will give us a part in the psalmisfs 
 song when he cries out : 
 
 •'Bless Jehovah, ye his angels, 
 That are mighty in strength, that fulfill his word, 
 Hearkening unto the voice of his word. 
 Bless Jehovah, all ye his hosts, 
 Ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 
 Bless Jehovah, all ye his works, 
 In all places of his dominion: 
 Bless Jehovah, O my soul." 
 
118 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 "What heart conditions are necessary in order to pay 
 homage to God? 
 
 To what extent is the psalmist's song an expression of 
 our experience? 
 
 Compare praise to God for personal and community 
 blessings. 
 
 How far is it possible for us to keep a balance between 
 blessings and praise ? 
 
 What effect has the war had upon our praise to God? 
 
 Discuss ways of helping others to think clearly on this 
 question. 
 
 In what way has our ability to accept judgment been 
 lessened ? 
 
 How does the father-relationship help us to understand 
 God? 
 
CHAPTEK XII 
 GRATITUDE AND THANKSGIVING 
 
 The One Hundred and Sixteenth Psalm 
 
 'I love Jehovah, because he heareth 
 
 My voice and my supplications. 
 
 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, 
 
 Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 
 
 The cords of death compassed me, 
 
 And the pains of Sheol gat hold upon me; 
 
 I found trouble and sorrow. 
 
 Then called I upon the name of Jehovah: 
 
 Jehovah, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 
 Gracious is Jehovah, and righteous; 
 
 Yea, our God is merciful. 
 Jehovah preserveth the simple: 
 
 1 was brought low, and he saved me. 
 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; 
 
 For Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee. 
 
 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, 
 
 Mine eyes from tears. 
 
 And my feet from falling. 
 
 I will walk before Jehovah 
 
 In the land of the living. 
 
 I believe, for I will speak: 
 
 I was greatly afflicted: 
 
 I said in my haste, 
 
 All men are liars. 
 
 What shall I render unto Jehovah 
 
 For all his benefits toward me? 
 
 I will take the cup of salvation, 
 
 And call upon the name of Jehovah. 
 
 I will pay my vows unto Jehovah, 
 
 Yea, in the presence of all his people. 
 
 Precious in the sight of Jehovah 
 
 Is the death of his saints. 
 
 Jehovah, truly I am thy servant: 
 
 1 am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid; 
 Thou hast loosed my bonds. 
 
 119 
 
120 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. 
 
 And will call upon the name of Jehoyah. 
 
 Yea, in the presence of all his people, 
 
 I will pay my vows unto Jehovah, 
 
 In the courts of Jehovah's house, 
 
 In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. 
 
 Praise ye Jehovah." 
 
 Wheee Do Wb Stand ? 
 
 The Usual Way. The man who would have given any- 
 thing rather than have lost the scarf-pin presented to him 
 by his wife usually rewards the finder with a meager 
 gift. So great is the difference between our sense of ap- 
 preciation before we secure that which we desire and after 
 it is obtained. One might almost imagine, from many 
 reports made of great achievements, that the individual 
 making the report was under no obligations to anyone but 
 himself for its content and form. How much credit does 
 the young artist give to the master who taught him to 
 discern form, to mix colors, and to interpret life and 
 emotion on a bit of canvas ? Frequently the only mention 
 of the man who led him to the heights is by way of 
 criticism or disparagement. Are we more just? Do we 
 so recognize what others do for us that we feel grateful 
 to them? And do we express our gratitude to them? 
 Song and story are full of the sad drama of ingratitude. 
 Every heart, at times, feels a twitch because of the part 
 memory demands we each play in that drama. We are able 
 to see all this in those about us because the ingratitude is 
 directed at us. It causes us to question the worthwhile- 
 ness of continuing to do for others. Could we not use our 
 time to better advantage? Then with a start we realize 
 that the exhortation, "Let him who lives in a glass house 
 avoid the stone-throwing habit,'^ has a pointed implication 
 for us. We are guilty of forgetting the hand that fed 
 us, the sympathy that cheered us, the mind that directed 
 us. A bit of reminiscence permits the checking a long list 
 of those whose lives would have been brighter had we 
 shown our gratitude for what they did for us. Worse, still, 
 is the accusing finger which points at us all along memory's 
 
GRATITUDE AND THANKSGIVING 121 
 
 highway, reminding us that we have also been ungrateful 
 to God. Has it been thoughtlessness ? Just why have we 
 failed at this point? 
 
 "There's a Reason/' It is a bit awkward to begin giv- 
 ing expression to gratitude after years of neglecting to 
 do it. However, one soon becomes used to it, and its 
 practice brings a richer, keener appreciation of the oppor- 
 tunities and blessings of life. Thus item after item is 
 added to the reasons why our song should be a psalm 
 of thanksgiving rather than a dirge of complaint. From 
 childhood to old age blessings multiply. Simple little 
 events of happiness give place to the deeper experiences 
 of mature life, until each day is full of causes for grate- 
 fulness. In addition to our thoughtlessness in the expres- 
 sion of our gratitude we lessen the force of the reasons 
 for being grateful by a wrong way of estimating our 
 blessings. Should a poor man refuse to thank God for 
 his bread and meat, his humble but happy home, his wife 
 and children, all well about him, because he reads in the 
 newspapers of those able to spend the winter at Palm 
 Beach or the summer in the mountains ? There are other 
 elements that should be considered. A year previous this 
 man was without work, his family were without food, and 
 one of his children sick unto death. What basis of com- 
 parison should he use in finding a reason for gratitude 
 to God? True, he might long for even better conditions, 
 and without doubt economic conditions ought to be 
 remedied so that he shall have them, but has he no cause 
 to be grateful even for things as they are? How does 
 this man differ from us? The psalmist states his reason 
 for being grateful in the first note of his song : 
 
 "I love JehoYah, because he heareth 
 My voice and my supplications." 
 
 Throughout the psalm one hears the undertone of "There's 
 a reason.'' The psalmist had been at the gates of death. 
 Sorrow, trouble, and despair were his portion. Life held 
 a very gloomy outlook. He classed himself with the simple, 
 those whose lack of wisdom and experience exposes them 
 to danger. Out of this state of hopelessness Jehovah had 
 
122 HBAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 lifted him to health and happiness. Was he grateful? 
 Did he go around telling his neighbors that "the fever 
 could not have run much longer, anyway"? Listen to 
 his words: 
 
 "Gracious is Jehovah, and righteous; 
 Yea, our God is merciful. 
 
 Eeturn unto thy rest, O my soul; 
 
 For Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee. 
 
 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, 
 
 Mine eyes from tears, 
 
 And my feet from falling." 
 
 The psalmist leaves no question as to a sense of gratitude 
 on his part. He had received a blessing from God. He 
 recognized it. He felt that there was sufficient reason 
 for giving expression to his gratitude. So he sings a song 
 of thanksgiving for all the ages to hear and heed. Do 
 we "count our blessings/' or do we merely complain about 
 those which we fail to receive? 
 
 The Ohligation to Give Thanks. A feeling of obligation 
 to give thanks rested upon the heart of the psalmist. 
 Whatever crudities of civilization may have hampered his 
 life or hindered his thinking, he was many centuries in 
 advance of some folks who pride themselves on this present 
 age of opportunity and refinement. He was unable to 
 receive great blessings without making suitable acknowl- 
 edgment. He was the sort of man who would thank 
 another for helping in his advancement, for watching 
 through the night with his sick loved ones. Had he been 
 a woman, he would thank the tired laborer who gave up 
 his seat in the crowded car during the rush hour, the 
 neighbor who called attention to tendencies in a child 
 which the mother had not observed. Can any honest per- 
 son receive even the ordinary blessings of life without 
 feeling some such obligation ? Why should the atmosphere 
 of "The world owes me a living*' pervade our relations 
 with others so insistently? Why throw such a challenge 
 into the face of God? Our efforts to teach our children 
 to say "Thank you'' should be pushed far enough to ex- 
 plain to them the philosophy of gratitude and thanks- 
 
GRATITUDE AND THANKSGIVING 123 
 
 giving. The form of gratitude will then develop into the 
 spirit of thankfulness as the years go by. Our own feel- 
 ings toward others when they fail to meet this obligation 
 to us is sufficient evidence of such a need. If a "Polly- 
 anna" crusade is worth the propaganda, what results might 
 we not obtain in a campaign of "Give thanks for what 
 you receive"? Why not start it in a small way with 
 ourselves ? 
 
 Methods and Ways 
 
 A Method of Life, The psalmist took his troubles to 
 God in prayer. This indicates a state of preparedness. 
 He did not wait until the day of disaster to learn how to 
 pray. It was a part of his method of life. He counted 
 God in on all of his affairs, so that God knew the especial 
 urgency of the present occasion for help. Prayer as a 
 habit of life implies righteous purpose. The psalmist 
 lived with his mind toward God. He had been daily 
 "growing in grace." When he prayed, "0 Jehovah, I 
 beseech thee, deliver my soul," he did so with the assur- 
 ance that his petition would be heard. One would like to 
 have known the psalmist. He is refreshing. The heat 
 of the day becomes restful in his presence. One feels the 
 presence of the Spirit of God. The atmosphere of per- 
 plexity clarifies. In the rush of business and society and 
 cares one hears a voice saying, "Be still and know that 
 I am God." It was knowing God that put such confidence 
 into the prayer of the psalmist. It is knowing God that 
 gives visions to singers of God in a day like our own. 
 The psalmist's experience appears isolated because he 
 caught a strain of music and breathed into it his faith. 
 But all about us are men and women singing with assur- 
 ance in the midst of such commonplace experiences as 
 washing of dishes, mending of shoes, running of great 
 factories, editing newspapers, driving of big campaigns. 
 Jesus has made it possible for men to know God. Those 
 who have attained this knowledge do not boast about it. 
 What they do is to proclaim the help which God gives to 
 them. They "praise God, from whom all blessings flow." 
 Are they fanatic? Was the psalmist? We cannot com- 
 
124 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 pute the service rendered to the Kingdom by such pro- 
 claiming of God's goodness, but we do know how it has 
 helped us. What promise of hope have we instilled into 
 other hearts by letting folks know that we know God? 
 Or are we still among those who take a pride in an- 
 nouncing that "God knows us'*? What is our method of 
 life in this respect? 
 
 God's Method. Faith and faithfulness are intimately 
 related in the mind of God. At least his manifested 
 goodness would so imply. And the experience of the 
 psalmist seems to bear out the implication. In the ex- 
 treme situation wherein the psalmist uttered a cry for 
 help he had not let go his faith in God. Instead he 
 used it and was faithful in the observance of all that 
 faith in God demands. God dealt with him on that basis. 
 Since he had pleaded with God with assurance that God 
 is both righteous and merciful, he knew full well that 
 any answer which would bring relief would take into 
 account both faith and faithfulness. God uses that method 
 with men to-day, both in response to personal prayers and 
 prayers for the advancement of his kingdom on earth. The 
 movements and campaigns in the church that have been 
 launched by faith are legion. The number that have failed 
 is very large. Those that have been successful have been 
 marked by faithfulness as well as faith. Was God un- 
 mindful of all those that failed? Did he fail to appreci- 
 ate what was being asked and done for the sake of his 
 kingdom? No. That faith which lacks faithfulness is 
 of too surface a nature to count on in the long, hard 
 drive of establishing righteousness in the hearts of men 
 as an every-day, workable proposition. If we ask God to 
 lead every man and woman in the community into fellow- 
 ship with the church, and then we fail to practice the 
 principles upon which the Church of Jesus Christ is 
 founded, ought we to expect the answer of our prayer? 
 A prayer that does not have back of it faithful living 
 according to the laws of God does not throb with the 
 faith that overcomes. It lacks that force of which grati- 
 tude and thanksgiving are the external expressions. It 
 is wanting in the assurance which comes from a knowl- 
 
GEATITUDE AND THANKSGIVING 125 
 
 edge of God obtained through a life of living his way and 
 thinking his thoughts. The prayer-life of a multitude of 
 earnest folks is impoverished by a failure to take this 
 truth into account. More saddening than the personal 
 loss is the tremendous drag put upon the progress of the 
 Kingdom by such prayers and such lives. In what ways 
 does our faith and, hence, God^s response to our prayers 
 suffer because of our lack of faithfulness? 
 
 The Testiinony of Conviction. The man cured of rheu- 
 matism by a particular medicine does not keep the good 
 news all to himself. Meet him where you will, on the 
 street corner, in the shop, or in the vestibule of the 
 church, and he begins to sing the praises of his cure. You 
 tell him that you are not troubled with rheumatism, and 
 he endeavors to persuade you that you may be at some 
 later date and had better be prepared. As long as he 
 lives he will shout his gratitude from the housetops in 
 order that folks may find help for their own troubles. 
 Conviction lies back of such thanksgiving. Could you 
 convince him that perhaps the remedy did not eifect the 
 cure, some change of diet, or the weather may have been 
 responsible? Try it. Have you never had such strong 
 convictions that you simply must talk about them? That 
 is the way the psalmist felt. In his distress he had shouted, 
 "All men are liars !" But he did not lose faith in God 
 on account of this conviction. Why do we so often con- 
 fuse men and God when men are unfaithful ? All around 
 us are circumstances and conditions which evoke utter- 
 ances similar to the psalmist^s. Were we to say "Amen" 
 to these accusations, there would be no need of our con- 
 fusing these acts of men with God's goodness and mercy. 
 The psalmist may have felt that men were all liars, but 
 he did not implicate God in the accusation. Why do we 
 conclude that the church is a failure because a trustee 
 short-weighed our coal or a church sister talked about 
 us behind our back? The psalmist was convinced that 
 even if men were untrustworthy, God is to be relied upon. 
 He made a distinction well worth more than our passing 
 notice, for on that distinction he set forth on his future 
 life journey among men. 
 
126 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 Let Men Know 
 
 Gratitude's Finest Expression. Do we ever sit down 
 to figure out the best expression of gratitude that we can 
 give for God's goodness? Or do we simply say, "We 
 thank thee, Lord,'' and let the cause of our gratitude pass 
 from our mind ? The psalmist thought the matter through 
 very carefully. The thoroughness of his consideration 
 is seen in the conclusion which he reached. He could 
 not forget the cause which he had for gratitude. One who 
 walks for the first time after weeks of enfeebling sickness 
 knows why he could not forget. It was his faith and 
 faithfulness that stirred God to answer his prayer. Men 
 had not helped him. There is a pathos in his desire as 
 he cries: 
 
 "What shall I render unto Jehovah 
 For all his benefits toward me?" 
 
 Poetry gives place to prayer as he asks for light and 
 guidance. Are we as concerned as this man was? Over 
 and over he mulls his query : "What shall I render ? What 
 shall I render?'' The answer comes like a profession of 
 faith: 
 
 "I will take the cup of salvation 
 And call upon the name of Jehovah." 
 
 Away to the temple ! He will publicly proclaim his grati- 
 tude. Every worshiper shall see him and go home to tell 
 the folks. It shall become neighborhood talk. As he 
 puts to his lips the cup which was a part of the sacrifice 
 of thanksgiving for great and manifold deliverance all 
 the world shall know that God has been wonderfully good 
 to him. He was not only willing, but anxious, to give 
 thanks "in the presence of all the people." Are we? Do 
 we? Why not? He was willing to "call upon" or pro- 
 claim the name of Jehovah, so that all might know to 
 whom his gratitude was due. How about starting such 
 an excellent plan ourselves? 
 
 The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving. The sacrifice of thanks- 
 giving had a technical significance to the psalmist. It 
 
GRATITUDE AND THANKSGIVING 127 
 
 was a part of the ritual of the church. It involved "un- 
 leavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers 
 anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour 
 soaked." It was formal and ritualistic. But to the 
 psalmist it had deep personal significance, otherwise he 
 would not have celebrated the event in song. To him it 
 was the giving expression to gratitude so great that he 
 must carry it into the worship of his church. No other 
 place was sacred enough. Why sing his thanksgiving to 
 a few friends at a dinner party? Why recite his joy 
 and gratitude to the people next door? No place but the 
 temple would do. No expression but that of the ritual of 
 the church would satisfy. 
 
 "I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. 
 And will call upon the name of Jehovah. 
 I will pay my vows unto Jehovah, 
 Yea, in the presence of all his people. 
 In the courts of Jehovah's house, 
 In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. 
 Praise ye Jehovah." 
 
 There is nothing half-hearted about the psalmist. He 
 made his religion a thoroughgoing affair. When he had 
 cause for gratitude he made it as public as he did his 
 cry for help in his hour of need. What sacrifices of 
 thanksgiving are we offering ? In what sort of service may 
 we render it more effectively? To what extent are we 
 availing ourselves of this great privilege? 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 What reasons have we to be grateful to others? To 
 God? 
 
 To what extent do we consider the expression of grati- 
 tude something we may give or not, just as we see fit ? 
 
 What relation has prayer to an attitude of gratitude? 
 
 Think over some acts of faithfulness which have 
 strengthened your faith and made you less faltering in 
 prayer. 
 
128 HEART MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 To what extent do you square up your convictions with 
 God^s goodness? 
 
 Are we ready and willing to give God credit in public 
 for his goodness to us ? Why do we not do it then ? 
 
 What acts of service are we performing because of grati- 
 tude to God? 
 
 What effect would honest expression of our gratitude 
 to God have on the life of our home? our church? our 
 community ? 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 HOPE 
 
 The One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Psalm 
 
 "When Jehovah brought back those that returned to Zion, 
 We were like unto them that dream. 
 Then was our mouth filled with laughter. 
 And our tongue with singing: 
 Then said they among the nations, 
 Jehovah hath done great things for them. 
 Jehovah hath done great things for us. 
 Whereof we are glad. 
 Turn again our captivity, O Jehovah, 
 As the streams in the south. 
 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 
 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing seed for sowing, 
 Shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves 
 with Mm." 
 
 Sane Optimism 
 
 What Is Hope? The dictionary of life furnishes the 
 best definitions of hope. He who searches in books for 
 fitting phraseology with which to clothe it is never satis- 
 fied until he discovers a writer who explains hope as he 
 himself has experienced it. To catalogue the hopes that 
 have entered into the thinking of the average individual 
 would be to write his biography, so interwoven with the 
 day's experiences are they. To recite an academic defini- 
 tion of hope as "desire accompanied with expectation of 
 obtaining what is desired, or belief that it is obtainable," 
 may win a perfect mark in the classroom of the grammar 
 school, but it does not give the content to the word which 
 maturity and the stress of life demands. How would you 
 define it? Would your reference books be your source 
 material ? Or would the memory of dull and gloomy days, 
 when you were kept going by the sense of a brighter to- 
 morrow, supply you with the concrete material with 
 
 129 
 
130 HEAET MESSAGES FKOM THE PSALMS 
 
 which to make your meaning clear to others ? The psalm- 
 ist's song was written on a bad day. Immediate prospects 
 were rather gloomy. He had seen a great hope fulfilled 
 up to a certain point; then it stopped. So happy had his 
 fathers been in the return of his people from their cap- 
 tivity in Babylon that their hearts overflowed with joy. 
 The Israelites had experienced such a wonderful deliver- 
 ance from an intolerable situation that they were as men 
 dreaming dreams. They could not credit their senses. 
 They rubbed their eyes to see if they were actually awake. 
 They laughed and they sang. They shouted for very 
 joy. As men freed from prison after years of confine- 
 ment blink bewilderingly at the sun and know not which 
 way to turn, so were they. Even the heathen had ceased 
 their worship of Baal for a little while to comment on 
 the way that Jehovah had finally come to the rescue of his 
 people. The psalmist rejoiced in their experience as he 
 cast his song into appropriate form. Why not hope for 
 great things himself? He does. And he hopes largely. 
 He bases his hope for his generation on what God did 
 for his fathers. For what did he hope? It may be that 
 in such questions our own understanding of hope will 
 define itself. In what do we center our hopes? What 
 material hopes have we? What intellectual hopes? Are 
 our spiritual hopes allied with the other desires of our 
 life ? Little children are asking for the definition of hope. 
 They find the word in song and story. Conversation is 
 fraught with it. Political conventions ring with it. Is 
 the definition of hope or the objects of hope of most sig- 
 nificance? How would you explain it? In through the 
 window comes the sound of a sweet voice singing : 
 
 "My hope is built on nothing less 
 Than Jesus' blood and righteousness." 
 
 Is hope of itself an experience? Out of our own book of 
 the knowledge of life, what do we find hope to be ? 
 
 The Goad of Rope. The women who clung to the life 
 spars when thrown into the sea from the stricken Lusitania 
 found hope all that kept them alive until rescued. The 
 victories of life which have been won through hope are 
 
HOPE 131 
 
 not to be numbered. With everything against him — 
 out of work, sickness at home, money all gone, clothes 
 so shabby that he is turned away from places advertising 
 for help — man after man has continued to tramp the 
 city streets until work has been found. What material for 
 gripping novels has been found along the trail of hope ! 
 How the souls of men and women have been stirred to 
 try just a little bit longer because of hope! He who 
 hopes does not sit with folded hands. He is active. He 
 strives to secure that for which he hopes. Hope enlivens 
 him to greater earnestness and endeavor. It was this sort 
 of stimulus that acted as a goad to the psalmist. It kept 
 him hard at the task of helping to reestablish the worship 
 of Jehovah in his native land. Putting a nation on its 
 feet after years of exile is not an easy task. Habits of 
 life, newly acquired customs, looseness in observing reli- 
 gious obligations, lack of a sense of national loyalty — 
 it is a task for more than a day to correct all these things. 
 People saved from great hardship soon forget those who 
 relieved them. All manner of obstacles and disappoint- 
 ments had entered into what looked like a task easy of 
 accomplishment. Men become anxious and fearful when 
 engaged in great undertakings. It is difficult to realize 
 that others are capable of large trust in aifairs. The 
 psalmist knew all this. He was too busy, however, to 
 permit it to dampen his ardor. He had a great hope. In 
 so far as he was responsible for its fulfillment there would 
 be no failure. To what extent does hope stimulate us to 
 labor for the possible achievements of to-morrow? The 
 psalmist hoped for a life for his people in which Jehovah 
 was worshiped and given full sway. That such a day 
 would arrive he had no doubt. His hope would keep him 
 buoyant and enthusiastic during the intervening years. 
 While he hoped and toiled the processes essential to such 
 a culmination would be at work. In due time the de- 
 velopment of his people would meet God's part in hope's 
 fruition and the song of the harvesters would be heard in 
 the land. The Christian life is not attained in a day. 
 There are many hours after conversion when the psalmist's 
 experience is relived. Does the hope of some day becom- 
 
132 HEAET MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 ing Christlike stimulate to nobler living to-day? Count 
 over some of the things accomplished and difficulties over- 
 come because of such hope. Where hope drives the soul 
 to honest endeavor in Christian living, intimate fellow- 
 ship with Christ himself is not far off. 
 
 Hope's Foundation. There is some basis for the hope 
 expressed in the singing "When the roll is called up 
 yonder, I'll be there." Eegardless of the musical, psy- 
 chological, or theological correctness of the hymn, such 
 high hope does not exist without foundation. No more did 
 the hope of the psalmist. With historic perspective he 
 says: 
 
 "When Jehovah brought back those that returned to Zion, 
 We were like unto them that dream. 
 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, 
 And our tongue with singing: 
 Then said they among the nations, 
 Jehovah hath done great things for them. 
 Jehovah hath done great things for us, 
 Whereof we are glad. 
 
 This Jehovah, whom he would have his people worship; 
 this God, in whom he put his trust, had already helped. 
 Why not hope for further assistance ? The joyous experi- 
 ence of those days now celebrated in his song will be 
 repeated. As the parched and feeble brooks in the south 
 country swell and overflow their banks when God sends 
 the rains, so the weak community of Israel will be rein- 
 vigorated with fresh enthusiasm, material blessing, and 
 the Spirit of Jehovah. Hope is not mysterious. How do 
 we lay foundations for our hopes? Have the blessings of 
 God in the past been of sufficient significance to warrant 
 our hope for future blessings? Or are we now in the 
 process of laying the foundations of a Christian life upon 
 which to base our hopes of to-morrow? 
 
 A Few Adjustments 
 
 Wky the Delay? If we put as close a time limit on 
 our own achievements as we sometimes do on the fulfill- 
 ment of our hoj)es, a new day would dawn in the affairs 
 
HOPE 133 
 
 of men. Our own needs and desires loom up so high that 
 we forget the part that our faithful performance of daily 
 duty has in the fulfillment of the hopes of others. Why 
 do we insist upon our hope becoming realization so swiftly? 
 Men hope for success in business, but they do not expect 
 it to come the first week. They put capital into it. They 
 study the people likely to trade with them. They pur- 
 chase salable goods. They launch a campaign of advertis- 
 ing. They treat the few customers with the same cour- 
 teousness that they would a store full. If the business 
 for which they hoped does not materialize, they do not 
 blame the people for not thronging their place of busi- 
 ness. They do ask, "Why the delay?'' But they ask it 
 with reference to their analysis of the people, their selec- 
 tion of goods, and their method of advertising. They 
 revise their system. Each day finds them hard at work 
 while they continue to study their problem. Nothing is 
 wrong with their hope of success. The people are spend- 
 ing vast amounts of money for merchandise similar to 
 what they carry in stock. A year, two years, sometimes 
 longer is required to get results. Life, like business, grows 
 and develops slowly. The mind accepts and uses new 
 ideas and ideals very gradually. With unseemly tardi- 
 ness the soul responds to God's Spirit. Why not take 
 account of these facts when it is our hope that we are 
 considering? Delayed fulfillment of hope is not always 
 delay. The time element enters into all of life's proc- 
 esses. It takes days of exercise to give to a weakly man 
 a return of strength. The student spends weary nights 
 with his books acquiring his hoped-for knowledge. The 
 very nature of our hopes implies certain lengths of time 
 between the birth of the desire in our mind and its pos- 
 session. If God limited us in time as we do him, he 
 could have little hope for us for a part in the citizenship 
 of his kingdom. There is need of philosophizing a bit 
 in dealing with our hopes. Sometimes they are fulfilled 
 the day after we decide that they never will be, and we 
 are put to shame as a result. What sort of trust in God 
 do we need in order to be hopeful when it looks to us as 
 though he has forgotten us? 
 
134 HEAET MESSAGES FROM THE PSALMS 
 
 ''Me and My Wife." Somewhere a writer, stirred by 
 the narrowness of the prayers which he heard offered, 
 wrote the following : 
 
 "Lord, bless me and my wife, 
 My son John and his wife, 
 We four, 
 No more. Amen." 
 
 He might also have characterized the selfishness of the 
 hopes of some people in similar strain. The hope of the 
 psalmist was not for himself alone. It included all of 
 his people. It was burdened with the religious need of 
 his family, his friends, and his enemies. Not his the 
 desire to rejoice in sanctified solitude. He would see the 
 multitude glorifying God and rejoicing in his fellowship. 
 Are our hopes thus broad? Do we look out into the in- 
 equalities of life and hope for a place at the top for our- 
 self? As sickness wipes out family after family, do we 
 hope merely that our family may be spared? The inter- 
 relationships of human life are too many for such selfish 
 hopes. Besides, the sort of selfishness which such hopes 
 develop soon impairs the ability to desire the best things 
 in life. Away with hoping for all of the praise in life, 
 all of the easy places, all of the unusual experiences, all 
 of the big opportunities, all of the best blessings God has 
 to bestow. Democracy is a prized word in our day. Let 
 us democratize our hopes. Men are longing for the king- 
 dom of God on earth, w^hich is another way of expressing 
 the hope of the psalmist. Let us broaden our hopes so 
 as to include the Kingdom's needs in all their fullness. We 
 will thus include ourselves in the Kingdom's advance. The 
 love of Christ and the will of God will shine through our 
 hopes. The fulfillment which we so much desire will be 
 all the nearer, for hopes become what God himself desires 
 for us. 
 
 Getting Results 
 
 The Hope of the Sower. The psalmist knew the ways 
 of a farmer. If be had not himself cultivated the soil, he 
 
HOPE 135 
 
 had watched others prepare the ground and plant and 
 harvest. He knew that the harvest would not material- 
 ize without the planting. He also knew that the allotted 
 time for development and growth must pass before the 
 harvest song. So he took heart as he thought over the 
 hope so dear to his thinking. He would put his best into 
 the sowing process. Then would he be able to sing with 
 rapture on the day toward which he looked. There are 
 some who cannot sing the hymns of the church because 
 they have never yet put any life-content into their mean- 
 ing. "I love thy kingdom. Lord," never lifts in strong, 
 resonant phrase from the lips of a half-hearted worshiper 
 of God. But he who has found a Saviour at the altar of 
 the church, who has been practicing the teachings of Jesus, 
 who has been fighting a winning battle over sin — listen 
 to the words as he sings them ! The psalmist seemed to 
 think that a man gets out of life only in proportion as he 
 puts into life. Was he correct in his conclusion? Cer- 
 tainly a man who plants turnip seeds does not harvest 
 watermelons. What sort of seed does our hope prompt 
 us to plant? Should we expect character results in others 
 any more rapidly than we furnish examples of such char- 
 acter products ? What obligations does this suggest ? Are 
 we hoping more largely than we are sowing in character, 
 love, deeds, example, Christlikeness ? Do we sow with 
 the same earnestness as we hope for harvests ? The psalm- 
 ist hoped largely. It was for something definite. He 
 was so earnest about it that his hope is preserved in our 
 psalm. Do we anticipate the fulfillment of our hopes as 
 really as he did? The feeling of certainty here must 
 effect the shaping of our life in preparation for what we 
 expect. For what harvests are we looking in our lives? 
 in the lives of loved ones? in the lives of our friends? in 
 the life of our community? 
 
 The Great Fulfillment. Underlying all hope such as 
 that of the psalmist is the conviction that man is created 
 in the spiritual image of God. He has in him possibilities 
 of godlikeness. Is our greatest hope of such character as 
 to center in this great truth? Life is short. The years 
 speed away all too rapidly. Does a hope of eternal fel- 
 
136 HEAKT MESSAGES FEOM THE PSALMS 
 
 lowship with God make the years a period of developing 
 that fellowship here? Or are our hopes all of this life? 
 The lisping words of babyhood seem far away to a man 
 in middle life. Gray hair and feeble steps wait almost 
 at the next corner. Life in the living of it is good. But 
 across the passing years we ever hear the voice of the 
 preacher of old as he urges us : "Eemember also thy Creator 
 in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and 
 the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleas- 
 ure in them; before the sun, and the light, and the moon, 
 and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after 
 the rain; in the day when the keepers of the house shall 
 tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and 
 the grinders cease because they are few, and those that 
 look out of the windows shall be darkened, and the doors 
 shall be shut in the street ; when the sound of the grinding 
 is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and 
 all the daughters of music shall be brought low; yea, they 
 shall be afraid of that luhich is high and terrors shall he 
 in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the 
 grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; be- 
 cause man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners 
 go about the streets: before the silver cord is loosed, or 
 the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at 
 the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the 
 dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit re- 
 turneth unto God who gave it.^' Does this ancient sermon 
 find a response in our hopes ? What changes in our hopes 
 would make us better men and women? The psalmist 
 has long gone on who bade us hope in God. Singers of 
 later generations have lifted up their harps and sung their 
 faith in other tongues. But the heart of the singer has 
 ever been stirred by man's greatest and most insistent hope. 
 The song lives on because it finds a universal response. 
 Heart after heart warms to its measures. It sinks all 
 other hopes of men into an incidental relationship. It 
 was the hope of our fathers. To-day it is encouraging 
 hundreds of thousands, and to-morrow the number will 
 be increased. Out of the hope of the psalmist and the 
 hope which has become our own we may sing with Frederic 
 
HOPE 137 
 
 Lawrence Knowles, one of our latter-day interpreters of 
 life, these words of truth and triumph: 
 
 "This body is my house — it is not I; 
 Herein I sojourn till in some far sky 
 I lease a fairer dwelling, built to last 
 Till all the carpentry of time is past. 
 When from my high place viewing this lone star, 
 What shall I care where these poor timbers are? 
 What though the crumbling walls turn dust and loam — 
 I shall have left them for a larger home! 
 What though the rafters break, the stanchions rot, 
 When earth has dwindled to a glimmering spot! 
 When thou, clay cottage, fallest I'll immerse 
 My long cramped spirit in the universe. 
 Through the uncomputed silences of space 
 I shall yearn upward to the leaning Face. 
 The ancient heavens will roll aside for me, 
 As Moses monarch'd the dividing sea. 
 This body is my house — it is not I; 
 Triumphant in this faith I live and die." 
 
 Some Questions to Think About 
 
 Why is hope of such significance to human life ? 
 
 Is the correct definition of hope as important as its 
 possession ? 
 
 What is the basis of our hopes ? 
 
 What has the delayed fulfillment of some hope of ours 
 taught us as to the strength of our faith ? 
 
 Are we sowing and planning for the fulfillment of our 
 hopes as earnestly as we are hoping ? 
 
 What has the future for us in the light of our present 
 hopes ? 
 
 To what extent is our hope to be like Christ being ful- 
 filled day by day ? 
 
 What is our hope after death ? 
 
Date Due 
 
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