The Hand of God in Afflictions: Chapter 2 of The Happy Mourner

Chapter 2 of The Happy Mourner written in 1838 by William Jay The Happy Mourner was published in the year 2000 by Old Paths Publications, 1 Bittersweet Path, Willow Street, PA 17584. It is posted here with permission of the publisher, and may be purchased online at http://www.oldpathspublications.org, or by calling 1.717.464.6963. “Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, what doest thou?” Job 9:12 It always highly becomes us to entertain proper apprehensions of him “with whom we have to do.” He is, indeed, “a God that hideth himself.” “He dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto, and him no man hath seen, or can see.” There are heights, and depths, and breadths, and lengths in his essence, and attributes, and works, and ways, which elude all created, all finite research: and we may go to an archangel with the question Eliphaz addressed to Job, “Canst thou by searching find out God; canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” Are we then sealed up in total ignorance? Are we called to worship “an unknown God?” No: He has not left himself without witness. His word is “a lamp unto our path, and light unto our feet.” As far as our state requires information, He has given us a revelation of himself in this sacred volume; and it is both our duty and our privilege, to assume with thankfulness, and to hold with inviolable firmness, the views of the Supreme Being, it holds forth – for they will of necessity be fundamental in religion – and all our creed, all our conduct, and all our comfort must be affected by them. His dispensations with regard to nations, families, and individuals, are various. In some of them He thunders; in others, we hear only a small still voice. Some of them call us to rejoice; others to mourn. Some enrich us; others impoverish. In some, He gives; in others, He takes away.-But He is the same in all; and all are worthy of our attention. If there be a difference, it is in favor of his more awful and painful dealings with us. These peculiarly deserve and demand our regard. In these He seems to move out of His common road, in order to awaken and impress the mind. Our food is intended to do us good – but how much more our medicine? When this is administered in vain, our case begins to be considered suspicious, alarming, desperate. There is nothing, therefore, by which we can more defy and provoke the God of the whole earth, than while he is employing methods so extraordinarily designed and adapted to affect us, we “regard not the work of the Lord,” neither consider the operation of his hand. “Hear ye, therefore,” says the voice from heaven, “Hear ye the rod, and Him that hath appointed it.” “In the day of adversity, consider.” “Behold” Him in all he does; but most attentively and seriously contemplate Him when he comes to take away. “BEHOLD, HE TAKETH AWAY, WHO CAN HINDER HIM? WHO WILL SAY UNTO HIM, WHAT DOEST THOU? It appears from this passage, that in the losses of life, we are to recognize and acknowledge – The truth of His agency – The uncontrollableness of his dominion – and – The unimpeachableness of his conduct. The truth of his agency – “He taketh away.” The uncontrollableness of his dominion – “Who can hinder him?” The unimpeachableness of is conduct – “Who will say unto him, What doest Thou?” I. Behold, the truth of his agency. “He taketh away.” It is obvious that our hold of every possession and enjoyment is very precarious, and that our comforts lie at the disposal of another. This conclusion depends not on reasonings; it results from facts: scripture is not necessary to teach it; all history, all observation, all experience proclaims it. Wealth is often taken away. Men make gold their hope, and fine-gold their confidence; but nothing is more precarious; they are therefore called, “uncertain riches;” and we are commanded not to “trust in them.” How many after devising the best plans, and availing themselves of every assistance that could promise success, are groaning over their defeated projects-“My purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.” How many are not only in embarrassments, but have their indigence embittered by contrast with the plenty that once crowned their table. Health is often taken away. “Let not the strong man glory in his strength.” What is it against the decays of nature, the violence of accident, the corrosion of disease? “When Thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth; surely every man is vanity.” Reason is often taken away. No condition, however elevated, secures the possessor. Nebuchadnezzar’s understanding departed from him; and in his fancies and feelings he was reduced to a level with the beasts that perish. How many in our own day in the higher, yea, in the highest ranks of life have become the victims of this dire calamity. And are not connections and relatives often taken away? Is there a person in the presence of God, who has not had reason to sigh “Lover and friend hast Thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.” It is needless to enlarge the illustration. It is undeniable that our possessions and comforts are holden by a very precarious tenure; and are removable at the pleasure of another. And who is the disposer? Who is He that thus intermeddles with our affairs, and lays desolate our comforts. “Behold He taketh away.” There is no such thing as chance in his empire. His providence is not only real but universal. “A sparrow falleth not to the ground without our heavenly Father; Yea, the very hairs of our head are all numbered.” – “Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord; he against whom they have sinned?” War is called “His sword.” He “calls for a famine upon the land,” and “cleanness of teeth” stalks through. He “breaketh the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.” “I clothe,” says He, “the heavens with sackcloth:” “I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” “Is there evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?” Not that God, in these cases always acts immediately – He commonly, if not invariably, works otherwise. In things purely spiritual, and where the result is so manifestly his own, he uses means to produce it. Paul plants and Apollos waters, though He giveth the increase, and worketh all in all. And thus it is in temporal things; instruments are employed; but instrumentality supposes and requires agency – and requires it, whatever ability or adaptation it possesses: - for however keen the sword, or excellent the pen, the one cannot wound, or the other write, without a hand to use it. All events, and all creatures, depend upon God; and they can neither bless or injure us, but as he permits, employs, or succeeds them. Hence too his interposition is not visible. He really does all, but seems to do nothing. His agency, though obvious enough in its results is imperceptible in its working. Thus it is with the wind; we cannot see it pass, but we can see its passage, and trace the direction of its progress in its effects. Read the preceding verse: “Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not; he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.” God rarely makes use of the marvelous, or acts so as to alter the regular and established order of things. His agency sometimes indeed resembles a torrent which sweeps over an unusual surface, and bears down cattle, and trees, and houses, and as it rolls and roars along, draws people to the margin with amazement and dismay: but he more commonly brings his designs to pass in a manner more slow and tranquil, and unobserved, resembling the flow of a river that keeps its own channel, and reaches its fulness by a course as natural as it is efficient. It is a fine image, the genius of Solomon employs, when he says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it withersoever he will.” The husbandman does not change the quality but the current of the stream: it still flows according to its natural propension, yet runs under his guidance, and in subserviency to his pleasure. Thus agents act of themselves; yet are his servants: they follow their own inclination, but fulfill his purposes. This fact misconceived, has led infidels to deny the providence of God in the events of the world; and even philosophers the most convinced of the existence of God, from the appearance of relations, beauties, and utilities in the parts of the universe, have disavowed the hand of God in the management of human affairs, believing that “time and chance happeneth to them all.” The reason of the inconsistency seems to be this, in the fixed system of nature they see creatures acting in a constant and uniform manner; but these being purely passive in themselves, must be determined and conducted by a foreign power; and a presiding agency cannot be questioned. But in human life they meet with beings, who are masters of their own conduct, and act by knowledge and choice; possessing boundless liberty, and capricious dispositions; sometimes governed by principle, sometimes by example, sometimes by fancy, sometimes by pride, sometimes by malice; and not able to distinguish between the first cause, and the subordinate issues; the chief agent and the instrument; the perfection of the Creator, and the weakness and folly of the creature; they adhere to the immediate and apparent principle of action, without ascending to God, who presides over all, inspiring the good, permitting the evil, and reducing the whole to his own pleasure. And indeed if sense only was to be consulted, we should seldom think of God in the most trying occurrences. To find a cause for the affliction of Joseph, why need we go beyond the envy of his brethren? Or the reason of the cursing of David, why need we look further than the malignity of Shimei? Or a motive for the crucifixion of the Son of God, what want we more than the jealousy of the chief priests, and the wickedness of the Jews? Who at the first sight of all these, would not have ascribed them to human agency? Yet, “God sent me here,” says Joseph, “to save much people alive.” “God hath bidden him,” says David. And, “He was delivered,” says the Apostle, “according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.” It is necessary, therefore, to rise above every sense, and to call in the aid of that faith which is not only “the substance of things hoped for,” but “the evidence of things not seen.” And this will be found to constitute the difference between the natural man and the Christian. The former is no better at heart than an atheist: he is without God in the world: God is not in all his thoughts. A Christian only is the true theist. He is the only firm and vital believer in the being and empire of God. But he does believe in them. He walks by faith and not by sight. He is aspiring after a world, where “God is all in all,” and to this state he is already in a measure come. He has begun to see and hear, and realize God. He acknowledges him in all his way; and when others say, “O it was that unlucky accident; it was that unfortunate servant; it was that perfidious friend; it was that deadly enemy” – He cries with Eli, “It is the Lord,” and endeavors to add, “Let Him do what seemeth him good.” I pity the man who in the day of evil, is the wretch, of events without author or design; and finds himself left alone with a heartless world, with blind chance, with his own evil temper, and with the demons of impatience and unbelief. The Christian feels himself still with God, “even his own God;” and his presence enlightens all that is gloomy, relieves all that is depressing; brings beauty out of confusion, and turns evil into good. Thus it was with Jesus who suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps. He foreknew all the circumstances of his trial, and all the instruments of his pain – he saw Judas betraying him; Peter denying him; his disciples forsaking him; Herod mocking him, Pilate condemning him; the soldiers nailing him to the cross; the populace insulting him – He saw it all – yet he saw nothing but God: “The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” We are to behold: II. The uncontrollableness of his dominion. – “Who can hinder Him?” Can the man of power? There is no power but of God; and what he imparts, he can with infinite ease recall, or defeat. – What a degree of force and influence have some individuals possessed and exerted. – When the late emperor of France led his unparalleled army into Russia, he seemed more than mortal. He felt the presumption of confidence himself, for he said, “Are not my princes altogether kings, is not Calno as Carchemish? -- Is not Hamath as Arpad? – Is not Samaria as Damascus?” – What can withstand him? “He sendeth abroad his ice like morsels. Who can stand before his cold?” – “How art thou fallen, O Lucifer, son of the morning! – How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations! for thou saidest in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north.” We read of “an innumerable company of angels,” and they are called his mighty angels – The least of which could wield these elements. One of them in a single night entered the camp of Sennacherib, and destroyed an hundred and eighty-five thousand: another at midnight, passed through the whole land of Egypt, and slew in every house the first-born. – An insect in his hand would be omnipotent. – There have been four great monarchies in the world, and each of them for the time seemed too firmly established to be rooted up. But in vain the Babylonian said, I will keep my throne; the Persian, I will keep my state; the Macedonian, I will retain my glory; and the Roman, I will retain my dominion. He took them all away, and trampled them under foot as the mire in the street. – “Who can hinder Him?” Can the man of policy? There have been persons endowed with extraordinary prudence and penetration. They have seen effects in their distant causes; they have detected the undeveloped designs of an adversary; and made them, as soon as they began to operate, the very means of effecting their own scheme. “But there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.” “The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God; as it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” Can the man of prayer? Prayer has power with God. Prayer has power with God. Prayer has sometimes met him as Abigail met David, and induced him to put up his sword into its sheath. “Therefore he said, that he would destroy them, had not Moses, his chosen, stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.” – But prayer, even prayer cannot avail, when the time to execute his judgements, yea, the set time is come. “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.” He answers prayer; -- yet when he has been taking away, who has not tried its efficacy, and found its success limited to our support under the suffering, but not affording exemption from it? Can the hearer? Strong is the regard we feel for the man who has “begotten us in Christ by the gospel,” who has fed us with “The bread of life;” who has led us “in the way everlasting;” and comforted us in all our tribulation. But in vain we hang upon his lips. Those lips must be silenced in the grave. – How many ministers regardless of the tears of a church, raised by their labors, and apparently depending on their ability and their zeal, have been taken away in the vigor of their days, and in the midst of their usefulness? Moses, the servant of the Lord must die: and all they among whom Paul has gone preaching the kingdom of God, must see his face no more. Who can hinder him? Cannot the wife—the children? Cannot they hinder the removal of the husband, the father __ cannot they hinder it, when the loss will reduce her from ease to anxiety, and toil, and dependence; and scatter them abroad uneducated, unprovided for, exposed to injustice and treated with insult? No. “Leave thy fatherless children: I will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in me.” --Who can hinder him? Cannot the lover? There is something very delightful and interesting in virtuous affection. “Marriage is honorable above all;” and God himself has pronounced that “it is not good for man to be alone.” – He who has sanctioned the end, arranges the means. – We see each other; we intermingle—some personal charm; some intellectual or moral attraction; some undefined, undefinable quality, perhaps imperceptible to another, seizes and fixes the admirer’s mind – we give up ourselves to the impression—and the time of union is reckoned upon, as the consummation of happiness. What is the world to them? Its pomp, its pleasures and its nonsense all Who in each other clasp whatever fair High fancy forms, and lavish heart can wish; Something than beauty dearer—should they look or on the mind, or mind illumined face, Truth, goodness, honor, harmony and love, The richest bounty of indulgent Heaven. But alas, instead of marriage rites, behold funeral solemnities! – Who can hinder Him? Can the husband? The husband ought to feel much more attached than the lover. To him, the companion of his days has actually surrendered herself – For him she has passed through pains and perils—She lives but for him, and those dear pledges of affection which bear his name, and his image. – Her worth he has tried, and proved and acknowledged. O happy they! the happiest of their kind Whose hearts, whose fortune, and whose beings blend: ‘Tis not the coarser ties of human laws Unnatural oft, and foreign to the mind That binds their peace: but harmony itself Attuning all their passions into love. There friendship sweet exerts her softest power Perfect esteem, enlivened by desire Ineffable and sympathy of soul: Thought meeting thought, and will preventing will With boundless confidence – for nought but love Can answer love, and render bliss secure? And can this? “Son of man behold I take from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke – and behold at evening my wife died.” But cannot parents? “Lo! Children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” We view them as our treasures, and say to each enquirer, “These are the children which God has graciously given they servant.” With a joy which strangers intermeddle not with, we see them “growing in wisdom and in stature.” Every day some latent power or quality seems to unfold itself. We watch the tottering steps till they become a walk; and listen to their lisping, till with distinctness they can cry “My father and my mother.” We look forward and indulge in the fondness of hope, and the visions of fancy. We expect to find in them, our companions, the ornaments of our family, the support of our age, and the hands that shall close the eyes that first sparkled on them with pleasure.--But while we are exceeding glad because of the gourd, some worm is preying at the root—and after a few months or years, we turn to the common spoiler, and say, “Me hast thou bereaved of my children; Joseph is not; and Simeon is not—and wilt thou take Benjamin away?—all these things are against me.” III. We are to contemplate the unimpeachableness of his conduct! Who will say unto Him, what doest Thou? He is not to be arraigned, or argued with, or examined.—To restrain a man however from all this freedom with God, a threefold conviction is necessary: a conviction of his supremacy: a conviction of his rectitude: and a conviction of his wisdom. First. A conviction of his supremacy. A father may come upon a child and say what doest thou? But does it become a child to say this to a parent? Seeing your servant at work in the field or the garden, you have surely a right to interrogate him: but what would you think if he should in like manner question you? “Where the word of a king is, there is power, and who can say unto Him, what doest Thou? With regard, indeed to an earthly king, this reasoning may be pushed too far; and it often has been abused by courtiers, and the advocates for non-resistance and passive obedience; who consider a king as incapable of doing wrong, or amenable to God only for his doings. But a king is for his people. When he speaks the law, he speaks as a king, and his orders are to be obeyed, and not to be disputed or debated. But when he speaks against law or above it, he only speaks as a man, and his mandates are no longer unquestionable. But God is a Sovereign, in such a sense, as no mortal either is, or can be. We are absolutely and entirely his: and He has a right to do what he will with his own. “Be still,” therefore, says He, “and know that I am God.” This was the consideration by which David hushed his passions into silence: “I was dumb; I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it.” Secondly. A conviction of his rectitude. The sovereignty of God is never to be confounded with arbitrariness. Whatever He does, he does it “because it seemeth good in his sight.” He feels no evil bias, and forms no design but infinite purity and benevolence approve. He is holy in all his way, and righteous in all his works. Even when he strips me, he does not defraud. He comes, not as a robber, but as a proprietor only, to reclaim his own. “I know that his judgments are right, and that in faithfulness he afflicts me.” “Is there unrighteousness with God? How then can God judge the world? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Thirdly. A conviction of his wisdom. A man may mean well, and scorn to do an unworthy action, yet, he may err: he may be weak; he may be imposed upon by appearances; he may be drawn aside by artifice, and thus be guilty of very foolish, hazardous, and injurious conduct. Let the ability of a fellow creature be what it may, it is always limited, and imperfect; and therefore I can never give him such implicit confidence as precludes the propriety or necessity of investigation. But such confidence in God is more than justified, because his understanding is infinite. He knows what is good in the circumstances as well as in the event: He knows what is best upon the whole, and in the end. “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro, throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards him.” “Who so fit to choose our lot, And regulate our ways.” It is therefore needless, presumptuous, dishonorable to say unto Him, “what doest Thou.” But perhaps you are ready to say—Has this prohibition no bounds, no qualification? Must we be kept, while God is dealing with us, in absolute ignorance, and silence? In answer to this, we have four remarks to make, to which we invite your renewed attention. First remark. You would not be often capable of understanding the subject, even were God to tell you “what he doeth.” Vain man would be wise, but he is born as a wild ass’s colt. We are of yesterday, and know nothing. We have only a small degree of intellect: and this is diverted and engrossed; limited in the sphere of its activity; and bounded by sense and reflection. We cannot know, where we have no ideas; and in many cases we have very imperfect ones or none at all. What marvel then if God’s doings are often too remote for us to reach; too deep for us to fathom; too complicated for us to unravel. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us; and it would be useless for God to impart to us communications which we have not faculties to admit. He therefore does with us, as we do with our children. They are often inquisitive, but we divert them from the subject. We know that we cannot at present enable them to comprehend the nature, the bearings, relations, and design of our conduct, especially in our most weighty and complex concerns: that is, in those affairs wherein our wisdom is principally exercised. And we know who hath said, “O the depths, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways are past finding out!” Second remark. There may be useful reasons for withholding from you the degree of knowledge which you are competent to receive. The former article regards you physically; this morally; that regards your intellectual capacity, this your religious probation and improvement. It is well known that a veil left upon the subject, will serve to awaken attention and reverence; for such is the nature of man, that familiarity breeds neglect and contempt; while distance genders awe, and excites desire. Nothing was so revered by the Jews as the ark that was not to be touched, and the holiest of all that was forbidden to be entered. The sun is never so much noticed as when eclipsed.—It may be necessary to keep us in suspense, to try our faith; for the homage of faith is superseded by perfect knowledge. The grand proof of our confidence is, when we “walk in darkness, and have no light,” to “trust in the Lord, and stay upon our God.” Am I willing to follow Him, when he leads me, as blind in a way which I know not, and in paths which I have not known? Am I a son of Abraham, who at the call of God obeyed, and “went out, not knowing whither he went!”—Such concealment also promotes our humility. Man fell from his happiness by the desire of knowing; and he can only rise by the humility of his understanding, “casting down imaginations, and every thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ!” Third remark. An appointed hour is approaching when the restraints you are now under will be taken off; and your inquiries will be fully allowed and indulged. The present is a world of action rather than of science. This life is a state of trial and preparation; the life to come, is for remuneration and happiness. For this reason we shall know infinitely more than we now know, as well as enjoy infinitely more than we now enjoy. The developments of eternity will constitute no small part of the glory to be revealed. We therefore rejoice in hope. “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.—For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face: for I know even as also I am known.” “What I do,” says God, “thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” Fourth remark. Some inquiry is permitted you, even now; Yes—If you will speak with modesty and diffidence—if you will not arraign his character—If you will not impeach his supremacy, his rectitude, his wisdom—If you will not inquire from any suspicion of his wonderfulness in counsel and excellency in working—or from idle curiosity—but from a regard to your advantage—to regulate your duty—to guide your godly sorrow—to know what he would have you to do, or forsake: you may even now ask, “What doest thou?” and Eliphaz himself recommends you to do so; “I would say unto God, do not condemn me, show me wherefore Thou contendest with me.” Now of that which we have spoken, this is the sum. As any of your comforts may be taken away, set not your hearts upon them. This will be found not only the dictate of piety, but prudence. Excessive attachment is the way to lose our enjoyments the sooner, because it adds a moral precariousness to the natural: for it provokes God to slay the idols which rob him of that glory, which he has declared he will not give to another. Therefore as snow remains longer in a cool place than in the sun beams, so all our temporal indulgences are more durable in the region of moderate regard, than in the warmth of ardent affection.—By this intemperate attachment too, you render the removal the more difficult and painful when it comes. What we hold at our fingers’ ends we can easily drop: but the tearing away of the heartstrings is death. Again. We see what alone it is in our afflictions that can reconcile the mind to them. It is a view of god; and a view of him, not only as a sovereign, but a Father. A view of His power will do something; it will show us the vanity of resistance, and induce us to say, “This is my grief and I must bear it.” But the submission of a Christian is not the offspring of necessity, or compulsion. It is acquiescence. it is not enough that he does not strive with God—He must forgive him—He must take all he does in good part—He must approve—He must in every thing give thanks: feeling a lively persuasion not only that he is doing all things, but doing all things well. This is a frame of mind that allows indeed of sensibility, but excludes all censure. “Then job arose and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped: and said, naked came I out of my mother’s womb; and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” The subject I have imperfectly explained and improved, cannot be deemed unsuitable to any of my readers, for we live in a world of changes; and “If a man live many years,” says Solomon, “and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many: all that cometh is vanity.” A review by David J Engelsma of The Happy Mourner: Consolations of God and Sympathy for the Bereaved, contains the following concluding words: 'The title of the book—not Jay’s own—is unhappy. Jay is far too aware of the bitterness of the Christian’s distresses, and of the persistence of his struggles, even when he is comforted by the gospel, to suggest the title, “Happy Mourner.” In reality, the book is about the comforted mourner, who thus—wonder of wonders—can even be joyful in this valley of the shadow.'

Diary entry of Andrew A. Bonar, Monday, 27th March 1843.

Diary entry of Andrew A. Bonar, Monday, 27th March 1843. -- from ‘Andrew A. Bonar Diary and Life’ published by Banner of Truth, p.98,99.

[Written two days after he learned of the passing of his beloved friend, Robert M. M’Cheyne]

Yesterday was truly solemn from morning to evening. I was able to preach composedly, but often at intervals, while the psalms were singing, and sometimes in prayer, the thought of Robert away was overwhelming. I had too much feeling of the event, too little care for God’s glory in it. The sight of his people coming out at the door, where often we passed out so happily together, his books, and then body laid that night out of our view forever! I feel as if there were less of God’s presence among us. I must myself live near God, and find what he found. Preached on Romans viii. 38, 39, and then upon verses 28-30; Patrick Miller upon Rev, vii., toward the end. He spoke of him removed from us in mercy and judgment; in judgment upon us for prizing the man and forgetting the Master; and mercy in order to bring us more to the Master. His forgetfulness of all that was not found to God’s glory was remarkable, and there seemed never a time when he was not himself feeling the presence of God. I feel submission, for I see my sins so great that I wonder at nothing God does in chastising me. How very unlike Robert am I! 2 Kings ii. much in my mind. O that his mantle would fall upon me! Evil days are begun. He was so reverent toward God, so full also in desire toward Him, whether in family prayer or at common ordinary meetings. He seemed never unprepared. His lamp was always burning and his loins always girt. I never knew it otherwise, even when we were journeying in Palestine. Lord, grant me henceforth more holiness; may I work among my people with deepest solemnity. Whether they feel God present or not, may I teach them I feel He is there. I have had joy also in this season through the sight of a living Saviour with whom I shall soon be, but especially in feeling how sweet it is to be near God, and drawn off from earth; the thought too of Christ coming again, it may be very soon. This terrible blow may be the answer to my prayers for holiness, for I used to pray that even if very awful, it were better that God should take the way that would make me holier, although I should suffer.

Feeding in the Same Portion of the Green Pasture

Robert Murray M'Cheyne wrote the following to his congregation indicating his purpose in creating a Bible reading schedule: 'It has long been in my mind to prepare a scheme of Scripture reading, in which as many as were willing by God might agree, so that the whole Bible might be read once by you in the year, and all might be feeding in the same portion of the green pasture at the same time.' M'Cheyne wrote this in 1842, shortly before he died. From page 619 of Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne written by Andrew Bonar and published by Banner of Truth.

Robert Murray M'Cheyne: The Making of a Man of God by Rev John J Murray

Rev. John J. Murray of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) gave a lecture on Robert Murray M’Cheyne at the 2006 Family Conference of the Presbytery of the United States. Rev. Murray, author of; Behind a Frowning Providence; Robert Murray M'Cheyne: The Making of a Man of God; and 'The Reformation 1560: The Greatest Year in Scotland's History', ministered to congregations in Oban and Edinburgh, Scotland, until his retirement in 2002. He is presently an assistant editor of The Banner of Truth Magazine.

Being present at Rev. Murray’s lecture on Robert Murray M’Cheyne was an unforgettable and blessed experience! As members of the Atlanta congregation of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), our lives have been enriched through our brothers in Christ who have kindly and sacrificially traversed the Atlantic to bless us with their preaching and fellowship at our annual family conferences. Rev. Murray vividly and compellingly brought M’Cheyne to life for us, kindling an interest in M’Cheyne, and a desire to learn more of this wonderful man of God and his life.

Rev. Murray originally lectured on Robert Murray M’Cheyne at Welsh Chapel, London, as part of the Evangelical Library Lectures in 1993. Quoting from Rev. Murray’s lecture, entitled Robert Murray M’Cheyne, The Making of a Man of God,

"He was a man of God whose desire was to walk humbly with his God in utter dependence on the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. This was worked out in the down-to-earth context of visiting among the poor, preaching the Gospel, pleading the cause of Church extension, contending for the Headship of Christ in His Church, praying for revival and maintaining a widespread interest in missionary endeavor."

One of the enduring gifts many generations have enjoyed from the loving ministry of Robert Murray M’Cheyne is his Daily Bible Reading Schedule. The Lord has led me at times to read each of the four portions of Scripture that are listed on the daily schedule, in my personal Bible reading. Reading four or more chapters of Scripture per day, over time, has proven to be a great source of spiritual encouragement. From Rev. Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s own words, written from St. Peter's, Dundee, on 30th December, 1842:

"Above all, use the Word as a lamp to your feet and a light to your path — your guide in perplexity — your armor in temptation — your food in times of faintness. Hear the constant cry of the great Intercessor, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."