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TRUST IN GOD. BY REV. JOHN HALL, D.D.

Why art thou cast, down, 0 my sonl ? and why art thou disquieted within mo? Hope in, God: for I shall yot praiso Him who is the hca th of my countenance, and my God."— Psalm xliii. 5. Human requirements are constantly seeking an answer to this question of tho Psalmist : " Why arb thou cast clown, 0 my soul? and why arb thou disquieted within me ? " I dare say some of yon know whatitis to talk to yourselves when you have some cause of anxiety, distress, and care. You commune with your own heart. You soliloquise. You will notice that in the 42nd and 43rd Psalms we have a great deal of Soliloquising. The Psalmistis talking to himself. Obviously he was in trouble and difficulty, and it is very instructive to know how he disposes of his trouble. " Rope in God : for 1 shall yet prai.se Him who is the health of my counten nice, and my Cod. I remember well when a school-boy my interest in reading about the Roman Cato in a work by the English Addibon. At one point/ Cato i.s soliloquising. He has been leading Plato's Dialogue on the immortality of the .soul, and he says so in his soliloquy": but he is miserable, and with the heathen philosopher in one hand and his dagger in the other, he put an end to hi.s life. The Psalmist has his trouble, too, but lie (locs not think of .suicide. With true Christian hope — seiene, genial, tiiumplmnt —he goes- on ti listing Cod, ior he say- : " 1 shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my Cod."' Undoubtedly there arc many things to trouble and annoy people now-a-days, v things that seem calculated to drhe them almost to despair sometimes ; and many person* w itli the best intentions try to devise means to make everything smooth, serene, and perfectly happy, and do away with the troubles. Ido not doubt their kind intentions. It is tine there arc great impiovements in inventions, in scicntilic discoveiies, in labour-saving machinery, in economy, and in su billing physical foices. And they reason — Why not impiove the race, so as to get rid oi the world's troubles ? i *-ay they mean well, no doubt, but they do not know what is the cause of the world's tumble. When a man sends for the doctoi the fir^t thing the doctor does is to hnd our. the cause of the tiouble ; the term they u«e i.s 1 diagnosis. ' And if a man makes a mistake about the diagnosis, then his whole treatt ment is pietty likely to be wrong. Don't j make a mistake in the diagnosis. Find out the cause of the trouble. That you will see if you turn back to the first chapter.-, of Genesis. You remember God created man pure and happy, and placed him in the most favouiable suiroundings, and that man sinned and fell. Toil therefore came, ami toil there mu&fc be. and tears and sorrow and distress ; and if anyone imagines they can be got rid of in this world, he will find they can be no more got rid of than the other part of the sentence. Death is \w\v, and we have an little reason to think that death will be abolished as to think that toil and suffering will be done away with. Then what aie we to do"/ Despair, or I raif-e the question, " Is life worth li\ins> ?" I No. We turn to history and learn that through the fii»t Adam sin and its consequences came. But w e also read the hi^toi y of the second Adam, lighting human souow and tho grave, and we learn of a home for which we are being fitted in our trials here, a home where soi row and death can never come. That, it is tine, does not abolish sullcring of the piesent. To what shall wo turn for relief? Shall we turn to science? Shall we turn to amusement ? Shall wo turn to money-making? Not one of them. Trust in God ! ' For I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my counten nice and my God.' Dear friend*, I ha\ c told you tho main trouble and the only true relief. Let ur> now look at some of tlie forms through which the soul experiences disquietude. One of the very commonest ways is through physical pain. What suffering enters through the eye, the ear, the nene, bone, muscle, head, and heart ! With physical suHcring come* depression of mind. Sometimes — often — pious people arc from this cause shut out from the house of God, life is narrowed down to the sick-room, and it is not stfange if they exclaim, ''JMysoul is cast down.' What relief ? Still^trust in God. Thcio is many a man, who, if always in strength, would never think of any world but this. You know how many ssy in their hearts. "We know many sorrow and suffer, many are cut oft' suddenly, but we escape; we feel no foreboding, we are not as other men." So deceitful hope persuades and flatters Then disease and pain come and disenchant us — disenchant us, and let u.s know that nothing can satisfy the soul but Him who made it. Use well this benefit, and believe it not to crush and grind, but to purify. You aie just to say, " Still will I trust in Him. ' For I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God. 1 " A second cause of great distress is poverty. A sense of impending want, accompanied by hard work and little remuneration ; claims to meet and nothing coming, efforts put fruitlessly forth, a struggle year in and year out — what a great multitude have to struggle on in this way ! It is easy to complain. The soul feeds its disquietude. What is the best for man to do ? Yield himself up to discontent, temper, envy, covetousness, imprecations against the rich? Ah, there is less reason to envy the rich than you suppose. You see the outside, the handsome house, the fine equipage, and costly raiment. You do not see the bitter disgust, the sore sorrow, the keen humiliation, the thwarted plans. And pain and death are here too. The rich suffer just as much as the poor ; and often they suffer just because they are rich, and cannot getthedisinterestedsympathy that they need and see that the poor give to one another. In your disquietude of soul remember that the Man of Sorrows knew physical pain, known what was coming befora it came, knew the suffering was daily being brought nearer. Do you remember how He said, " I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how am I straitened till it be accom-. plished " ? He suffered before the hour came He suffered in the dread anticipation, and never murmured. He was poor. He was rated as a poor man. Ho was poor all through. A scribe wished to follow Him withersoever He went, and " Jesus said unto him : The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Sou of Man hath not where to lay His head." Think of Him, and be not impatient or angry. Say : Yes, lam poor ;I am poor in house, I am poor in table ; lam poor in raiment, I am poor in purse ; and I expect to be so as long as I live. But yonder lam rich. There an incorruptible inheritance is kept for me. Yonder in eternal mansions a place is kept for me. "Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God ; for I shall yet praise Him who is the herlth of my countenance and my God." In the third place, God's people— thosa who are truly God's people — arc often ( disquieted ' by the wickedness that abounds. Trying , to be happy, and yet seeing the devil seemingly having his own way, seeing gross wickedness succeeding manhood

and the well being of childhood drownedin. the drunkard's cups, infidelity in the family sundering the sacred links that bind hußband and wife, boasting flagrant wickednessand blatant infidelity— all these things tend to disquiet even tho trusting &oul. And yet all this is not one bit worse than God in the Bible said it would be. He is not) one bit surprised. He- will still make accessions to the number of His sons and daughter:*. He will continue to say, " Come out, and be ye separate." And Jesus "shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied." Ye", that great, loving, tender heart will be satisfied; with the great number that shall gather from " every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." " Why art tliou cast down,.o my soul ? and why art thou disquieted within me ? Hope in God : for I shali yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God." As to: you and me,, let us bo -thankful if God keeps us out of this great wickedness.. Let us try, with His help, to keep in His ways, and follow Hi.s precepts, and as to others shall not the Judge of all the earth do i-ight V The fourth cause of di-qpietude which J shall mention is of a. different kind, It isfound in the man himself. We look into our o\\ n hearts, and how much that is sinful •we find ; how many unhallowed thoughts, what vigorous love of the world, how much sympathy with what is-oviM' How much interest we fool in the world's badness, as pictuied by the sensational Press. How little in ourßibles ; how little love for our fellowship with God " It is true we are ti availing toward the heavenly city, buij we arc parsing through thfeonomy's country, and too often the enemy has a -stronghold in our own heart. "O wretched man that 1 am! who .shall del her ma from the- body, of this death ? " But, " Why art thou casb do^n, 0 my boul ? and why* art thou disquieted within me ? Hope in God ; for I shall yet prai,-o Hinuwho-H chsi health, of my - countenance and my God." Your Heavenly Father knew all that when He called you to come out and be sopaiate. The Lord Jesus C'hrint knew it when lie said, '"Come unto Me, and 1 willgho you.nvt." The Holy Sph it knew it when. the promise was given, "Then I will *pi inkle clean water upon, you, and ye shall be clean ; from all your tilthine^s, and fiom all your idols will I cleanse you. Anewlu-ait al.->o will 1 give you, and a new .spirit \*ill I put within you : and 1 will take away the stony heait out of your Hush, and I will giu* you an heart of flesh. And I will put My SpiiiL within you."' " Why art choa cast down, 0 my .soul V" But you are humiliated in view of you)' own discovery of weakness and sins within. Yety well, that will nab hurt you : that; will do no harm. "The sacrifices of God are a broken .spirit ; a broken and conuite heart, 0 God, Thou wilt not dc-pUe."' You bee tho plague of \ our own heart a« never before. Very well, \ cunwill appreciate and do homage to the holmes* of the Loid as never before, and (toil is able to take care of your ease. " Why aitithou cast down, omy soul '! " The last of these cau.ses of disquietude which 1 .shall mention i.-> that which you and I shall hnvc to go through. It is ine\ i table. We may not have sickness or poverty, but it i-> certain that death will come to each of us. We shall quiL these scenes we are m> familiar with ; the circles w here a\ c ha\ c perhaps grown to be of some consequence; we shall leave this fair and beautiful worLl, >vith its flowers and binl songs, its multitude of delights, and the friends that (Jod hath ghen to us. E\erytlu'n<£, too, that we hold precious as oui>, we .shall have to drop. Oh, what a wretched thing it is for a poor forlorn cre'iture to drop this woild and all that he values, without one hope beyond the veil ! 1 don't wonder, I don't wonder, at the blackness of despair that settles -down upon such a soul. Some of you may never reach old age. The crini.s may come at any time. At the longest it mu.>t come comparatively soon and in a little time we shall be forgotten. What shall we do? be disquieted? Oh, no? Still trust in (Jod. " Well, how ?"' you ask. This brings me to another part of my subject. " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;" and again, "We are ambassadors for Christ, as though ( !od did beseech by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God." Do you think that there is nothing for you to do? Do you think .that) the Governor of thi.«» State can treat criminals and honet-t law-abiding citizens alike ? Would you respect him if he did? God is just bending in compassion to win you to Himself. Jesus came and took upon Himself our human nature and united it with His own, and He says to you " Believe." " Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out." He loved and pitied you eo> much that He gave Himself for you. His dying love begets love in me, and because I love Him, I will try todoHiswiliL The soul that is reconciled to God in Christ, and become His follower, is taken from the camp of the devil, and transferred to the Lord's camp. "My grace is sufficient for thee." And though in view of the great change to another world, the soul may be momentarily depressed, it can yet say, " I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God." Now, I want to speak one word to those out of Christ. If there is a Christless .souk here, Ist me say, how wretched your condition ! Sickness may come, poverty maycome ; death, we know, will come, and yoiu will find out the misery of your conditionOh how helpless you will be ! No wonder, if your soul is then cast down, friendless, helpless, with no God. My brother, my sister, do not stay in that Christless way. Christ will receive you. Come to Him>. Don't you remember what was told of Him, when He was on earth ? As many a» touched Him He made perfectly whole— perfectly, every whit. Come to that JSaa'ioitr. Become His obedient follower. Seek that Godliness which "is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come.' May God bless Hi.s truth to every one of up, and to His name be the praise !

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TAN18870827.2.38.1

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 217, 27 August 1887, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,511

TRUST IN GOD. BY REV. JOHN HALL, D.D. Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 217, 27 August 1887, Page 4

TRUST IN GOD. BY REV. JOHN HALL, D.D. Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 217, 27 August 1887, Page 4

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