January 21

written in his heart, will have expelled every kind and degree of adverse principle, and filled him with all the fulness of God.

JANUARY 21.—"As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike."—1 Samuel 30:24.

THE Amalekites had burnt Zikiag, the place of David's residence, to the ground, and carried the people away captives. Having inquired of the Lord, David was encouraged to pursue after the marauders, and was assured that he should recover all they had taken. And so it fell out. But in the pursuit two hundred men, being too faint to proceed, had been left at the brook Besor. These, when David returned re-possessed of his own property, and also laden with the riches of the enemy; these went forth to meet him; and David came near and saluted them. But the men of Belial, who were with him, said, "Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and children." Then, said David, "Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff; they shall part alike: and from that day forward, he made it a statute in Israel."

The equity of this statute is obvious. Let us pass to a higher order of things, and see how far David's conduct on this occasion is sanctioned by a greater than David.

All the Lord's followers are not alike circumstanced or employed. They differ in their conditions, offices, talents, opportunities, exertions, and trials. Some of them peculiarly require courage, others patience; some energy, others prudence. Some go down to the battle, others tarry with the stuff; some are called to act offensively, others defensively; some move in public, others in private life; the duty of some lies at a distance, others are keepers at home—

"— Thousands at his bidding speed, And post o'er land and ocean, without rest— They also serve, who only stand and wait."

But this difference does not effect their acceptance and recompense. They shall part alike; that is, provided they are engaged in the Lord's service, and willing to do what is in their power. This was the case here. These men were as much disposed to go as their brethren; but they were unable; and when detained, they were not useless, but aided David in another department: they guarded the baggage while their comrades chased the foe. Why then should they have been forgotten or overlooked? Had it been otherwise; had these men refused to march or fight, and feigned excuses for their indolence, while their fellows toiled and bled; it would have been unrighteous for them to have fared alike in the spoil. In the battle of the Nile, one of the ships, in trying to take its ordered station, went aground, and could not be loosened in time to share in the heat of the action. This prevention, however, was purely accidental, and nothing could have been more trying to the feelings of the brave commander and his men: and who sees not, that their claims were equal

to those of their brethren, though their services were not? But reason could have urged nothing in their favour, had they, averse to the conflict, sailed away, or purposely have rendered their engagement impossible. And does not this apply to many professors of religion? The words of the Apostle, "where there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not;" are very encouraging to some, but they are often abused by others. God never accepts a good inclination in the room of a good action without inability; but the will is taken for the deed, where the deed cannot accompany the will. No excuse, therefore, is allowed for those who do not exert themselves according to their capacity and means. And He knows, unerringly, whether the impediments we plead are real or pretended. And how often does self-indulgence, or sloth, or cowardice, create difficulties and obstructions! "I cannot dig," says the unjust steward—why not? Had he no hands? or could he not procure a spade? Yes—but day labour was a harder kind of livelihood than a dash of the pen. Call upon a covetous hearer of the Gospel, with a case of distress; and he tells you, "I cannot give." What is the hinderance? A greedy desire to hoard whatever comes within his grasp. Others are crippled by profusion and excess in food, furniture, and dress. They live to the extent of their income, or beyond it, and so have nothing to spare for the poor, or for the cause of Christ.—But how are they disabled? Who requires them to live thus expensively? Surely not He, who says, "if any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself." "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." But, where the desire is to the Lord, He estimates the services of his people, not by what they do, but what they would do, were they not prevented. David wished to build a house for His name, but was forbidden; yet the Lord told him, it was well that it was in his heart, and promised to build him an house.

Is this a curious or a useless speculation? It is adapted to keep us from pride and disdain. Let us not undervalue others because they have not our distinctions or advantages while they are doing service in other ways. God smiles upon them, and we should respect them. Let not the eye say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Even those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary. Hence Paul's caution to every man "not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophesy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness."

It should also keep us from leaving our own stations, and intruding into places for which we are not designed. The temptation is

often usefulness; but if we are unprofitable, the fault is not in our condition, but in our principles and dispositions. We may serve our generation, and have the testimony that we please God, in whatever state his providence places us. Let every man, therefore, abide in the calling in which he is called of God.

And in the same way it should silence the discontent or discouragement that often arises from the obscurity and limitation of our circumstances. Why do we murmur or despond because we have not the situations and resources which others command? The Lord who withholds them, looketh at the heart. "If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?" What said He of Mary? "She hath done what she could." Many put into the treasury; and the rich gave largely; but the poor widow who gave only two mites, gave more than they all. The man who occupied with five talents, heard the same sentence as the man who had improved his ten—"Well done, thou good and faithful servant." And the man who was cast into outer darkness would have had the same commendation had he not been negligent: he was rejected, not because he had only one talent, but because he hid it in a napkin. It is well to see the rich generous, and humble, and thankful; but the same degree of grace may appear equally in the poor when they refuse to steal, and take not God's name in vain. The man who knows how to be abased is as divinely instructed as he who knows how to abound. Some go to the house of God with the multitude to keep holy day: others are detained by accident, sickness, or infirmity; but "in their hearts are the ways of them;" and therefore they shall see his power and glory alone, as others see him in the sanctuary. One has leisure to go forth on a week day evening to hear the preaching of the word; another abides by the stuff. That female edifies the public with her pen; this is engrossed in rearing her infant family, and performing the most important duties of life without notice—they are equally respectable and valuable in their places, and shall part alike. "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal."

Moral greatness does not consist in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things with a great mind; that is, with a desire to please and glorify God. It therefore lies open equally to all. The servant may be as great in the sight of the Lord as his master. In a word, the excellency of individuals depends not upon the eminence of their station, or the splendour of their calling, but in the fidelity and zeal with which they answer to their claims and duties; just as the perfection of an actor appears, not in the kind of character he represents, but in the manner in which he performs it.—

"Glory and shame from no conditions rise: Act well your part,—there all the honour lies."