November 1

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. - Isaiah 42:16.

WHAT could we do without such a Leader? The condition of men with regard to a future state is represented as being without God and without hope in the world. Man is a poor wanderer on the mountains of ignorance, a prey to every danger, liable to be led astray by his prejudices and passions, for “wherein is he to be accounted of?” He is “alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in him,” and if left to himself, he would, “in the greatness of his folly, go astray.” A man may go to hell without a guide, but he cannot go to heaven without one, or without a Leader, of whose guidance we are here assured. But-blessed be his name!-if we earnestly seek divine direction, he is willing to listen to our supplications, and to take us under his own peculiar guidance.

Hence the Christian can say, with David, “He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Thus the Church sung in triumph, of old, “This God is our God forever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.” Oh, what can equal the satisfaction derivable from the persuasion that we are under divine guidance, led by One almighty to save, to pardon, to indulge; patient to bear and able to deliver; wise to conduct and to make all things work together for our good? Let us first observe that the subjects of this guidance are blind with regard to their spiritual state. Though all Christians are children of the light and of the day, yet “they were once wholly in darkness,” and are still partially so; and were they not only in a measure enlightened, they would not stand in need of such a Director and Guide.

Let us also observe where he leads them:-“I will lead them in paths they have not known.” Now, this is true, first, with regard to their spiritual concerns. They were not born Christians, but they have been made such; and if now they differ from others, and from their former selves, it is because he hath “called them out of darkness into his marvellous light.” “I will lead them in paths they have not known.” What did they once know? They once felt convictions of sin, now they see its evil; they now not only feel an aversion with regard to it, but an abhorrence of it. What did they once know of faith and trust in the Redeemer? Now they can confide in him as their only foundation, and say, “In the Lord have I righteousness and strength; yea, they can rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Then what did they once know of a throne of grace? They heard prayer and supplication, and perhaps they “said their prayers;” but they now know what it is to come unto God by Him who is “the way, the truth, and the life.” They have now boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Christ; their fellowship is now with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. But they had not gone this way heretofore.

Secondly, With regard to their temporal concerns, God leads his people in a way which they “have not known.” What can we know of the future as to nations, families, or ourselves as individuals? Now, if we look back and contemplate the bounds of our habitation, our connections, our friends, our successes, our disappointments, as fixed by Providence, all appear surprising and rare. Perhaps, if much had been foretold us by a seer some years before, we should have been ready to say, “If the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?”