October 16

"An evil spirit from the Lord troubled him,"—1 Samuel 16:14.

Is it not strange to think of an evil spirit from the Lord? Yes, very strange; but at the same time solemnly and awfully true. God must be something to me; what He will be depends on what I am to Him. Saul is obedient, and God is love. Saul is disobedient, and God is retribution. If I obey, I shall know what joy He gives; if I disobey, I shall feel Him in loss and displeasure and pain for ever.

A great preacher has put it in the form of a parable. Over an open plain there blows a strong and steady wind. It never stops or changes. And all over the plain there are men and women on their journeyings. "This wind, this dreadful wind!" cries one, all out of breath and gasping. "How bitter it is, how cruel, how it hates me!" "This wind, this blessed wind!" cries another, almost within hail of the first. "How kind it is, how helpful, how it loves me!" Are there two winds, or has the one fickle wind its favourites? No, it is a constant wind; it is no respecter of persons. But the one man has set his face against it, and the other man is walking with it. That is why it seems to hate the one and to love the other.

When I am not against God but for Him, He is not the "wild north-easter" to me, but the "sweet south breathing upon a bank of violets." He is free from arbitrariness and caprice. His Spirit does not set Himself to curse me and to bless my fellow. No, no; it is I who must determine. It is with me that the decision and election lie. Blessing and cursing are set before me, ineffable life and unfathomable death; let me choose life, that I may live.