August 16

"Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; that take, and give unto them, for me and thee." Matthew 17:27.

How well was it foretold that his name should be called Wonderful!

What a surprising combination of attributes was displayed in him! Observe the case before us. Here, while we behold his penury and dependence, so that he did not possess wherewithal to pay the temple tribute, we perceive his omniscience; so that in Peter's house he could pierce the waters of the sea, and discern a particular fish, and see what was in its body, and announce a piece of money there, and the very name of the coin. Surely the darkness hideth not from him, but the night shineth as the day. "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

He who saw the stater in this fish, sees what money we are in the possession of, and how we acquired it, and the way in which we are using it. He sees whether we are needlessly hoarding, or wastefully expending it. He sees whether we are making it our hope and confidence, or valuing it only as an instrument of lawful enjoyment and of pious and benevolent use. He sees the responsibilities of the owner, and knows how he will feel when he shall be called to leave it, and when he will be required to give an account of it at the last day.

Here we also behold his power and dominion. He is Lord of all. The beasts of the field obey him. At his bidding not a dog moves his tongue in the departure of the Israelites. At his command the dumb ass speaks with man's voice, and rebukes the madness of the prophet. The fowls of the air obey him. At his order the ravens bring Elijah bread and meat in the morning and the evening. The fishes of the sea obey him. At his command a great fish swallows the disobedient, and disembarks the penitent Jonah. And here a fish, at his requirement, goes and takes up from the bottom of the sea a stater, and then goes and bites at Peter's hook, with this in his maw. "All things are put under his feet; all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea."

Could any thing be better adapted to encourage the confidence of the disciples in the kindness and all-sufficiency of his providence, when he was sending them forth as sheep among wolves, and without any known supplies to live upon? He commissioned the seventy to go in pairs through the whole country. But he sent them forth without purse, or scrip, or shoes. And they had, it would seem, many uneasy and distracting thoughts at the time. They did not indeed express them, but our Lord was aware of them, and remembered them. And when they came back, he brings them to their own recollection: "How came you to think that I, who employed you, should not provide for you? Why did you doubt my inclination, or my ability? When I sent you forth without purse and scrip, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing, Lord."

Are you called to leave behind you those who seem to hang on your care? Hear this Saviour at your dying-bed saying, "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive: and let thy widows trust in me." "O fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."