August 20

"His going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3.

"His going forth," and "his coming," mean his displays and his communications on behalf of those who earnestly and perseveringly seek after him; according to the words immediately preceding: "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." That contains the assurance of their success; here is added the illustration of it. It consists of two images, equally beautiful and encouraging.

The first derived from the morning: "His going forth is prepared as the morning." When the morning is not yet come, we fully rely upon it. We know it is coming; we know it is secured in the appointment of Providence, and the arrangements of nature. It never yet failed, and it never will as long as the world endures. And does not the God of all grace express the immutability of his counsel by the certainty of this very allusion? "Thus saith the Lord, If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season, then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant." What can hinder the approach and the rising of the sun? And his going forth is prepared as surely as the morning.

And as luminously too. The morning drives away the darkness, and shines upon our path, so that we see where we are, and how to move. "If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him." The Lord will come, and manifest himself to his people. He will show them his covenant; He will lead them into all truth. And with regard to doctrine and experience and practice, and also their interest in the divine favor, he will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight; these things will he do unto them, and not forsake them.

It is also as delightsome as the morning. The night is a season of gloom, as it is a period of confinement and danger, and fear and anxiety. Paul's mariners, in the storm, cast four anchors, and wished for the day. David refers to travellers and sentinels, who watched for the morning, as the image of his waiting for the Lord. Some nights are less cheerless than others, but at best they have only the moon and stars; the sun is wanting. He alone can make the morning; and when he comes, the birds sing, the lambs play, and man partakes of the cheerfulness that spreads all around. "Truly the light is sweet; and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." Creatures are pleasing, but none of them can supply the place of God. He is our sun, as well as our shield; and the language of the gracious heart is, "Oh, when wilt thou come unto me? Thou alone canst put my fears to flight. Thou alone canst inspire me with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

But the morning comes not all at once, but gradually. What a difference is there between the first glimmerings of the dawn, and the splendor of noon. So the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

The second is derived from the rain: "He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." God asks, "Can any of the vanities of the Gentiles send rain?" He claims the production as his own divine prerogative, and justly wonders that we do not notice it more than we do. "Neither say they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth rain; both the former and the latter in his season." In Judea the rain was less frequent and more periodical than with us. It peculiarly fell after autumn and spring; that is, just after seed-time, and just before reaping; the former to soften the ground, and quicken the grain, and aid the springing thereof; the latter to fill the corn in the ear, and hasten its maturity.

What would nature be without rain? We are equally dependent on the grace of God. But under the influences of his word and Spirit, we revive and grow as the corn. These influences are always needful; but is it pressing the metaphor to observe that there are two seasons when they are peculiarly experienced? The one is connected with the beginning of the divine life; this may be called the former rain. The other, with the close of it; this may be called the latter rain. The one is to enliven; the other, to confirm. To the "former" many can look back, and ask,

"Where is the blessedness I knew When first I saw the Lord? Where is that soul-refreshing view Of Jesus and his word?"

Others are longing for the "latter." Their salvation is nearer than when they believed, but they do not yet feel as they wish. They want more faith, more hope, more consolation, more of all the fulness of God. Let the last showers descend, and the appointed weeks of harvest come, and the produce be brought home with "shoutings, Grace, grace, unto it."