December 1

Those that he planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. - Psalms 92:13.

THIS is a fine allusion. It intimates that the house of God is like a garden, or like a well of water, ministering to the life and fertility of the tree. And cannot we still say-

“Lord, how delightful ’tis to see

A whole assembly worship thee?”

There it is we have fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ; there his ordinances are dispensed- the ordinances of life. There the word of everlasting truth is proclaimed; there “God hath commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” There he resides: “This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell;” and there, he says, “I will clothe my priests with righteousness, and make my saints shout for joy; yea, they shall be satisfied with the goodness of my house.” But in order to enjoy these advantages we must be “planted “there, as a tree is planted in the soil in order to be fruitful; that is, we must be fixed there: this is to be our dwelling-place; not literally, but spiritually. As Watts says-

“Here would I find a settled rest,

While others go and come;

No more a stranger or a guest,

But like a child at home.”

We frequently read of Christians dwelling in the house of God, and here we have the same idea. Their being planted means that they are fixed. There they dwell in two ways -one by choice, for “where the treasure is, there will the heart be also.” The other is the frequency of our attendance, availing ourselves of every opportunity the providence of God allows us to be found there; how often, is not determined even in the Scriptures. God honours his people by leaving it to their dispositions.

Love is a generous principle, that always acts best when left free. How wonderful it is that those who know the value of the blessings realized in the sanctuary do attend more frequently, especially on week-days. We need something in the week to keep our minds nearer to God. How many might, by rising earlier on those days, so manage their concerns as to be able on a week evening to hear the word of life.

Now this slack attendance of some is the effect of a cause; it is the effect of a low degree of zeal, and will become still lower to those who can neglect the means of grace when opportunity offers. Such can never expect to flourish or be in a prosperous condition. Sometimes persons are so fixed where they cannot attend by reason of sickness or accident. Now God in these cases will not leave them comfortless. But ordinarily this is the ground of our expectation: “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” “The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree; those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.”