October the Sixteenth
The Inspirations of the Past
Isaiah li. 1-6.
Here is a sentence from Lord Morley: “If a man is despondent about his work the best remedy I can prescribe for him is to turn to a good biography.” He counsels him to go into the yesterdays to find inspiration for the life of to-day. Other men’s attainments are bugle-calls to me. “Look unto Abraham, your father.” Look unto the blessings which waited upon his obedience! See how springs of refreshment broke out in the troubled way! God “called him and blessed him.” Rekindle your hope at his radiant triumph. Strengthen your will in his glorious persistence.
Here do I see God’s mercy in the gift of memory and in the witness of history. I can turn to the yesterdays for light and quickening. “Do ye not remember the miracle of the loaves?” Yes, I can recall the grace that met me in my need, the power that made the crooked straight and the rough places plain. And I am privileged to turn the pages of other men’s testimonies and read the record of the Lord’s dealings with them. And so do memory and history come as helpful angel-presences to my soul.
“His love in time past
Forbids me to think
He’ll leave me at last
In trouble to sink.”