The Influence of Heaven on Earth
“Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.” — Psalm xcii. 13. *
Planting is opposed ,o grafting. This is a defence of early religious training. The Psalmist says that those who from the outset have been reared in the light of God get a great advantage in after years. But what is the advantage? What does he mean by saying, “If they are planted in God’s house, they shall flourish in God’s courts “? It is commonly thought to mean that those who get in will get further in. I think it is quite the reverse. Those who get in will get further out. The courts are outside the house — nearer the world than the house. What is meant is that the unworldly man shall have more worldly power, that he who seeks first God and His righteousness shall have temporal strength added to him. And is not that true! Do not we see it every day! Is not the training for God the beginning of earthly wisdom! Are not the powers of mind that fit us for heaven precisely the powers that fit us for earth! Is not the merchant helped by a calm judgment! Is not the master aided by a strong will! Is not the poet stimulated by a great, yea, by an impossible ideal! Is not the work of each day helped by the vision of to-morrow! Truly the outer courts of God are possessed by him who has entered in!
O Thou Eternal One, I need Thee for time. They are always telling me that earth is the robing room in which to prepare for heaven. Rather hast Thou said that heaven is the robing room in which to prepare for earth. It is from within Thy sanctuary that I am armed for the battle of life; it is in meeting my God that I learn to meet my brother. I am not fit for this world till I have seen the other world; I must go up to the mount ere I give laws to the people. It is from behind the veil of eternity that I speak to the things of time. I could not bear the fretting of the shore were it not for the sight of the sea. I could not stand the murmur of the crowd were it not for the murmur of the shell. I should sink beneath the burden and the heat of the day unless I were refreshed by the spray from the ocean of Thy love. Roll in, then, thou great sea! Roll in upon the hot sands of time, and lave the thirsty land! Roll in upon the beach, and wash its impurities away! Let us hear the sound of Thy waves, and we shall bear the rumbling of earth’s chariot wheels! He who has lain one moment on Thy breast is fit to tread the dusty courts of time.