January 18

“I had not thought to see thy face: and lo, God hath showed me also thy seed.” Gen. 48:11.

This was the language of the dying Jacob, when Joseph presented to him his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim.

“We behold in it his piety. He owns God in his indulgences — He has shown me. Our comforts are sanctified, and rendered doubly sweet when we receive them all from his hand. Let others live without God with them in the world; I would acknowledge him in all my ways. Let them ascribe their successes and enjoyments to chance, or to the power of their friends, or to their own diligence and skill; I would give him the glory that is due only to his name. I would remember that, whatever be the medium of my comfort, he is the source; that, whatever be the instrument, he is the author: “The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

Observe also his surprise: his expectation was more than exceeded. We remember the sad relation of the loss of Joseph, and the garment dipped in blood, by which his grief was deluded, though not relieved. “He knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons, and all his daughters, rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.” For many years he never dreamed of his survival; but added, “Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and will ye take Benjamin away? all these things are against me.” In process of time, however, all this gloomy conclusion was contradicted. “They told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.” By and by this was fulfilled. “And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.”

Something, however, was still wanting. Joseph had sons, and these would be peculiarly endeared to Jacob. At length he embraces them, as well as the father:” I had not thought to see thy face: and lo, God hath showed me also thy seed.’’

Is this the only instance in which God has not only frustrated the fears, but surpassed the hopes of his people? When Moses was in the ark of bulrushes, all his parents could have hoped for would have been his preservation, or falling into the hands of some kind individual, who, affected with his infancy and suffering, would have taken care of him, though they should never have seen him more. But Pharaoh’s daughter finds him, and adopts him, and his mother becomes his nurse, and he is educated in all the learning of Egypt, and he appears the deliverer and leader of Israel! “David said, I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul:” but, after a number of hairbreadth escapes, he was saved from all his enemies, and sat down upon the throne, “a wonder unto many.”

What numbers are there in whose experience this remark has been exemplified as to temporal things. They once had no inheritance, no, not so much as to set their foot on: all they hoped to gain by their humble efforts was, only bread to eat and raiment to put on; and lo, he has given them not only subsistence, but competency and affluence.

And as to spiritual things, the penitent remembers how, when awakened out of his sleep, and he gazed on the horrors of his state, there seemed nothing left but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. How hard did he find it to hope even for deliverance. But the Lord appeared to his joy, and not only spared and pardoned him, but enriched and ennobled him; and took him not only into his service, but into his house and into his bosom.

But in nothing has this observation been more frequently verified than in the last experience of believers. They had all their lifetime been subject to bondage through fear of death; a thousand comforts had been imbittered by the apprehension. This did not affect their safety then; but when their departure was at hand, they were filled with peace and joy, and had an abundant entrance ministered unto them into the Saviour’s everlasting kingdom. Some, who had trembled at the shaking of a leaf before, have then displayed a courage amounting to more than heroism; and those who had shrunk back from speaking, especially concerning themselves, have shouted aloud upon their beds and sung of his righteousness. “Ah,” says Dr. Goodwin, “is this dying? How have I dreaded as an enemy this smiling friend!” To die is gain.

When the queen of Sheba, though accustomed to royal magnificence, witnessed the glory of Solomon, she exclaimed, The half was not told me. So the believer, after all the reports of the Scripture, all the earnests and foretastes of heaven, finds it to be a glory yet to be revealed; and when he arrives at the possession, he will acknowledge that eye had not seen, nor ear heard, nor had entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.

Let all this scatter our doubts, and lead us to say, “Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him.” Especially let us view, through the force of this truth, all our future duties and difficulties. We are not to limit the Holy One of Israel. What is impossible to us is easy to him. His thoughts and ways are as far above ours, as the heavens are higher than the earth; and “he is able to do for us exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.” We have read of an emperor who said he delighted to undertake enterprises deemed by his counsellors and captains impracticable; and he seldom failed in them. God cannot fail. But he loves to surprise. He turneth the shadow of death into the morning. “At eventide,” says he, “it shall be light.”