Tender Dealings
“This is the rest wherewith ye tnay cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing” —
“|t?f sljall ktn pjis floch life a sfjrpfjtvti; p?c sfjall gntljcr tfje lamfcs Jjjitf) arm, nnti rarrg tfjrtn in lijts bosom, ant! sljall gcntlg Iran tijose tfjat arc ioitlj goung.”
—ISA. Ix. II.
“at hruiseti xttti sljall fe not brral, anU tfjc smoking flax sljall pjc not qurnclj.”
—ISA. xlii. 3.
The thoughts most prominently brought before us in these two passages from the Evangehcal Prophet, are, the vastness of the Divine condescension and the gentleness of the Divine dealings: — the timid, the weak, the bruised, the burdened, the fallen, nestling in peace and safety under the Heavenly Palm-shade!
The great ones of the earth generally associate alone with the great. They are like the eagle, which holds little converse with the low, misty valley, when it can get up amid the blue skies and granite 2:>eaks. It is the powerful — the rich — the strong — the titled, who are the deified and worshipped. The weak, and poor, and powerless get but a small fraction of regard, and are too often left, unpitied and uncared for, to endure the rough struggle of existence as best they may. And the world has accordingly shaped its divinities after this its own ideal. We see the embodiment of that ideal chiselled in the old slabs of Assyrian marble, where the winged bull or lion is depicted trampling its enemies in the dust — the strong trampling on the weak. But the early Christians had also their truer and nobler symbol, which they have left in rude device in the Roman catacombs: it is the embodiment of the first words which head this meditation — the oft-recurring representation of a Shepherd — the Great Shepherd of the Sheep — the Mighty God — carrying on His shoulder a feeble lamb.
Or, to take the figure employed in the second verse: what a word of encouragement to those who require tender dealing! — who are liable, it may be from constitutional temperament, to become the prey of doubts and fears; sensitive in times of trial, irresolute in times of difficulty, unstable in times of temptation. The whole ministry and teaching of Christ were a significant comment on the prophetic utterance — “A bruised reed He will not break.” Simple but expressive emblem! The most fragile object in nature is the shivering reed by the river side. The Eastern shepherd, tending his flock by the streams where these reeds grow, used them for his rustic pipe. When one of them was bruised or broken, he never made the attempt to mend it. Inserting it among the others would only have made his instrument discordant accordingly, he threw it aside as worthless. Not so the Great Shepherd. When a human soul is bruised and mutilated by sin, He casts it not away. He repairs it for its place in the heavenly instrument, and makes it once more to show forth His praise. Look at the Psalmist of Israel. Who more a “bruised reed “than he? God had inspired his soul — made it a many-stringed instrument in discoursing His praise; but now it lay a broken mutilated thing, with the stain of crimson guilt upon it, tuneless and mute.” I kept silence,” says he; “my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me, my moisture is turned unto the drought of summer.” Does Jehovah desert him? — does He cast the reed away and seek to replace the void by another, worthier and better? Does He mock the cry of penitential sorrow as through anguished tears that stricken one thus implored forgiveness — “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving-kindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions “? No. Hear him detail his own experience —” I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” And then he takes up the retuned instrument, and sings for the encouragement of others — “For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found.” In the case of some aromatic plants, it is when bruised they give forth the sweetest fragrance; so it is often the soul crushed with a sense of guilt which sends forth the sweetest aroma of humility, gratitude, and love. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Go, bruised one, broken wdth convictions of sin, or wounded in conscience — go, burdened one, weak and weary lamb of the flock, to this Shepherd of Souls; and as thou liest in His bosom, hear His assurance of comfort and consolation — “I will remove thy shoulder from the burden” — “O Ephraim, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in Me is thy help.” Think how He suffered the fallen to kiss His feet! Think how He touched the kneeling leper, and washed the traitor’s feet! “Jehovah Rophi, I am the Lord that healeth thee:” — “Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more!”
How many in eternity will be able to testify, in the words of one of the psalms in which the minstrel King of Israel records his experience, as he takes a retrospect of his strangely chequered life —” Thy gentleness hath made
ME GREAT!”
“Hide and guard us ia Thy tender arms
Till the wilderness of life be past;
Save us from temptation’s fatal charms,
Seal us for Thine own from first to last.
“Let Thy rod and staff in mercy lead us
In the footsteps of Thy flock below,
Till ‘mid heavenly pastures Thou shalt feed u”!,
Where the streams of life eternal flow.”
“0 TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD: BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT TRUSTETH IN HIM.”