Insect Ravage

“* Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” PsaALM xci. 10. THE insect which carries the plague is a very insidious thing. Who knows just where it is and what it is doing? Who can understand his errors? Who is fully acquainted with the secret faults which give the pest its chance ?. Secret faults are very hidden things. A man may have some knowledge of his “‘ presumptuous sins,” although it is astounding what big uglinesses we can carry and not be aware of them. We may have faults which stare upon our fellows like placards in the streets, and yet we may be quite unconscious of them. ‘“* Thou sayest, I am rich, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” That was gigantic ignorance; it was almost incredible delusion. But, even if we assume that one may have acquaintance with his big vices and necessities, there are others of a more hidden order, which are just as deadly and of which we may be blindly ignorant. It may be that we can see a destructive fire which is ravaging the garden; but who, without vigilant and prying search, can find the deadly insects which hide themselves in the dim chambers of the bark of the tree, or coil up in the shelter of young leaves, or lurk in the flower, or make their home in the very heart of the fruit? These call for the keenest and most suspicious watchfulness. And so it is in the soul, in the mysterious realm of human life and character. There are seemingly small things which are full of deadliness. They are the fatal insects of the soul, and their ravage is wrought in great secrecy, and it is to our wisdom that we know how to deal with them.

There has recently been a most interesting meeting of entomologists. The assembly was summoned by the Government from every part of the British Empire. The members came to report progress in the warfare against destructive insects which play so vast a part in the spread of the worst plagues that affect mankind. Expeditions have been at work studying the habits and distribution of the tse-tse fly which conveys the sleeping sickness. Others have been tracking the habits of another blood-sucking fly which, owing to the opening of the Panama Canal, may become a danger to Eastern Asia, as it is well known to be the carrier of yellow fever. Other scientists have been studying crop pests, such as cotton pests, sugar pests, and pests which attack great forests in secret hosts. The work of this great society represents the organised assault of an Empire upon its destructive pests.

And all the time I was reading the record of these proceedings I was wondering what would happen if we had a similarly strong and disciplined warfare against the more deadly pests which burrow and work in the souls of men. What would happen if we sought and distributed knowledge as to the modes of their invasion, and how to guard against it, and how to destroy the invader if once he gains a footing? One issue stood out very clearly in the recent conference in London. All the reports were in agreement that the best defence against destructive tree pests is the tree’s own exuberant health. The pests prowl about in search of sickly trees. They go out exploring for weak spots. They scout around places where the defences are slender, and there they cross the frontier. If, because of negligence, or for any cause, a tree is “‘ off-colour,”’ and its life is scanty and sluggish, the pests arrive and take possession.

But this is just the teaching of the word of God about the welfare of the soul. Again and again we are taught that our immunity from secret and deadly foes is to be found in spiritual health and vigour. We are counselled and commanded to attend to the great necessities which are essential to spiritual health, and the soul will then resist the foul invader and refuse him even the scantiest hospitality. We shall starve him out. He will die from lack of provision. ‘‘ The prince of this world cometh and he hath nothing in - me.” Yes, but how are we to preserve this defenceful health? By attending to the great primary relation of the soul. Does the Word offer us any counsel about it? There is this great guiding word: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” That shadow is the death of the foul pest. It cannot live or breathe in the shadow of the Almighty. It dies as soon as it enters.

The pest never gets near the soul. In the same psalm which tells me about the shadow I am given the happy assurance that I need not be afraid of “‘ the pestilence that walketh in the darkness,” for no plague shall ever come nigh my dwelling. In God, and in God alone, we find our security.