The Influence of Family-Worship on a Household in Affliction
In hours of trial the members of a household gather together, as if by a natural instinct, and the tendency is more marked where the Christian sympathies are active. But it is an unsatisfactory and cheerless assembling, when chastisement falls on a house where there is no religion. The countenances, even of friends, mutually reflect despondency. Words of comfort may be uttered, but they are such as cannot reach the depth of suffering; for what, but the promise of the gospel, can bind up the broken-hearted? There is a hollowness and conscious insufficiency in the language of condolence which ungodly men The Rev. James Hamilton.
address to one another under misfortune. There is no reference to God, there are no allusions to heaven, nor applications by prayer to the great source of comfort.
In contrast with this, consider the case of a sorrowing believer. The very first impulse, when he is smitten, is to go to his Father in heaven, whom he recognises as the Disposer of the event, and whom he leans upon for support. It is the universal experience of disciples; when surprised ])y trial they flee to the throne of grace, as the affrighted bird to its covert and nest.” Is any afflicted, let him prayy The operation of this principle is observed in the family. A common visitation has reached every member, but only to drive them more near together. They have learned to bear one another’s burdens, and to lean on one another’s Christian love. They need no prompter to draw them in concert to the place of prayer; all hearts tend in that very direction, and the sentiments of all find expression in the privilege of family-prayer.
Among God’s people on earth, there are thousands who smart under the daily aflliction of poverty. It is still true that God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him. Though we have not seen the righteous forsaken, yet we have often seen him in such straits that the morning could give no promise of the evening’s bread. It is a heavy trial for the father to come home to his household at night, with scarcely enough of earnings to keep them from being famished, and for him to behold the wife and little ones shivering for lack of fuel and raiment. Yet such fathers and such households there are, where, nevertheless, this very evening, the word of God is read, and the blessing which maketh rich is invoked in the never-forgotten family-prayer. And such families are unspeakably distinguished from the vulgar poor, if it were only by this single service. They have a solace which the world does not understand. That father and mother can lie down, resting on promises of relief which have never been disappointed. And those children, from their earliest years, are learning the lesson of dependence on God, and offering the petition, “Give us this day our daily bread,” with an accent unknown in the houses of the rich.
True piety may be left without worldly goods, but it will not be left without the domestic worship.
Sudden losses are accounted great trials, and they sometimes fall on such as have rolled in wealth. From the vicissitudes of trade, and the wildness of speculation, and the prodigality of wealth, and the growing treachery of associates, it has come to pass, that we hear without surprise of instantaneous ruin and bankruptcy. Knit together as society is, this may befall even a righteous man; or unexpected poverty may come in at some other door. Riches have many wings, with which they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. In such a case it is not for one of God’s children to say, “Ye have taken away my gods, and what have I more?”* Rather will he call together his household, and humbly declare, with one in worse condition, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”t A domestic usage, which makes this not only easy, but expected, is a means of relief Here the father may pour out his soul freely, and here the children may learn
* Judges xviii. 24. t Job i. 21.
FAMILY-WORSHIP. Ill
that their parent has a treasure laid up where thieves do not break through nor steal. If the family devotions have been held precious during the time of prosperity, they will seem doubly precious now, and it will be delightful to consider that earthly reverses cannot touch this possession. The equipage and livery and plate may vanish; the paintings and gorgeous furniture may fly under the hammer; the library may be scattered; the very mansion may be forsaken. Yet, in a cottage or a garret, within bare cold walls, shunned by the parasites of other days, the Christian family may rejoice that the daily worship of God is still untouched; and here, though with tearful eyes, they can still, from the bottom of their hearts, give thanks. There is, to my mind, something peculiarly sacred in the worship of the house, perpetuated, unchanged, through every vicissitude of fortune.
“I was once told,” says Mr. Hamilton, ‘’of a cottage patriarch, who was born in those days when Scotland had a church in almost every house. There was one in his father’s dwelling, and when he pitched a tent for himself, he builded an altar. Round that altar a goodly number of olive-plants grew up, but, one by one, they were either planted out in families of their own, or God took them, till he and his old partner found themselves, just as at their outset in life, alone. But their family-worship continued as of old. At last his fellow-traveller left him. Still he carried on the worship by himself. So sweet was the memory of it in his father’s house, and so pleasant had he found it in his own, that he could not give it up. But as he sat in his silent habitation, morning and evening, his quivering voice was overheard singing the old psalm-tune, reading aloud the chapter, and praying as if others still worshipped by his side.”
When evil tidings come to the heathen, they rend their garments, tear out their hair, cast dust and ashes on their heads, and fill the air with lamentation. Ungodly persons in Christian lands, in a like case, do not indeed give way to the same outward demonstrations, but are not the less affected within. It is the property of the true Christian, to hear such messages with calmness and resignation.” He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the
Lord.“* And when the black seal is broken, and the faces of all who hover around gather paleness, it is true religion which lifts the eyes and says, “The will of the Lord be done.” Blessed is the privilege, in such an hour, of meeting as a smitten, but unforsaken flock, at the feet of the heavenly Shepherd, and of pouring out the soul in supplication. Sometimes disease makes fearful inroads in the Christian house. There is then a special message to the throne of grace. Happy is the case in which we can go to Christ, saying, ^’ He whom thou lovest is sick.” But we may bring all our afllicted ones to him, as to the great Physician, pleading with him by his name, JEHovAH-RoPHi.f The daily visits of the medical adviser are less indispensable than daily resort to the Most High. It is not safe to lie ill in a prayerless house; but it is better to be a Lazarus in the midst of true prayers, than to be full of health in a house which knows no worship. In a faithful household, the case of the languishing sufferer is never forgotten before God; and the prayer of faith does still often heal the sick. The very thought of this is a cordial
* Psalm cxii, 7. f Exodus xv. 26.
to the fainting spirits, especially in those cases where the malady is lingering-, and stretches its saddening influence through many years. The sons of gaiety may look with indifference on the daily exercise of devotion; not so the pining invalid, whose life is a long disease; who seldom ventures across the threshold, and who counts the hours until the voice of prayer and praise is heard again. When disease takes a more threatening form, and life is in danger, we have observed an unusual solemnity steal over even the more careless members of the household, as they obey the summons to evening prayer. The feeling is natural, that, after all, this is the most rational instrumentality: for God only can help. The ordinary exercise is transformed into a special intercession for one who is on a bed of peril. Before the morrow, that soul may be in eternity. Can we think, with composure, of such dangers, or of the death struggle going on, in houses where not one syllable of oral prayer is uttered, not one group of kneeling suppliants gathered about the death bed? We may surely be forgiven, if we pray, May I die the death of the righteous, and may my last end be among the prayers of the righteous. Yet what numbers are even this moment dying, without one word of supplication, and without so much as a token of Christianity!
There is a sentiment in every true disciple’s breast, which makes him glory in the faith of the gospel pre-eminently in a moment of tribulation. Now, he feels, is the juncture in which to show that the confidence in God is unshaken. Hence the quiet and seemly attendance of a Christian household on divine offices, even amidst extreme trials, is strongly opposed to the heathenish confusion of a prayerless family.
Every house must, sooner or later, become a house of mourning. The blessedness of worshipping God in our family capacity, is never more evinced, than when death has struck his blow. Though we pray not for the dead, we feel within us an impulse to kneel and pray beside the dead. When the corpse is still in the house. Family- Worship has a singular awe. A link has been broken. A voice is missed from the harmony. A shadowy form, that as long as strength endured, lingered about these places of prcyer, has at length ceased to appear. “One is not.“* Amidst such unavoidable reflections, the common resort to the throne of grace becomes peculiarly tender and awful. The elevations of prayer and praise befit the soul which has felt a mighty grief, and which sickens at the presentation of minor and earthly considerations. We have seen the heart-broken widow led in to the accustomed place of prayer, shrinking to hear a stranger’s voice in the place of his — yet calmed and buoyed up by the fellowship of devotion. O how many could rise and testify, that in seasons of deep affliction they have found unutterable solace, not only in prayer in general, but in the domestic prayer in particular! Wounded hearts need fellowship, even in their devotions, and feel their griefs assuaged, when others, whom they love, gather around them in the use of words which make their sorrows the sorrows of all. Such devotions soften and hallow grief, and make the sorrows of a Christian house altogether different from those of the world. To enter such a circle is good. There we are taught, that *’ it is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting. “t Tears
* Gen. xlii. 13. + Eccl. vii. 2.
will no doubt gush freely and interrupt the service, where sudden bereavement has occurred, but the whole influence of the devotion, even on the chief sufferers, has been uniformly observed to be consolatory in no common degree. There are other afflictions, however, besides the loss of property, health, or friends; sometimes less tolerable, more poignant than these. When such tempests break over a house, whither can they resort but to God, in prayer? If they have already instituted this daily exercise, they need no new arrangements; their access is direct to the heart of a Father. Let them, as a family, bowing before him, unbosom themselves of that burden, which perhaps they have no freedom to tell to a fellow-man. It is good to draw near to God with peculiar sorrows.
There are houses in our world of suffering, where the wonderful dealing of Providence presses with long-continued chastisement; sorrows which abide for years, and from which nothing promises an outlet but death, which brings with it the cure of all evils to the righteous, and the answer of all prayers. There are thorns in the flesh which God does not see good to extract; domestic crosses, 11 constitutional infirmities, vexations left like the Canaanites in the land, incurable pains and diseases. In these it is a blessed thing to pray, and to pray in fellowship. To these the daily worship is a morning and an evening balm, indispensable as the ‘’ necessary food.” Remove this agency, and you strike out the light of the dwelling. Aged and solitary persons, and victims of mental depression, crave the social flow of affection, which is afforded by Family- Worship. Having ceased to look for the pity of the world, they need the more those communications which are made in the hour of prajer, and here they sometimes learn to ‘’ glory in tribulation also.” Forlorn, indeed, are such sufferers in prayerless households. It is no common trial, for a solitary believer to spend a lifetime in a family where there is no other voice to cry to God. And blessed is that institution, handed down to us from our forefathers, by means oi which a refreshing stream is daily conducted through the habitation.
A single mourner is, perhaps, found in a household: ‘’stricken deer,” th5-t left the herd “long since, wdth many an arrow deep infixed.” Common sympathy does not reach such a case; but it is reached by devotion. Secret balsams of Christian love often distil on the wounded heart, in the season of domestic worship, though not a syllable be uttered, which, by rude allusion, could shock the sensitive mind. Prayers offered in the presence of such a one take a form which soothes, instructs, and elevates. There is society in worship, even for the most secluded mourner. The daily sanctuary of the household would be worth all it can ever cost, if it did no more than minister to this “mind diseased.’^ In a long night of pilgrimage, without the lights of earthly hope, prayer opens views of the better country, for we are never nearer to heaven than when we are upon our knees.
But, reverting to those afflictions which are felt by a whole family, we may observe, that they offer remarkable occasions for experiencing the benefits of household devotion. The soul is mollified by grief; every word spoken at such times sinks deeply. Supposing the head of the family to be suitably exercised, his experience will diffuse itself to the members. The youngest and the most worldly will be called to join in lively expressions, which may awaken them to reflection, and lead them to turn the dispensations of Providence to spiritual account. The profound humiliation of a heart-stricken father, his penitent confessions of sin, his unreserved submission to the stroke of God’s hand, his moving entreaties for deliverance, comfort, and grace; and his irrepressible intercessions with God for his unconverted children; these are appeals more likely to go to the heart of the impenitent, in a time of sorrow, than all the amplifications of eloquence. And as afflictions are sure to be remembered, this means wll cause them to be remembered as associated with the most affecting truths of religion.
Let us not forget, that God doth not always chide, neither doth he keep his anger for ever. Though weeping may endure for a night, joy Cometh in the morning. Prayers are answered. They cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivereth them out of their distresses. Then comes the time for thanksgiving; to praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. A whole family engaged in rendering thanks is a delightful spectacle. The place to behold it, is the chamber of family-prayer. The psalms and praises of such a service are better than mountains of sacrifice. The house from which they ascend is a Bethel. Where God’s worship has been maintained for years, one may look back upon the successive seasons of deliverance and gratitudCy. and see each one marked with its separate Ebenezer. Can religious professors willingly spend their lives in the reception of divine benefits, and yet withhold from themselves and their children the appropriate solemnity for such tribute of thanksgiving! Shame on the degeneracy of our day, which has made household irreUgion a common thing, even within the pale of the visible Church!
We have enlarged upon the topic of affliction, as connected with Family- Worship, because afflictions are the common lot of all, and because they remarkably show the value of this institution. We know no sioht more touching than that of ‘a Christian family, under some humbling, piercing dispensation, all gathered in the accustomed place of prayer, like fearful birds overtaken by a storm, and seeking the Lord God of Israel, under whose 11* wings they come to trust.* Hising from prayer, and separating for the night, they find their agitations calmed by the presence of the Comforter, and can say with hope: “O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.”* The ungodly are not so. These softening and consoling influences are unknown to them. Their griefs are sullen. No fellowship in waiting upon God lifts them above the cold, barren prospect of earthly consolations. Their dwellings are dark and wintry, in respect to any stated service of God. And, alas, they are imitated by many in the Church, who endure the strokes of chastisement again and again, and even sustain the arrows of death, without having ever known what it was to come together as a family, for prayer. Would it be credited by a Jew, a Mohammedan, or a heathen, that men who profess the religion of Jesus, and sit down at his table, die, and are carried out to burial, from houses in which their voices have never been heard in prayer?
* Rulh ii. 12. t Isaiah xxxiii. 2.