APRIL The Twenty-sixth

_GOLIATH VERSUS G.o.d!_

1 SAMUEL xvii. 1-11.

Goliath seemed to have everything on his side _except_ G.o.d. And the things in which he boasted were just the things in which men are p.r.o.ne to boast to-day.

He had physical strength. "His height was six cubits and a span."

Athletics had done all they could for him, and he was a fine type of animal perfection.

He had splendid military equipment. "A helmet of bra.s.s," and "a coat of mail," and "a spear like a weaver's beam!" Surely, if fine material equipment determines combats, the shepherd-lad from the hills of Bethlehem will be annihilated.

And he enjoyed the enthusiastic confidence of the Philistines. He was his nation's pride and glory! He strode out amid their shouts, and the cheers were like iron in his blood.

But all this counted for nothing, because G.o.d was against him. Men and nations may attain to a fine animalism, their warlike equipment may satisfy the most exacting standard, and yet, with G.o.d against them, they shall be as structures woven out of mists, and they shall collapse at the touch of apparent weakness. The issue was not Goliath versus David, but Goliath versus G.o.d!

APRIL The Twenty-seventh

_OBSCURE BIRTHPLACES_

1 SAMUEL xvii. 12-27.

G.o.d's champion is at present feeding sheep! Who would have expected that Goliath's antagonist would emerge from the quiet pastures? "Genius hatches her offspring in strange places." Very humble homes are the birthplaces of mighty emanc.i.p.ations.

There was a little farm at St. Ives, and the farmer lived a quiet and unsensational life. But the affairs of the nation became more and more confused and threatening. Monarchical power despoiled the people's liberties, and tyranny became rampant. And out from the little farm strode Oliver Cromwell, the ordained of G.o.d, to emanc.i.p.ate his country.

There was an obscure rectory at Epworth. The doings in the little rectory were just the quiet practices of similar homes in countless parts of England. And England was becoming brutalized, because its religious life was demoralized. The Church was asleep, and the devil was wide awake! And forth from the humble rectory strode John Wesley, the appointed champion of the Lord to enthuse, to purify, and to sweeten the life of the people.

On what quiet farm is the coming deliverer now labouring? Who knows?

APRIL The Twenty-eighth

_PREPARING FOR GREAT ENCOUNTERS_

1 SAMUEL xvii. 28-37.

This young champion of the Lord had won many victories before he faced Goliath. Everything depends on how I approach my supreme conflicts. If I have been careless in smaller combats I shall fail in the larger. If I come, wearing the garlands of triumph won in the shade, the shout of victory is already in the air! Let me look at David's trophies before he removed Goliath's head.

He had conquered his temper. Read Eliab's irritating taunt in the twenty-eighth verse, and mark the fine self-possession of the young champion's reply! That conquest of temper helped him when he took aim at Goliath! There is nothing like pa.s.sion for disturbing the accuracy of the eye and the steadiness of the hand.

He had conquered fear. "_Let no man's heart fail because of him._" There was no panic, there was no feverish and wasteful excitement. There was no shouting "to keep the spirits up!" He was perfectly calm.

And he had conquered unbelief. He had a rich history of the providential dealings of G.o.d with him, and his confidence was now unclouded and serene.

He had known the Lord's power when he faced the bear and the lion. Now for Goliath!

APRIL The Twenty-ninth

_THE MOOD OF TRIUMPH_

"_I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts._"

--1 SAMUEL xvii. 38-54.

The man who comes up to his foes with this a.s.surance will fight and win.

Reasonable confidence is one of the most important weapons in the warrior's armoury. Fear is always wasteful. The man who calmly expects to win has already begun to conquer. Our mood has so much to do with our might. And therefore does the Word of G.o.d counsel us to attend to our dispositions, lest, having carefully collected our material implements, we have no strength to use them.

And the man who comes up to his foes with holy a.s.surance will fight with consummate skill. He will be quite "collected." All his powers will wait upon one another, and they will move together as one. He is as self-possessed upon the battlefield as upon parade, as undisturbed before Goliath as before a flock of sheep! And therefore do I say that, fighting with perfect composure, he fights with superlative skill. The right moment is seized, the right stone is chosen, the right aim is taken, and great Goliath is brought low.

APRIL The Thirtieth

_THE TEST OF VICTORY_

"_David behaveth himself wisely._"

--1 SAMUEL xvii. 55--xviii. 5.

The hour of victory is a more severe moral test than the hour of defeat.

Many a man can brave the perils of adversity who succ.u.mbs to the seductions of prosperity. He can stand the cold better than the heat! He is enriched by failure, but "spoilt by success." To test the real quality of a man, let us regard him just when he has slain Goliath! "David behaved himself wisely"!

He was not "eaten up with pride." He developed no "side." He went among his friends as though no Goliath had ever crossed his way. He was not for ever recounting the triumph, and fishing for the compliments of his audience. He "behaved wisely." So many of us tarnish our victories by the manner in which we display them. We put them into the shop-window, and they become "soiled goods."

And in this hour of triumph David made a n.o.ble friend. In his noonday he found Jonathan, and their hearts were knit to each other in deep and intimate love. It is beautiful when our victories are so n.o.bly borne that they introduce us into higher fellowships, and the friends of heaven become our friends.

MAY The First

_THE CONDITIONS OF SERENITY_

PSALM cxxiv.