Review and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 27. (7/3/1913)

Review and Herald

Jul 3, 1913

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 3, 1913

When We Feel the Strongest

By Irene C. Avery

IRENE C. AVERY

O God, our God, who art our all, Our strength in weakness and our light When sorrow comes: to Thee we go, And know Thou wilt not turn Thine own Away. Thou God in whom we know All things are possible, all help complete, Be with us when we think we are the strongest.

Not when we feel oppressed and weak The tempter has the greatest power. Not when, kneeling in conscious need Of strength divine to help us meet Life’s tests, we hesitate and faint; But it is when we do not think of sin. We falter when we feel we are the strongest.

So keep us close to Thee. Remind Us that self-confidence means only death. Be near when all the world is bright And happiness and love seem everywhere; For it is then temptation softly grips Our hearts, and thoughtlessly we turn from Thee. Protect us when we think we are the strongest.

— Sunday School Times.

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The Rending of the Kingdom

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

“Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.” 1 Kings 11: 43.

Soon after his accession to the throne, Rehoboam went to Shechem, where he expected to receive formal recognition of authority from all the tribes. “To Shechem were all Israel come to make him king.”

Among those present was Jeroboam, the son of Nebat,—the same Jeroboam who during Solomon’s reign had been known as “a mighty man of valor,” and to whom the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite had delivered the startling message, “Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee.”

The prophet had spoken plainly regarding the necessity for a division of the kingdom. God had declared that this division must take place, because “they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.”

The kingdom was not to be divided, however, before the close of Solomon’s reign. “I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand,” the Lord declared through his prophet; “but I will make him a prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes: but I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.”

To Solomon himself, as well as to Jeroboam, the Lord had revealed the sure result of apostasy. “Forasmuch as . . . thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, . . .” was the message of the prophet, “I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.”

It was this prophecy of impending ruin that had awakened the apostate king as from a dream, and had led him to repent, and to seek to stay, so far as possible, the terrible tide of evil that during the later years of his reign had been rising high and still higher. But at the time of his repentance, only a few years of life remained to him, and he could not hope to avert the consequences of long years of wrong-doing. His course of evil had set in operation influences that afterward he could never fully control.

Especially was this the case in the training of the children born to him through marriage with idolatrous women. Rehoboam, the son whom Solomon chose to be his successor, had received from his mother, an Ammonitess, a stamp of character that led him to look upon sin as desirable. At times he endeavored to serve God, and was granted a measure of prosperity; but he was not steadfast, and at last he yielded to the influences for evil that had surrounded him from infancy.

At the meeting in Shechem, at the very beginning of his reign, Rehoboam might have taken a course that would have inspired confidence in his ability to stand at the head of the nation. If he had shown a willingness to keep ever before him the welfare of his subjects, the people would have accepted him as a wise ruler. But in this hour of opportunity, failing to reason from cause to effect, he forever weakened his influence over a large portion of the people.

The tribes had long suffered grievous wrongs under the oppressive measures of their former ruler. The extravagance of Solomon’s reign during his apostasy had led him to tax the people heavily, and to require of them much menial service. They now felt that they could no longer bear so many burdens, and before going forward with the coronation of a new ruler, the leading men from among the tribes determined to ascertain whether or not it was the purpose of Solomon’s son to lessen these burdens. “So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous; now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.”

Desiring to take counsel with his advisers before outlining his policy, Rehoboam said to the men of Israel, “Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.

“And King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people? And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants forever.”

Rehoboam then “consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him: and he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken unto me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?

“And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath

chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

“So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day. . . . And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

“The king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

“So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

“But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.”

(To be concluded)

Prayer

By Anna Majel Ross

ANNA MAJEL ROSS

“Lead me in thy truth, and teach me;” Show me clearly, Lord, the way; Take me by the hand and guide me, Hour by hour and day by day.

Help me, Lord, for I am weary, And my soul is filled with fear; Life’s long pathway seems so dreary, Let me feel thy presence near.

Surely now I seem to hear thee Softly answer while I pray, “Peace, dear child, thy Father hears thee, He is with thee all the day.”

O, what peace, what joy and gladness, Fills my heart those words to hear, Banishing all doubts and sadness! Yes, I know my Father’s near.

Brawley, Cal.

Changing One’s Spiritual Atmosphere

By John N. Quinn

JOHN N. QUINN

At times the follower of Christ finds himself in the association of those whose interests are carnal, to whom the Christ life is unattractive. He does not descend to the plane on which those exist who are alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, and yet on parting from them he is conscious of having been to some extent affected by an atmosphere pregnant with poisons—poisons which lower the vitality of the soul. Heart hungry, he seeks the place of communion. Casting himself before God, he prays, and as he opens the Word of Truth, God draws nigh and floods the soul with light, and life, and power. He is in his normal atmosphere, and is light-hearted and free. Prayer to him is not the utterance of mere words; it is communion with the Source of purity and love. Prayer is not a continual agony of soul; it is rather a quiet talk with God, opening the life to him as one could not to the dearest friend on earth. And there is no enjoyment comparable with this one of being in touch with God, of having the assurance that every barrier is broken down, and that God by his Spirit has unhindered access to the life beset with temptation.

“We pass too hurriedly through the sacred circle,” is a statement altogether too true. We awake in the morning, and in a few hurried words express thanks to God for his care of the past night, ask to be kept through the day, and hurry away after a hasty glance at the Word of God. Night finds us physically tired after the stress and strain of the day; the mind is too weary to pray; a few tired words suffice, and we retire to rest. There is a more excellent way. It is well in the morning to pour out the soul in gratitude to God for his care; it is better to arise from the knees, open the Bible, and quietly talk to God. He always responds when we wait upon him with quiet trust in the certainty of his promises; he honors us when we take him at his word; and after half an hour of such communion in the morning one feels as if he is invincible. And he is, as he keeps his mind stayed on God through the entire day. When something unpleasant occurs, immediately the mind turns to God and help is given, a spirit of quietness and confidence pervading the soul. This is the experience open to each believer in Jesus Christ.

That prayer is not the mere utterance of words is well expressed in the following paragraphs:—

“An arrow, if it is drawn up but a little way, goes not far; but if it is pulled up to the head, flies swiftly and pierces deep. Thus prayer, if it is only dribbled forth from careless lips, falls at our feet. It is the strength of ejaculation and strong desire that sends it to heaven, and makes it pierce the clouds. It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they are; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they are; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voices may be; nor the logic of our prayers, how argumentative they may be; nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be; nor even the divinity of our prayers, how good the doctrine may be, which God cares for. He looks not for the horny knees which James is said to have had through the assiduity of prayer. We might be like Bartholomew, who is said to have had a hundred prayers for the morning and as many for the evening, and all might be of no avail. Fervency of spirit is that which availeth much.”

“As a painted fire is no fire, a dead man no man, so a cold prayer is no prayer. In a painted fire there is no heat, in a dead man there is no life; so in a cold prayer there is no omnipotency, no devotion, no blessing. Cold prayers are as arrows without heads, as swords without edges, as birds without wings; they pierce not, they cut not, they fly not up to heaven. Cold prayers do always freeze before they get to heaven.”

“It is not the gilded paper and good writing of a petition that prevails with a king, but the moving sense of it. And to that King who discerns the heart, heart-sense is the sense of all, and that which he only regards. He listens to hear what that speaks, and takes all as nothing where that is silent. All other excellence in prayer is but the outside and fashion of it. This is the life of it.”

Discord in the home, discord among believers, sin cherished, a love for this present evil world, are hindrances to effective prayer. “That your prayers be not hindered.”

God hears the prayer that goes not forth from feigned lips; and we have the happy assurance that God will answer the prayer that reaches the throne of grace. “Answers will be returned,” whether the prayer is for the forgiveness of sins, for acceptance in the Beloved, for strength to resist temptation, for peace, or for power to bring to others the blessedness of the everlasting gospel. Prove God; you will find him to be an ever-present helper, no matter what the need may be. Ask, nothing wavering, and you shall receive; God’s oath is the basis of our assurance.

Takoma Park, D. C.

The Call of the Cities

By Mary H. Williams

MRS. MARY H. WILLIAMS

In these days of whirring machinery and factory-made everything it is refreshing to read of a true artisan like George W. Fisk, of Greeley, Colo. He is considered the greatest violin maker in America, if not in the world; not great in output,—for he averages less than eight violins a year,—but great in perfection of workmanship. Because his chosen art-craft is a work of love, and one that completely satisfies his creative instinct, it has brought to him great happiness and contentment in a ripe old age.

I have given this picture for the sake of drawing a comparison. It is in pitiful contrast that we view the city's great army of industrial workers, and see in that contrast a most potent cause of the spirit of unrest and discontent for which the present time is noted. In the creative instinct, God gave to man a noble birthright, of which our modern industrial system has largely robbed him. Since the highest incentive to labor is to produce something, to see the work of the hands, one must feel the keenest sympathy for the factory worker, keyed to the highest tension in the strife for efficiency—efficiency meaning the making of a certain number of pieces a day. Think of performing this automatic task year after year till the human machine breaks down, and never enjoying the reward of the old-time craftsman in the finished work! Can we wonder that he seeks relaxation in cheap amusements? He finds no church home among those of wealth and fashion, and perhaps too proud to affiliate with settlement churches, he lives a hopeless and godless life.

It is useless to think of returning to the old order of things, though some serious-minded persons have led a revolt in seeking to revive the old arts and crafts. They have met with fair recognition and success in their efforts to live a more natural and simple life, but we know from the Word of God that the conflict between capital and labor is bound to go on to the end, and the artificialities of life will engender increasing bitterness and strife.

While every right-thinking person must deplore the savagery of strike methods, yet if we look deep enough we shall find some cogent reason for such desperate measures. Neither unionism nor socialism will solve the laborer's problems or find a sovereign cure for his ills. Shorter hours and more pay will only

palliate. We are told that many will find a remedy for their unrest in the message long overdue, and joy and peace in the hope of the soon coming of the Prince of Peace. May we who enjoy quiet rural homes, realize our great debt to these our less fortunate brothers, and be generous with our means to speed on the good tidings of a coming King.

Charles City, Iowa.

Hearing, an Important Talent

By A. E. PLACE

A. E. PLACE

THE Great Teacher at one time said, “Take heed therefore how ye hear.” That admonition is just as pertinent and as applicable today as when it came from the divine lips.

The power to hear is called one of the five senses, but it is more than this: it is a divine gift, a rare legacy deposited in the bank of human possibilities, and upon it man is permitted to trade, or draw daily for either weal or woe.

Let us suppose for the moment that this gift is suddenly withdrawn. Can you imagine all the sweet melodies and harmonies in word and sound to be as though they were not? What would their loss mean to this poor, dying world? That little bird chirping, or warbling its morning song at our window, its throat seemingly almost bursting with the ecstasy of the joy of living, would be of no service, for it could gladden only its own heart.

The coo and prattle of the first-born child, so sweet, so thrilling, so inspiring to the ear of the parent, would be unheeded. The first “real words” of the little one, which the father gleefully declares to be “Da-da,” and which the fond mother claims to be “Ma-ma,” would be unheeded. Those almost priceless expressions, “Dear husband,” “Dear wife,” “Dear Mary,” and “Dear John,” spoken in tones of affection and love, would fall cold and dead from the speaker’s lips, until the lips themselves would cease to move. Yea, the thousand and one words and sounds, from the bird song or child prattle to the great, soul-thrilling oratorio,—words and sounds which today furnish a goodly portion of the elixir of life; words and sounds which have the power to calm fear, to inspire courage and fortitude, to heal wounds and still the tempests of the soul,—these, all these, would, without hearing, be lost to the world. What a loss to a world where their presence and help are so much needed!

Thank God, they have not yet gone! But let us ask ourselves the question, Are these sweet melodies and harmonies going from the world? Are they being driven from our hearts, our homes, and our lives? If so, to what extent are we to blame?

A careful study of the difference between harmony and discord, the effects of each upon ourselves and others, constitutes an important factor in a good education. The difference is doubtless as strong as that between love and hate.

True love is the melody, and union in true love is the harmony, of the universe.

So it is the melody and harmony of the world.

As one untuned string in a piano affects every other string, and makes it impossible to play a perfect tune in which the untuned string has any part, so violation of the divine law of love has not only put one string in man’s nature out of harmony, but has sadly affected every string in the harp of life. And a continued violation of divine law will, after a time, drive all harmony from the soul, and develop in its place bitter hatred, the end of which is often murder or incurable insanity.

As the discords of life, if listened to and dwelt upon, harrow and make bitter every day of life to the end and make life’s last remembrance a curse, so also will the melodies and harmonies, still living and vibrating in the world, if listened to and appreciated, sweeten even the most bitter cups of life and make glad life’s last review. And when the end comes, the melodies and harmonies which we have cherished through life, will, by angel voices, be swelled into a divine oratorio, as they take us from this world “to meet the Lord in the air,” to go to that kingdom where discords will never come.

(To be continued)

San Jose, Cal.

Appreciation

By W. E. GERALD

W. E. GERALD

A definition recently given of victory is “the ability to rejoice when your good is evil spoken of.” This touches a vital part in our Christian experience, and on this point the child of God may achieve some of his greatest victories. While it is true that deliberate indifference is a winged dart in the hands of Satan to pierce the unprotected heart, yet most of the difficulty in this direction is obviated by heeding the Saviour’s advice to seek not honor one of another, but seek the honor that comes from God. Once the wrong motive in the life is rooted out, the trouble vanishes.

The apostle Paul is an example of one who knew how to make the best of any situation. He exhorts ministers to commend themselves “by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known.”

The great and correct motive that should underlie our service is set forth in his epistle to the Ephesians, in which he gives this caution to servants: “Not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.”

With but slight variation he counsels the Colossian brethren: “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” Having performed our service in this manner, we need not worry about the slights, mistaken or intended, of those from whom we have expected recognition, but can rejoice that one on high has measured perfectly, and recorded correctly on the pages of the heavenly ledger, the credit due us in every effort. When the hidden things are brought to light, we shall hear the “Well done.”

May God help us to learn this lesson so thoroughly that it will forever seal our lips against all reproach, complaint, and faultfinding.

South Lancaster, Mass.

A Morning Soliloquy

By A. SMITH

A. SMITH

“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” Ps. 139:17, 18. When I awake each morning, I should look upon the day before me as possibly my last one of life, and fill its precious moments with golden thoughts and deeds.

My character is as a flower vase to be filled by me with roses and lilies from the garden of God, or with Satan’s weeds from the fields of sin. Every pure thought, word, or deed, fraught with the grace of humility in Christ, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Gal. 5:22-24. Shall I, then, fill my vase today with these mementoes of Eden? or shall I fill it with the devil’s weeds of impure and unkind words and deeds? Shall I make myself generally disagreeable and unliked by my associates, and self-conscious of guilt before God? — No! let me rather throw out the offensive weeds of Satan, cleanse the vase in the fountain which purifies from sin, and fill it with the fruit of life.

I have not a moment to lose. When Christ comes, my character will be fixed forever beyond all change. The Holy Spirit will never place the seal of the living God upon an impure man or woman, or upon the jester or foolish talker, or the lover of the world; for that would sanction such practises in heaven.

“May my angel’s record every closing day Shine with love’s bright moments all the way.”

Byron Center, Mich.

Yielding Ourselves to God

By Tauler

MAY God grant us to be faithful and honest in doing the work he gives, and doing it as his Spirit teaches us. Set forth to work in good earnest at the task God gives you, and let not your heart wander off after something higher. Then it will no longer be your work, but God's work, whatever it may be. And to those who thus give themselves restfully to God, he shows himself at all moments, and draws their hearts very near to himself. . . . His blessing comes not from our work and labor, but from yielding ourselves to his will. Thus to suffer and be still is the noblest work, for then it is not we who work, but God; and his work is high above our work, as the heaven is high above the earth.—Tauler.

God Over All

AMID the stress and strain and wear and waste of this natural life, how satisfying it is to feel that the great God of heaven is keeping watch over all! His eye sweeps the vast expanses of his universe. He takes account of the planets in their revolutions. On this earth of ours he beholds the nations of men. More than this, God takes account of the individual atoms making up the vast multitude. He singles out every man and every woman from the great throng. He numbers his children by name. He knows where each one lives, the circumstances which shape and control each life. He knows the trials of each heart, the well-springs of the life, the secret motives and purposes which possess the soul.

We cannot run away from God. We cannot, as our guilty first parents thought they could do, hide from his presence. Were we to take the wings of the morning and flee to the uttermost parts of the earth, there, says the psalmist, God would still find us.

To the one whose heart is set to do evil this thought brings oppression and terror, but to the child of God it comes with comfort and consolation. Wherever we are, the eye of our God is upon us; his hand is stretched out to help us; his Spirit is with us to direct us.

Sometimes we feel alone even in the midst of a great multitude. We feel that there is none who can sympathize with us or understand our heart’s deep sorrow, our ambitions and purposes. God knows it all. He sees us in the busy throng; he sees us though we may wander alone in the desert wild, and he sees us only to help us. He bends to companionship with us. Let us seek to enter more closely into this divine communion.

If religious faith is anything, it is practical. Jesus Christ is not merely a friend in theory, but one in deed. In every experience of life we can come to him for help. Daily as we converse with him, we may talk over matters of personal concern as familiarly as with an earthly friend. If our heart aches, if our spirits are depressed, if we have been slighted or neglected, if we are weary or nervous, if we are anxious over the future, if we are concerned regarding our temporal needs, all these are proper subjects of prayer. It is fitting that we should bring them to the counsel of our great Friend and seek from him wisdom and strength.

Let us cultivate the habit of doing this, telling Jesus everything, seeking strength for every trial, however small. This will develop in us constancy of character, assurance, conviction, conscientiousness. As we enter more and more into this communion, fear will give place to love, and the stern sense of duty to the joy of doing. We shall serve God not because we fear his judgments, but because we love his precepts. We shall be kept from the evil, knowing that it will bring grief to the One who loves us, and whom in return we have learned to love.

We walk today in the sight of heaven. God takes account of us. He sees us, he watches us moment by moment. Realizing this, may we walk with consciousness of his presence, and in the light and joy of his countenance.

Continue reading: Through Perils by Night