_THE HOME-BIRD_
PSALM xci. 1-12.
I read a sentence the other day in which a very powerful modern writer
describes a certain woman as "having God on her visiting list." We may
recoil from the phrase, but it very vitally describes a very awful
commonplace. Countless thousands have God on their visiting lists. They
pay Him courtesy-calls, and between the calls He is forgotten. Perhaps the
call is paid once a week in the social function of worship. Perhaps it is
paid more rarely, like calls between comparative strangers. How great the
contrast between a caller and one who dwells in the secret place! It is
the difference between a flirt and a "home-bird," between one who flits
about on a score of fancies, and one who settles down in the solid
satisfaction of a supreme affection.
"_Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty._" Such is the reward of
the "home-bird," the settled friend of the Lord. The shadow of the Lord
shall rest upon him continually. I sometimes read of our monarchs being
"shadowed" by protective police. In an infinitely more real and intimate
sense the soul that dwells in "the secret place" is shadowed by the
sleepless grace and love of God.