_THE INSPIRATIONS OF THE PAST_
ISAIAH li. 1-6.
Here is a sentence from Lord Morley: "If a man is despondent about his
work the best remedy I can prescribe for him is to turn to a good
biography." He counsels him to go into the yesterdays to find inspiration
for the life of to-day. Other men's attainments are bugle-calls to me.
"Look unto Abraham, your father." Look unto the blessings which waited
upon his obedience! See how springs of refreshment broke out in the
troubled way! God "called him and blessed him." Rekindle your hope at his
radiant triumph. Strengthen your will in his glorious persistence.
Here do I see God's mercy in the gift of memory and in the witness of
history. I can turn to the yesterdays for light and quickening. "Do ye not
remember the miracle of the loaves?" Yes, I can recall the grace that met
me in my need, the power that made the crooked straight and the rough
places plain. And I am privileged to turn the pages of other men's
testimonies and read the record of the Lord's dealings with them. And so
do memory and history come as helpful angel-presences to my soul.
"His love in time past
Forbids me to think
He'll leave me at last
In trouble to sink."