_THE MUSIC OF RECONCILIATION_
PSALM lxxxv.
Let me listen to this psalm of reconciliation, as it makes music for my
soul to-day.
It tells me of the Divine favour. "_Lord, Thou hast been favourable to Thy
land._" As I write these words, the sun has just slipped out from behind
the cloud. It has been there all the time, but the ministry of the cloud
was needed, and so it appeared as though there would be sun and spring no
more. "Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face."
And it tells me of the Divine forgiveness. "_Thou hast forgiven the
iniquity of Thy people._" Yes, when the sun appears, He loosens the frozen
earth and streams, and turns the bondage into liberty. The soul that was
imprisoned in freezing guilt attains a joyous freedom.
And it tells me of revival. "_Wilt Thou not revive us again?_" It is the
next step in the returning spring. The sleeping, benumbed things will all
awake! "The flowers appear on the earth." Where grace reigns, graces
spring! Forgiveness is attended by renewal, and the wilderness begins to
"blossom like the rose."