"Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows
thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing
thereof."--PSALM 65:10.
THOUGH other seasons excel in fulness, spring must always bear the palm
for freshness and beauty. We thank God when the harvest hours draw near,
and the golden grain invites the sickle, but we ought equally to thank
him for the rougher days of spring, for these prepare the harvest. April
showers are mothers of the sweet May flowers, and the wet and cold of
winter are the parents of the splendor of summer. God blesses the
springing thereof, or else it could not be said, "Thou crownest the year
with thy goodness." There is as much necessity for divine benediction in
spring as for heavenly bounty in summer; and, therefore, we should
praise God all the year round.
Spiritual spring is a very blessed season in a church. Then we see
youthful piety developed, and on every hand we hear the joyful cry of
those who say, "We have found the Lord." Our sons are springing up as
the grass and as willows by the water-courses. We hold up our hands in
glad astonishment and cry, "Who are these that fly as a cloud and as
doves to their windows?" In the revival days of a Church, when God is
blessing her with many conversions, she has great cause to rejoice in
God and to sing, "Thou blessest the springing thereof."
I intend to take the text in reference to individual cases. There is a
time of springing of grace, when it is just in its bud, just breaking
through the dull cold earth of unregenerate nature. I desire to talk a
little about that, and concerning the blessing which the Lord grants to
the green blade of new-born godliness, to those who are beginning to
hope in the Lord.
I. First, I shall have a little to say about THE WORK PREVIOUS TO THE
SPRINGING THEREOF.
It appears from the text that there is work for God alone to do before
the springing comes, and we know that there is work for God to do
through us as well.
_There is work for us to do._ Before there can be a springing up in the
soul of any, there must be _ploughing_, harrowing, and sowing. There
must be a ploughing, and we do not expect that as soon as ever we plough
we shall reap the sheaves. Blessed be God, in many cases, the reaper
overtakes the ploughman, but we must not always expect it. In some
hearts God is long in preparing the soul by conviction: the law with its
ten black horses drags the ploughshare of conviction up and down the
soul till there is no one part of it left unfurrowed. Conviction goes
deeper than any plough to the very core and centre of the spirit, till
the spirit is wounded. The ploughers make deep furrows indeed when God
puts his hand to the work: the soil of the heart is broken in pieces in
the presence of the Most High.
Then comes the _sowing_. Before there can be a springing up it is
certain that there must be something put into the ground, so that after
the preacher has used the plough of the law, he applies to his Master
for the seed-basket of the gospel. Gospel promises, gospel doctrines,
especially a clear exposition of free grace and the atonement, these are
the handfuls of corn which we scatter broadcast. Some of the grain falls
on the highway, and is lost; but other handfuls fall where the plough
has been, and there abide.
Then comes the _harrowing_ work. We do not expect to sow seed and then
leave it: the gospel has to be prayed over. The prayer of the preacher
and the prayer of the Church make up God's harrow to rake in the seed
after it is scattered, and so it is covered up within the clods of the
soul, and is hidden in the heart of the hearer.
Now there is a reason why I dwell upon this, namely, that I may exhort
my dear brethren who have not seen success, not to give up the work, but
to hope that they have been doing the ploughing, and sowing, and
harrowing work, and that the harvest is to come. I mention this for yet
another reason, and that is, by way of warning to those who expect to
have a harvest without this preparatory work. I do not believe that much
good will come from attempts at sudden revivals made without previous
prayerful labor. A revival to be permanent must be a matter of growth,
and the result of much holy effort, longing, pleading, and watching. The
servant of God is to preach the gospel whether men are prepared for it
or not; but in order to large success, depend upon it there is a
preparedness necessary among the hearers. Upon some hearts warm earnest
preaching drops like an unusual thing which startles but does not
convince; while in other congregations, where good gospel preaching has
long been the rule, and much prayer has been offered, the words fall
into the hearers' souls and bring forth speedy fruit. We must not expect
to have results without work. There is no hope of a church having an
extensive revival in its midst unless there is continued and importunate
waiting upon God, together with earnest laboring, intense anxiety, and
hopeful expectation.
_But there is also a work to be done which is beyond our power._ After
ploughing, sowing, and harrowing, there must come the shower from
heaven. "Thou visitest the earth and waterest it," says the Psalmist. In
vain are all our efforts unless God shall bless us with the rain of his
Holy Spirit's influence. O Holy Spirit! thou, and thou alone, workest
wonders in the human heart, and thou comest from the Father and the Son
to do the Father's purposes, and to glorify the Son.
Three effects are spoken of. First, we are told _he waters the ridges_.
As the ridges of the field become well saturated through and through
with the abundant rain, so God sends his Holy Spirit till the whole
heart of man is moved and influenced by his divine operations. The
understanding is enlightened, the conscience is quickened, the will is
controlled, the affections are inflamed; all these powers, which I may
call the ridges of the heart, come under the divine working. It is ours
to deal with men as men, and bring to bear upon them gospel truth, and
to set before them motives that are suitable to move rational creatures;
but, after all, it is the rain from on high which alone can water the
ridges: there is no hope of the heart being savingly affected except by
divine operations.
Next, it is added, "_Thou settlest the furrows_," by which some think
it is meant that the furrows are drenched with water. Others think there
is an allusion here to the beating down of the earth by heavy rain till
the ridges become flat, and by the soaking of the water are settled into
a more compact mass. Certain it is that the influences of God's Spirit
have a humbling and settling effect upon a man. He was unsettled once
like the earth that is dry and crumbly, and blown about and carried away
with every wind of doctrine; but as the earth when soaked with wet is
compacted and knit together, so the heart becomes solid and serious
under the power of the Spirit. As the high parts of the ridge are beaten
down into the furrows, so the lofty ideas, the grand schemes, and carnal
boastings of the heart begin to level down, when the Holy Spirit comes
to work upon the soul. Genuine humility is a very gracious fruit of the
Spirit. To be broken in heart is the best means of preparing the soul
for Jesus. "A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise." Brethren, always be thankful when you see high thoughts of man
brought down; this settling the furrows is a very gracious preparatory
work of grace.
Yet again, it is added, "_Thou makest it soft with showers_." Man's
heart is naturally hardened against the gospel; like the Eastern soil,
it is hard as iron if there be no gracious rain. How sweetly and
effectively does the Spirit of God soften the man through and through!
He is no longer towards the Word what he used to be: he feels
everything, whereas once he felt nothing. The rock flows with water; the
heart is dissolved in tenderness, the eyes are melted into tears.
All this is God's work. I have said already that God works through us,
but still it is God's immediate work to send down the rain of his grace
from on high. Perhaps he is at work upon some of you, though as yet
there is no springing up of spiritual life in your souls. Though your
condition is still a sad one, we will hope for you that ere long there
shall be seen the living seed of grace sending up its tender green shoot
above the soil, and may the Lord bless the springing thereof.
II. In the second place, let us deliver A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE
SPRINGING THEREOF.
After the operations of the Holy Spirit have been quietly going on for a
certain season as pleaseth the great Master and Husbandman, then there
are signs of grace. Remember the apostle's words, "First the blade, then
the ear, then the full corn in the ear." Some of our friends are greatly
disturbed because they cannot see the full corn in the ear in
themselves. They suppose that, if they were the subjects of a divine
work, they would be precisely like certain advanced Christians with whom
it is their privilege to commune, or of whom they may have read in
biographies. Beloved, this is a very great mistake. When first grace
enters the heart, it is not a great tree covering with its shadow whole
acres, but it is the least of all seeds, like a grain of mustard seed.
When it first rises upon the soul, it is not the sun shining at high
noon, but it is the first dim ray of dawn. Are you so simple as to
expect the harvest before you have passed through the springing-time? I
shall hope that by a very brief description of the earliest stage of
Christian experience you may be led to say, "I have gone as far as
that," and then I hope you may be able to take the comfort of the text
to yourselves: "Thou blessest the springing thereof."
What then is the springing up of piety in the heart? We think it is
first seen in _sincerely earnest desires after salvation_. The man is
not saved, in his own apprehension, but he longs to be. That which was
once a matter of indifference is now a subject of intense concern. Once
he despised Christians, and thought them needlessly earnest; he thought
religion a mere trifle, and he looked upon the things of time and sense
as the only substantial matters; but now how changed he is! He envies
the meanest Christian, and would change places with the poorest believer
if he might but be able to read his title clear to mansions in the
skies. Now worldly things have lost dominion over him, and spiritual
things are uppermost. Once with the unthinking many, he cried, "Who will
show us any good?" but now he cries, "Lord, lift thou up the light of
thy countenance upon me." Once it was the corn and the wine to which he
looked for comfort, but now he looks to God alone. His rock of refuge
must be God, for he finds no comfort elsewhere. His holy desires, which
he had years ago, were like smoke from the chimney, soon blown away; but
now his longings are permanent, though not always operative to the same
degree. At times these desires amount to a hungering and a thirsting
after righteousness, and yet he is not satisfied with these desires, but
wishes for a still more anxious longing after heavenly things. These
desires are among the first springings of divine life in the soul.
"The springing thereof" shows itself next in _prayer_. It _is_ prayer
now. Once it was the mocking of God with holy sounds unattended by the
heart; but now, though the prayer is such that he would not like a human
ear to hear him, yet God approves it, for it is the talking of a spirit
to a Spirit, and not the muttering of lips to an unknown God. His
prayers, perhaps, are not very long: they do not amount to more than
this, "Oh!" "Ah!" "Would to God!" "Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner!"
and such-like short ejaculations; but, then, they _are_ prayers. "Behold
he prayeth," does not refer to a long prayer; it is quite as sure a
proof of spiritual life within, if it only refers to a sigh or to a
tear. These "groanings that cannot be uttered," are among "the
springings thereof."
There will also be manifest _a hearty love for the means of grace_, and
the house of God. The Bible, long unread, which was thought to be of
little more use than an old almanac, is now treated with great
consideration; and though the reader finds little in it that comforts
him just now, and much that alarms him, yet he feels that it is the book
for him, and he turns to its pages with hope. When he goes up to God's
house, he listens eagerly, hoping that there may be a message for him.
Before, he attended worship as a sort of pious necessity incumbent upon
all respectable people; but now he goes up to God's house that he may
find the Saviour. Once there was no more religion in him than in the
door which turns upon its hinges; but now he enters the house praying,
"Lord, meet with my soul," and if he gets no blessing, he goes away
sighing, "O that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even
to his seat." This is one of the blessed signs of "the springing
thereof."
Yet more cheering is another, namely, that the soul in this state has
_faith in Jesus Christ_, at least in some degree. It is not a faith
which brings great joy and peace, but still it is a faith which keeps
the heart from despair, and prevents its sinking under a sense of sin.
I have known the time when I do not believe any man living could see
faith in me, and when I could scarcely perceive any in myself, and yet I
was bold to say, with Peter, "Lord, thou knowest all things, _thou_
knowest that I love thee." What man cannot see, Christ can see. Many
people have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but they are so much engaged
in looking at it that they do not see it. If they would look to Christ
and not to their own faith, they would not only see Christ but see their
own faith too; but they measure their faith, and it seems so little when
they contrast it with the faith of full-grown Christians, that they fear
it is not faith at all. Oh, little one, if thou hast faith enough to
receive Christ, remember the promise, "To as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God." Poor, simple,
weak-hearted, and troubled one, look to Jesus and answer, Can such a
Saviour suffer in vain? Can such an atonement be offered in vain? Canst
thou trust him, and yet be cast away? It cannot be. It never was in the
Saviour's heart to shake off one that did cling to his arm. However
feeble the faith, he blesses "the springing thereof." The difficulty
raises partly from misapprehension and partly from want of confidence in
God. I say misapprehension: now if like some Londoners you had never
seen corn when it is green, you would cry out, "What! Do you say that
yonder green stuff is wheat?" "Yes," the farmer says, "that is wheat."
You look at it again and you reply, "Why, man alive, that is nothing but
grass. You do not mean to tell me that this grassy stuff will ever
produce a loaf of bread such as I see in the baker's window; I cannot
conceive it." No, you could not conceive it, but when you get
accustomed to it, it is not at all wonderful to see the wheat go through
certain stages; first the blade, then the ear, and afterwards the full
corn in the ear. Some of you have never seen growing grace, and do not
know anything about it. When you are newly converted you meet with
Christians who are like ripe golden ears, and you say, "I am not like
them." True, you are no more like them than that grassy stuff in the
furrows is like full-grown wheat; but you will grow like them one of
these days. You must expect to go through the blade period before you
get to the ear period, and in the ear period you will have doubts
whether you will ever come to the full corn in the ear; but you will
arrive at perfection in due time. Thank God that you are in Christ at
all. Whether I have much faith or little faith, whether I can do much
for Christ or little for Christ, is not the first question; I am saved,
not on account of what I am, but on account of what Jesus Christ is; and
if I am trusting to him, however little in Israel I may be, I am as safe
as the brightest of the saints.
I have said, however, that mixed with misapprehension there is a great
deal of unbelief. I cannot put it all down to an ignorance that may be
forgiven: for there is sinful unbelief too. O sinner, why do you not
trust Jesus Christ? Poor, quickened, awakened conscience, God gives you
his word that he who trusts in Christ is not condemned, and yet you are
afraid that you are condemned! This is to give God the lie! Be ashamed
and confounded that you should ever have been guilty of doubting the
veracity of God. All your other sins do not grieve Christ so much as the
sin of thinking that he is unwilling to forgive you, or the sin of
suspecting that if you trust him he will cast you away. Do not slander
his gracious character. Do not cast a slur upon the generosity of his
tender heart. He saith, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out." Come in the faith of his promise, and he will receive you just
now.