“He opened not His mouth” (Isa. liii. 7).
How much grace it requires to bear a misunderstanding rightly, and to
receive an unkind judgment in holy sweetness! Nothing tests a Christian
character more than to have some evil thing said about him. This is the
file that soon proves whether we are electro-plate or solid gold. If we
could only know the blessings that lie hidden in our lives, we would say,
like David, when Shimei cursed him, “Let him curse; it may be the Lord
will requite me good for his cursing this day.”
Some people get easily turned aside from the grandeur of their life-work
by pursuing their own grievances and enemies, until their life gets turned
into one little petty whirl of warfare. It is like a nest of hornets. You
may disperse the hornets, but you will probably get terribly stung, and
get nothing for your pains, for even their honey is not worth a search.
God give us more of His Spirit, who, when reviled, reviled not again; but
committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.
Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself.