Chapter 11 – IN FLIGHT

Chapter 11 – IN FLIGHT

In passing from 1 Kings 18 to 1 Kings 19 we meet with a sudden and strange transition. It is as though the sun were shining brilliantly out of a clear sky, and the next moment, without any warning, black clouds draped the heavens and crashes of thunder shook the earth. The contrasts presented by these chapters are sharp and startling. At the close of the one, “the hand of the Lord was on Elijah,” as he ran before Ahab’s chariot. At the beginning of the other he is occupied with self and, “went for his life.” In the former we behold the Prophet at his best: in the latter we see him at his worst. There he was strong in faith and the helper of his people: here he is filled with fear and is the deserter of his nation. In the one he confronts the four hundred prophets of Baal undaunted: in the other he flees panic-stricken from the threats of one woman. From the mountain top he betakes himself into the wilderness, and from supplicating Jehovah that He would vindicate and glorify His great name to begging Him to take away his life. Who would have imagined such a tragic sequel!

In the startling contrasts here presented we have a striking proof of the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures. In the Bible human nature is painted in its true colors: the characters of its heroes are faithfully depicted, the sins of its noteworthy persons are frankly recorded. True, it is human to err, but equally true it is human to conceal the blemishes of those we most admire. Had the Bible been a human production, written by uninspired historians, they had magnified the virtues of the most illustrious men of their nation, and ignored their vices or if mentioned at all glossed over them and attempts made to extenuate the same. Had some human admirer chronicled the history of Elijah, his sad failure would have been omitted. The fact that it is recorded, that no effort is made to excuse it, is evidence that the characters of the Bible are painted in the colors of truth and reality, that they were not sketched by human hands, but that its historians were controlled by the Holy Spirit.

And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel (1 Kings 18:46). This is most blessed. The “hand of the Lord” is often used in Scripture to denote His power and blessing. Thus Ezra said, “the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy” (8:31). “The hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord” (Acts 11:21). This word coming in here points an instructive sequel to what was before us in 1 Kings 18:42-there we beheld the Prophet cast down on the earth in self-abasement before God-here we see Him honoring and miraculously enduing His servant. If we would have the power and blessing of God rest upon us we must take a lowly place before Him. In this instance the “hand of the Lord” communicated supernatural strength and fleetness of foot to the Prophet, so that he covered the eighteen miles so swiftly as to overtake and pass the chariot: thus did God further honor the one who had honored Him and at the same time supply Ahab with yet another evidence of Elijah’s Divine commission. This was illustrative of the Lord’s way: where there is a man who takes his place in the dust before the Most High it will soon be made apparent before others that a power beyond his own energizes him.

And he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Each detail contains an important lesson for us. The power of God resting upon Elijah did not render him careless and negligent of his own duty: he gathered up his long loose garment so that his movements might be unimpeded. And if we are to run with patience the race that is set before us we need to “lay aside every weight” (Hebrews 12:1). If we are to stand against the wiles of the Devil, we must have our “loins girt about with Truth” (Ephesians 6:14). By running “before Ahab” Elijah took the lowly place of a common footman, which should have shown the monarch that his zeal against idolatry was prompted by no disrespect for himself, but actuated only by jealousy for God. The Lord’s people are required to “honor the king” in all civil matters, and here, too, it is the duty of ministers to set their people an example. Elijah’s conduct on this occasion served as another test of Ahab’s character: if he had any respect for the Lord’s servant he would have invited him into his chariot, as the eminent Ethiopian did Philip (Acts 8:31), but it was far otherwise with this son of Belial.

Onward sped the wicked king toward Jezreel where his vile consort awaited him. The day must have been a long and trying one for Jezebel, for many hours had passed since her husband had gone forth to meet Elijah at Carmel. The peremptory command he had received from Jehovah’s servant to gather all Israel together unto that mount, and the prophets of Baal as well, intimated that the crisis had been reached. She would therefore be most anxious to know how things had gone. Doubtless she cherished the hope that her priests had triumphed and as the rain clouds blotted out the sky would attribute the welcome change to some grand intervention of Baal in response to their supplications. If so, all was well: her heart’s desire would be realized, her scheming crowned with success, the undecided Israelites would be won over to her idolatrous regime and the last vestiges of the worship of Jehovah should be stamped out. For the troublesome famine Elijah was solely to blame: for the ending thereof she and her gods should have the credit. Probably such thoughts as these occupied her mind in the interval of waiting.

And now the suspense is over: the king has arrived and hastens to make report to her. “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword” (1 Kings 19:1). The first thing which strikes us about these words is their noticeable omission: the Lord Himself was left out entirely. Nothing is said of the wonders He had wrought that day, how He had not only caused fire to come down from Heaven and consume the sacrifice and even the very stones of the altar, and how it had licked up great quantities of water in the trench around it; and how in response to the prayer of His servant, rain was sent in abundance. No, God has no place in the thoughts of the wicked, rather do they put forth their utmost efforts to banish Him from their minds. And even those who, from some form of self-interest take up with religion, and make a profession and attend the public services, yet to talk of God and His wondrous works with their wives in their homes is one of the last things we should find them doing. With the vast majority of professors, religion is like their Sunday clothes: worn that day and laid aside for the rest of the week.

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. As God is not in the thoughts of the wicked, so it is the way of unbelief to fix upon secondary causes or attribute unto the human instrument what the Lord is the doer of. It matters not whether He act in judgment or in blessing, God Himself is lost sight of and only the means He employs or the instruments He uses are seen. If a man of insatiable ambition is the Divine instrument for chastising nations laden with iniquity, that instrument becomes the object of universal hatred, but there is no humbling of the nations before the One who wields that rod. If a Whitefield or a Spurgeon is raised up to preach the Word with exceptional power and blessing, he is worshiped by the religious masses and men talk of his abilities and his converts. Thus it was with Ahab. First he ascribed the drought and famine to the Prophet-“are you he who troubles Israel?” (18:17), instead of perceiving that it was the Lord who had a controversy with the guilty nation and that he was the one mainly responsible for its condition; and now he is still occupied with what “Elijah had done.”

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. He would relate how Elijah had mocked her priests, lashed them with his biting irony, and held them up to the scorn of the people. He would describe how he had put them to confusion by his challenge, and how as if by some spell or claim had brought down fire from Heaven. He would enlarge upon the victory gained by the Tishbite, of the ecstasy of the people thereon, how they had fallen on their faces, saying “Jehovah, He is the God; Jehovah, He is the God.” That he recounted these things unto Jezebel not to convince her of her error, but rather to incense her against God’s servant is clear from his designed climax: “and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.” How this revealed once more what an awful character Ahab was: as the protracted drought with the resultant famine had not turned him unto the Lord, so this Divine mercy of sending the rain to refresh his dominion led him not to repentance. Neither Divine judgments nor Divine blessings will of themselves reclaim the unregenerate: nothing but a miracle of Sovereign grace can turn souls from the power of sin and Satan unto the living God.

It is not difficult to imagine the effect which would be produced upon the haughty, domineering and ferocious Jezebel when she heard Ahab’s report: it would so hurt her pride and fire her furious temper that nothing but the speedy dispatch of the object of her resentment could pacify it. “Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me and more also if I make not your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time” (1 Kings 19:2). If Ahab’s heart was unaffected by what had transpired on Carmel, remaining steeled against God, still less was his heathen consort softened thereby. He was sensual and materialistic, caring little about religious matters-so long as he had plenty to eat and drink, and his horses and mules were cared for-he was content. But Jezebel was of a different type: as resolute as he was weak. Crafty, unscrupulous, merciless, Ahab was but a tool in her hands, fulfilling her pleasure, and therein (as Rev. 2:20 intimates) she was a foreshadowment of the woman riding the scarlet-colored beast (Rev. 17:3). This crisis was one of gravest moment, and policy as well as indignation prompted her to act at once. If this national reformation were permitted to develop, it would overthrow what she had worked for years to establish.

So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time (1 Kings 19:2). Behold the implacable and horrible enmity against God of a soul that has been abandoned by Him. Utterly incorrigible, her heart was quite insensible of the Divine presence and power. Behold how that awful hatred expressed itself-unable to hurt Jehovah directly, her malice vents itself on His servant. It has ever been thus with those whom God has given up to a reprobate mind. Plague after plague was sent upon Egypt, yet so far from Pharaoh throwing down his weapons of rebellion, after the Lord brought His people out with a high hand, that wretch declared, “I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them” (Exo. 15:9). When the Jewish council beheld Stephen and “saw his face as it had been the face of an angel” irradiated with heavenly glory, instead of receiving his message when they heard his words, “they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth.” And like so many raging maniacs, “cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran on him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him” (Acts 7:54-58).

Beware, my reader, of resisting God and rejecting His Word lest you be abandoned by Him and He suffers your madness to hasten your destruction. The more it was manifest that God was with Elijah, the more was Jezebel exasperated against him. Now that she learned he had slain her priests she was like a lioness robbed of her cubs. Her rage knew no bounds: Elijah must be slain at once. Boastful of the morrow, swearing by her gods, she pronounced a fearful imprecation upon herself if Elijah did not meet the same end. This resolution of Jezebel’s shows the extreme hardness of her heart. It solemnly illustrates how wickedness grows on people. Sinners do not reach such fearful heights of defiance in a moment, but as conscience resists convictions, as light is continued to be rejected, the very things which should soften and humble come to harden, and make more insolent. And the more plainly God’s will is set before us the more will it work resentment in the mind and hostility in the heart-when it is but a short time until that soul is consigned to the everlasting burnings.

But see here the overruling hand of God! Instead of ordering her officers to slay the Prophet forthwith, Jezebel sent a servant to announce her sentence upon him. How often mad passions defeat their own ends, fury blinding the judgment so that prudence and caution are not exercised. Possibly she felt so sure of her prey that she feared not to announce her purpose. But future events lie not at the disposal of the creature, no matter what positions of worldly power is occupied by them. Probably she thought that Elijah was so courageous there was no likelihood of his attempting an escape: but in this she erred. How often God takes “the wise in their own craftiness” (Job 5:13) and defeats the counsels of the wicked Ahithophels (2 Samuel 15:31)! Herod had murderous designs on the infant Savior, but “being warned of God in a dream,” His parents carried Him down to Egypt (Matthew 2:12). The Jews “took counsel to kill the Apostle Paul,” but “their laying waits was known to him,” and the disciples delivered him out of their hands (Acts 9:23, 24). So here: Elijah is given warning before Jezebel wreaks her vengeance on him.

This brings us to the saddest part of the narrative. The Tishbite is notified of the queen’s determination to slay him: what was his response? He was the Lord’s servant, does he then look unto his Master for instruction? Again and again we have seen in the past how “the word of the Lord came” to him (1 Kings 17:2, 8; 18:1), telling him what to do. Will he now wait upon the Lord for the necessary guidance? Alas, instead of spreading his case before God, he took matters into his own hands; instead of waiting patiently for Him, he acts on hasty impulse, deserts the post of duty, and flees from the one who sought his destruction. “And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there” (1 Kings 19:3). Notice carefully the “when he saw that, he arose and went for his life.” His eyes were fixed on the wicked and furious queen; his mind was occupied with her power and fury, and therefore was his heart filled with terror. Faith in God is the only deliverer from carnal fear: “Behold, God is my salvation: I will trust, and not be afraid.” “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 12:2; 26:3), Elijah’s mind was no longer stayed upon Jehovah, and therefore fear took possession of him.

Hitherto Elijah had been sustained by faith’s vision of the living God, but now he lost sight of the Lord and saw only a furious woman. How many solemn warnings are recorded in Scripture of the disastrous consequences of walking by sight. “Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere” (Genesis 13:10) and made choice thereof: but the very next thing recorded of him is that he “pitched his tent toward Sodom!” The majority-report of the twelve men sent by Moses to spy out the land of Canaan was, “we saw the giants, the sons of Anak which come of the giants, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:33). In consequence of which “all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night.” Walking by sight magnifies difficulties and paralyzes spiritual activity. It was when Peter “saw the wind boisterous” that “he was afraid and began to sink” (Matthew 14:30). How striking the contrast between Elijah here and Moses, who “by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible”(Hebrews 11:27)-and nothing but the eye of faith fixed steadily upon God will enable anyone to “endure.”

And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life-not for God, nor for the good of His people-but because he thought only of self-the man who had faced the four hundred and fifty false prophets, now fled from one woman. The man who had been so faithful in the Lord’s service now deserted his post of duty, and at a time when his presence was most needed by the people if their convictions were to be strengthened and the work of reformation carried forward and firmly established. Alas, what is man! As Peter’s courage failed him in the presence of the maid, so Elijah’s strength wilted before the threats of Jezebel. Shall we exclaim, “How are the mighty fallen?” No indeed, for that would be a very carnal and erroneous conception. The truth is that “it is only as God vouchsafes His grace and Holy Spirit that any man can walk uprightly. Elijah’s conduct on this occasion shows that the spirit and courage he had previously manifested were of the Lord, and not himself-and that those who have the greatest zeal and courage for God and His truth, if left to themselves, become weak and timorous” (John Gill).

The lot of God’s people is a varied one and their case is marked by frequent change. We cannot expect that it should be otherwise while they are left in this scene, for there is nothing stable here-mutability and fluctuation characterizes everything under the sun. Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward, and the common experience of saints is no exception to this general rule. “In the world you shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). Christ plainly warned His disciples: yet He added, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” and therefore you shall share in His victory. Yet though victory is sure, we suffer many defeats along the way. We do not enjoy unbroken summer in our souls; nor is it always winter with us. Our voyage across the sea of life is similar to that encountered by mariners on the ocean: “they mount up to Heaven, they go down to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble . . . Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble and He brings them out of their distresses” (Psalm 107:26, 28).

Nor is it otherwise with God’s public servants. True, they enjoy many privileges which are not shared by the rank and file of the Lord’s people, and for these they must yet render an account. Ministers of the Gospel do not have to spend most of their time and strength amid the ungodly, toiling for their daily bread: instead they are shielded from constant contact with the wicked, and much of their time may be and should be spent in quiet study, meditation, and prayer. Moreover, God has bestowed special spiritual gifts on them: a larger measure of His Spirit, a deeper insight into His Word, and therefore they should be far better fitted to cope with the trials of life. Nevertheless, “tribulation” is also their portion while left in this Wilderness of Sin. Indwelling corruptions give them no rest day or night and the Devil makes them the special objects of his malice, ever busy seeking to disturb their peace and impair their usefulness, venting upon them the full fury of his hatred.

More may rightly be expected from the minister of the Gospel than from others. He is required to be “an example of the believers in word, in conversation, (behavior), in charity (love), in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12); “in all things showing yourself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity” (Titus 2:7). But though a “man of God,” he is a man and not an angel-he is compassed with infirmity and prone to evil. God has placed His treasure in “earthen vessels” not steel or gold-easily cracked and marred, worthless in themselves: “that,” adds the Apostle, “the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). That is, the glorious Gospel proclaimed by ministers is no invention of their brains and the blessed effects which it produces are in nowise due to their skill. They are but instruments, weak and valueless in themselves. Their message is God-given and its fruits are entirely of the Holy Spirit, so that they have no ground whatever for self-glorification, nor have those who are benefitted by their labors any reason to make heroes out of them or look up to them as a superior order of beings, who are to be regarded as little popes or gods.

The Lord is very jealous of His honor and will not share His glory with another. His people profess to believe that as a cardinal truth, yet they are very apt to forget it. They, too, are human and prone to hero worship, prone to idolatry, prone to render unto the creatures that to which the Lord alone is entitled. Hence it is they so frequently meet with disappointment and discover their beloved idol is, like themselves, made of clay. For His own people God has chosen “the foolish things of this world,” the “weak things,” the “base things” and “things which are not” (mere “nobodies”), “that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). And He has called sinful, though regenerated men, and not holy angels, to be the preachers of His Gospel, that it might fully appear that “the excellency of the power” in calling sinners out of darkness into His marvelous light lies not in them nor proceeds from them, but that He alone gives the increase to the Seed sown by them. “So their neither is he who plants (the evangelist) anything, neither he who waters (the teacher), but God” (1 Corinthians 3:7).

It is for this reason that God suffers it to appear that the best of men are but men at best. No matter how richly gifted they may be, how eminent in God’s service, how greatly honored and used of Him, let His sustaining power be withdrawn from them for a moment and it will quickly be seen that they are “earthen vessels.” No man stands any longer than he is supported by Divine grace. The most experienced saint if left to himself is immediately seen to be as weak as water and as timid as a mouse. “Man at his best estate is altogether vanity” (Psalm 39:5). Then why should it be thought a thing incredible when we read of the failings and falls of the most favored of God’s saints and servants? Noah’s drunkenness, Lot’s carnality, Abraham’s prevarications, Moses’ anger, Aaron’s jealousy, Joshua’s haste, David’s adultery, Jonah’s disobedience, Peter’s denial, Paul’s contention with Barnabas are so many illustrations of the solemn truth that “there is not a just man upon earth that does good and sins not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Sinless perfection is found in Heaven, but nowhere on earth except in the Perfect Man.

Yet let it be pointed out that the failures of these men are not recorded in Scripture for us to hide behind, as though we may use them to excuse our own infidelities. Far from it: they are set before us as so many danger signals for us to take note of, as solemn warnings for us to heed. The reading thereof should humble us, making us more distrustful of ourselves. They should impress upon our hearts the fact that our strength is found alone in the Lord, and that without Him we can do nothing. They should be translated into earnest prayer that the workings of pride and self-sufficiency may be subdued within us. They should cause us to cry constantly, “Hold You me up and I shall be safe” (Psalm 119:117). Not only so, they should wean us from undue confidence in the creatures and deliver us from expecting too much of others. They should make us diligent in prayer for our brethren in Christ, especially for our pastors, that it may please God to preserve them from everything which would dishonor His name and cause His enemies to rejoice.

The man at whose prayers the windows of Heaven had been fast closed for three and a half years, and at whose supplication they had again been opened, was no exception: he, too, was made of flesh and blood, and this was permitted to be painfully manifest. Jezebel sent a message to inform him that on the morrow he should suffer the same fate as had overtaken her prophets. “And when he saw that he arose and went for his life” (1 Kings 19:3). In the midst of his glorious triumph over the enemies of the Lord, at the very time the people needed him to lead them in the total overthrow of idolatry and the establishment of true worship, he is terrified by the queen’s threat and flees. It was “the hand of the Lord” which had brought him to Jezreel (1 Kings 18:46), and he received no Divine intimation to move from there. Surely it was both his privilege and duty to look unto his Master to protect him from Jezebel’s rage as He had before done from Ahab’s. Had he committed himself into the hands of God He had not failed him and great good had probably been accomplished if he now remained at the post where the Lord had put him.

But his eyes were no longer fixed upon God. They saw only a furious woman. The One who had miraculously fed him at the brook Cherith, who had so wondrously sustained him at the widow’s home in Zarephath and who had so signally strengthened him on Carmel is forgotten. Thinking only of himself he flees from the place of testimony. But how is this strange lapse to be accounted for? Obviously his fears were excited by the queen’s threat coming to him so unexpectedly. Was there not good reason for him now to be anticipating with great joy and exultation the cooperation of all Israel in the work of reformation? Would not the whole nation, who had cried “Jehovah, He is the God,” be deeply thankful for his prayers having procured the much needed rain? But in a moment his hope seemed to be rudely shattered by this message from the incensed queen! Had he, then, lost all faith in God to protect him? Far be it from us to so charge him: rather does it seem that he was momentarily overwhelmed, panic stricken. He gave himself no time to think: but taken completely by surprise, he acted on the spur of the moment. How that gives point to “he who believes shall not make haste” (Isaiah 28:16)!

While what has been pointed out above accounts for Elijah’s hurried action, yet it does not explain his strange lapse. It was the absence of faith which caused him to be filled with fear. But let it be stated that the exercise of faith lies not at the disposal of the believer, so that he may call it into action whenever he pleases. Not so: faith is a Divine gift and the exercise of it is solely by Divine power; and both in its bestowment and its operations God acts sovereignly. Yet though God ever acts sovereignly, yet He never acts capriciously. He afflicts not willingly, but because we give Him occasion to use the rod; He withholds grace because of our pride, withdraws comfort because of our sins. God permits His people to experience falls along the road for various reasons, yet in every instance the outward fall is preceded by some failure or other on our part and if we are to reap the full benefit from the recorded sins of such as Abraham, David, Elijah and Peter, we need to study attentively what led up to and was the occasion of them. This is generally done with Peter’s case, yet rarely so with the others.

In most instances the preceding contexts give plain intimation of the first signs of declension, as a spirit of self-confidence signally marked the approaching fall of Peter. But in the case before us the previous verses supply no clue to the eclipse of Elijah’s faith, yet the verses which follow indicate the cause of his relapse. When the Lord appeared unto him and asked, “What do you here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9), the Prophet answered, “I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your Prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away.” Does not that tell us, first, that he had been entertaining too great a regard of his own importance? Second, that he was unduly occupied with his service: “I, even I only am left”-to maintain Your cause. And third, that he was chagrined at the absence of those results he had expected? The workings of pride-his threefold “I”-choke the exercises of faith. Observe how Elijah repeated those statements (v. 14) and how God’s response seems by His very corrective to specify the disease-Elisha was appointed in his place!

God then withdrew His strength for the moment that Elijah might be seen in his native weakness. He did so righteously, for grace is promised only to the humble (James 4:6). Yet in this God acts sovereignly, for it is only by His grace that any man is kept humble. He gives more faith to one than to another, and maintains it more evenly in certain individuals. How great the contrast from Elijah’s flight was Elisha’s faith: when the king of Syria sent a great host to arrest the latter and his servant said, “alas, my master! how shall we do?” the Prophet answered, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kings 6:15, 16). When the empress Eudoxia sent a threatening message to Chrysostom, he bade her officer, “go tell her I fear nothing but sin.” When the friends of Luther earnestly begged him not to proceed to the Diet of Worms to which he had been summoned by the pope, he replied, “Though every the on the houses of that city were a devil I will not be deterred,” and he went, and God delivered him out of his enemies’ hands. Yet the infirmities of Chrysostom and Luther were manifested on other occasions.

It was his being occupied with circumstances which brought about Elijah’s sad fall. It is a dictum of the world’s philosophy that “man is the creature of his circumstances.” No doubt this is largely the case with the natural man, but it should not be true of the Christian, nor is it so while his graces remain in a healthy condition. Faith views the One who orders our circumstances, hope looks beyond the present scene, patience gives strength to endure trials, and love delights in Him whom no circumstances affect. While Elijah set the Lord before him he feared not though an host encamped against him. But when he looked upon the creature and contemplated his peril he thought more of his own safety than of God’s cause. To be occupied with circumstances is to walk by sight, and that is fatal both to our peace and spiritual prosperity. However unpleasant or desperate are our circumstances God is able to preserve us in them, as He did Daniel in the lion’s den and his companions in the fiery furnace; yes He is able to make the heart triumph over them, as witness the singing of the Apostles in the Philippian dungeon.

Oh what need have we to cry, “Lord, increase our faith,” for we are only strong and safe while exercising faith in God. If He is forgotten and His presence with us is not realized at the time when great dangers menace us, then we are certain to act in a manner unworthy of our Christian profession. It is by faith we stand (2 Corinthians 1:24), as it is through faith we are kept by the power of God unto salvation (1 Peter 1:5). If we truly set the Lord before us and contemplate Him as being at our right hand, nothing will move us, none can make us afraid; we may bid defiance to the most powerful and malignant. Yet as another has said, “But where is the faith that never staggers through unbelief? the hand that never hangs down, the knee that never trembles, the heart that never faints?” Nevertheless, the fault is ours, the blame is ours. Though it lies not in our power to strengthen faith or call it into exercise, we may weaken it and can hinder its operations. After saying, “You stand by faith,” the Apostle at once added, “Be not high-minded, but fear” (Romans 11:20)-be distrustful of self, for it is pride and self-sufficiency which stifles the breathings of faith.

Many have thought it strange when they read of the most noteworthy of Biblical saints failing in the very graces which were their strongest. Abraham is outstanding for his faith, being called “the father of all them that believe”; yet his faith broke down in Egypt when he lied to Pharaoh about his wife. We are told that, “Moses was ve