七月十九日
耶和华我们神将他的荣光和他的大能显给我们看。（申5：24）
神所设计的一切工作就是要彰显他的荣耀，若不是爲了这个目的，他就当作是毫无价值的事。但神的荣耀如何能向我们这些堕落的人显现呢？人的眼睛是高傲的，他只看到自己的尊贵，重视自己的力量，因此没有资格看神的荣耀。很清楚的，自己必须让开，然后神才能被高举；他常使他的民经过艰难困苦就是爲了这个原因，好叫人知道自己的愚妄和软弱。当神拯救他们的时候，才能看到神的威能。
基督徒的生活若是在一条平坦的道路上，也不能多看到神的荣耀。因爲他没有倒空自己的机会，因此不易得神丰满的启示。在小溪或浅河里航行的人，是不会认识平静风浪的神的，但那“在大水中经理事务的”，“他们看见耶和华的作爲，幷他在深水中的奇事。”在困苦、贫穷、迷或和责备的汪洋巨浪里，我们才知道耶和华的作爲，因爲那时我们才感到人的渺小。那末当我们行经崎岖的道路时，要感谢神，因爲这样你才能经验到神的伟大和慈爱。你的困难使你多多认识神，这是别的方法所办不到的：神使你在经过灾难的时候也能使磐石裂开，像他向他的仆人摩西所行的，那时你就可以看到他的荣耀。当你在黑暗和贫困中的时候要赞美神，因爲那或许就是兴盛的起头，你也必因与神相交而反映出他的荣耀来。
July 19
“The Lord our God hath shewed us His glory.”
— Deuteronomy 5:24
God’s great design in
all His works is the manifestation of His own glory. Any aim less than this
were unworthy of Himself. But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such
fallen creatures as we are? Man’s eye is not single, he has ever a side glance
towards his own honour, has too high an estimate of his own powers, and so is
not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. It is clear, then, that self
must stand out of the way, that there may be room for God to be exalted; and
this is the reason why He bringeth His people ofttimes into straits and
difficulties, that, being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they
may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when He comes forth to work their
deliverance. He whose life is one even and smooth path, will see but little of
the glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying, and hence,
but little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God. They who
navigate little streams and shallow creeks, know but little of the God of
tempests; but they who “do business in great waters,” these see His
“wonders in the deep.” Among the huge Atlantic-waves of bereavement,
poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah, because we
feel the littleness of man. Thank God, then, if you have been led by a rough
road: it is this which has given you your experience of God’s greatness and
lovingkindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge to
be gained by no other means: your trials have been the cleft of the rock in
which Jehovah has set you, as He did His servant Moses, that you might behold
His glory as it passed by. Praise God that you have not been left to the
darkness and ignorance which continued prosperity might have involved, but that
in the great fight of affliction, you have been capacitated for the outshinings
of His glory in His wonderful dealings with you.
