Chapter 54 of 460

Chapter 11: "The Pitcher and God's Well."

JOHN v: 39.

IN THE RUSH of the present day there has been a great multiplication of Daily Text-Books, and the fear is lest many may get into the habit of supposing that they have done their duty by their Bibles when they have caught up a text, or glanced down a page of carefully prepared text mosaic. But one might as well suppose that it were possible to sustain physical health by eating all one's meals at restaurant bars, selecting a choice dainty here or a biscuit there. Certainly the daily text is better than nothing, but it is a poor substitute for deliberate, careful study of the Word of God.

The whole Bible bears evidence of the care with which each generation fed on the Scriptures antecedent to itself. The Psalter bears witness to the value David set on the limited sacred library he possessed, for his Psalms are strongly tinctured and colored by its thoughts and phrases. Micah reappears in Isaiah, and Daniel in the Apocalypse. The Old Testament is the perpetual standard of appeal to the writers of the New, and where they do not actually quote it, it is not difficult to discover evidences of its influence on their modes of thought and expression. The Old Testament is the quarry of the New. It is no exaggeration to say that the aim of the New Testament is the unfolding and explanation of the treasures of the Old. When, therefore, we turn to our Bibles, let us remember the hands by which those precious pages have been turned, the eyes by which each expression has been scanned, and the hearts which have been taught and nourished by those sacred words. In the case of the Old Testament this vast host would of course comprise all the writers of the New, and best of all, the Son of Man Himself; in the case of the New, the entire Church of the redeemed. Let us read as an Augustine might have done, when the voice in the gardens of Tagaste whispered, Tolle, lege; or as Luther might have done, in the Augustinian convent; or as Livingstone might have done, from his worn Testament, in the heart of Africa. New though the page of your Bible may appear, fresh from the press, it is soiled by the use and wet with the tears of all the generations.

Read deliberately.-In order to keep the peace with their consciences, some read standing bolt upright in their rooms, in momentary expectation of the breakfast bell; others glance down their portion when wearied out with the day's toil and about to sleep. Where this is unavoidable, it would be unreasonable to complain, and without doubt, the miracle of the manna is repeated, by which, it is said, "they who gathered little had no lack."

But for perhaps the majority of those who read this paper there is leisure to eat; and it is with the view of helping them that these words are penned. Take time, or make time. If you have to curtail your Bible-reading or your prayer, let it be the latter; for it is less important for you to speak to God than to hear what God has to say to you. Sit quietly down in your most comfortable chair, prepared to have a good time. It seems to me a mistake to read the Bible in a kneeling or constrained position, whilst you read your favorite author ensconced in comfort. Enter into your closet, and shut your door; give time for the world's glare to pass from your eyes, and its tumult from your ears. Imitate the listener at the telephone, who shuts himself in the little cupboard, and sets himself down to talk with his unseen friend.

Read consecutively -Nothing is more irreverent to the spirit of Scripture than to read a passage here or there as the Book falls open. By all means read the Bible through. Adopt one of the many plans now in vogue. Whatever it be, mind to read the New Testament along with the Old, and perhaps spending longer over its deeper doctrinal portions than over its narratives.

Use the references.-It is of great importance to use a Bible with good marginal references. I owe more than I can tell to the habit of turning to the parallel passages, first, as suggested by the Annotated Paragraph Bible, and lately by the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. * The latter is especially valuable now that I use habitually the R. V., which, of course, is destitute of the marginal references of the editions of the A. V. There is so much to be said in favor of the use of the R. V., its freshness, accuracy, suggestive marginal notes, paragraphing, and absence of misleading headings to chapters and pages, that it is a great loss to have to supply the marginal references from elsewhere. But this lack may be amply met by the latter of the books mentioned above. After reading your portion carefully and thoughtfully through, open your Treasury and go through it again, turning to the passages indicated, and you will find almost invariably that fresh light will come to the passage already read, as Hints struck together emit sparks, and that some direct message is furnished to the soul by a passage in another part of Scripture.

*Published by Fleming H. Revell Company.

It is, of course, competent to pursue the references of an ordinary Bible without the use of the special books named; and in time it may be well to discard all such references, and to make your own. Some of the most valuable side-lights to Scripture occur to oneself after a course of years devoted to this careful comparison of scripture with scripture. At the same time, we should be reverently careful not to connect passages on account of their verbal or fanciful connections. This habit is disastrous, and diverts the mind from the intelligent study and appreciation of Scripture. There are so many obvious and necessary quotations and references that it is needless and wrong to import the fantastical and extravagant.

Study books as a whole.-Permit me, though at the risk of being counted egotistical, to tell a favorite practice. I like, especially when I am on a long journey, or during my vacation, to take an Epistle or Gospel or Prophecy, and read it over and over. Take, for instance, the First Epistle of John. You read it the first day without any special light striking you. You receive the general impression that it is about love, and that is all. You read it the second day, and the third, and these impressions are confirmed, but, in addition, you become aware that certain words are constantly recurring, which seem like stepping-stones across a brook. After some more readings, these appear as the nuclei of the treatise; and probably you will underline them, each with its own color or mark, to show their relation. In this way the object of the book is clearly defined, and the details fall into place. It is like getting a plan of the country before beginning to traverse it.

What new interest attaches to Bible study, when we discover the secret of each book, in this way, for ourselves! To have been told it by another will never be of the same value as to find it for ourselves. In this sense it is true that to those who overcome their lethargy and natural indolence, a white stone is given, and in the stone a new name, which only he who receives it knows. Be sure of this, that every book has its message, and that all its hard and difficult, rugged or stony bits, its seeming contradictions to the rest of Scripture, will yield when the drift of the whole is apprehended. We must interpret the parts by the purpose of the whole.

Read the Bible topically -There are some who take a word and study it throughout the Bible, but it is difficult to do this unless you are sure that the original word is always rendered by the same words in the English version, otherwise you will get into endless confusion. Take the word perfect, for instance, which stands for three or four Greek words, one or two of which have nothing to do with moral purity and beauty. If you wish to study words, you must use a Hebrew or Greek Concordance, or its equivalent in English; then it is extremely interesting and instructive to trace the development of the meaning, the increased connotation of a word, like Faith, or Love, or Repentance.

It is, however, even better to take a subject and trace it through the Bible. Nothing so convinces one of the homogeneity of the Bible as this. Though written by so many different authors, over so great a lapse of time, it is essentially one Book, the product of one informing mind, the Word of God. Take, for instance, the overthrow of Satan, as shadowed forth in the opening chapters. There are constant references made to the progress of the great fight, until we reach the casting of the devil into the great pit of the Apocalypse, and these are the staples of the chain. The links are found in nearly every page, which tells of the perpetual feud between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, between the armies that follow the Lamb on white horses and the principalities and powers of darkness. Traces of it appear in Psalm xci., with its references to lion and dragon; in Luke x., with our Lord's assurance that His disciples should tread on all the power of the enemy; and in Ephesians i. and vi., where allusion is made to Christ's triumphant ascension above all the dark powers. What a flood of light such a study casts on the whole course of Revelation!

Read the Bible with pen in hand.-Mark the words that call to one another in the same chapter, draw lines of connection between parallel phrases, insert your own references, underscore your favorite texts, put dates or names against verses which have a history attached to them. And when one Bible is worn out, be careful not to transfer your markings to another, lest your views become stereotyped, and you always read your Bible under the same aspect. But begin to make another set of references and markings. Thus we should wear our Bibles out at least as often as we change our skins. Small pens making but a faint mark are provided for this purpose.

Read the Bible devotionally.-It is a bush in which the Divine fire is burning, take the shoes from off your feet. It is a shrine where the Ark of God is resting, draw near with reverence. There is a great danger lest we should multiply maps, and commentaries, and illustrative books of oriental travel, to the loss of the devotional attitude. We should approach the Bible, as Jesus must have done in those thirty years of meditation and seclusion. Let not those meddle with criticism who have not time to give themselves to the study of the whole question. Our best practical proof that the Bible is inspired is by its effect on us in our highest moods. Let us look to it for the stimulus and culture of our best life. This makes it the god of Books to us. And let us open it with the ancient prayer, "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law."

Let me urge on my readers the repeated reading of the longest Psalm, cxix. It is of inestimable benefit in inculcating that frame of mind which is necessary when we enter the threshold of this ancient fane, whose walls were built by reverent hands long cold, whose windows admit the light of eternity, whose storied heights ring ever with the notes of the Divine voice. Of that Psalm, the perpetual refrain is, as it should be of our life, Teach me Thy statutes.

Read the Bible practically.-Whatever yon read, turn forthwith to practice. We have only as much truth as we do. It is not the hearer, but the doer, who is blessed. It is one of the catch-words of Deuteronomy, "Hearken and Do." Only as we hear the words of Christ, and do them, shall we be like a house founded on a rock that shall stand immovable against the burst of the storm.

I have often noticed people in a convention taking down every word most diligently, and at the close saying complacently, "I have got it all here." What have they got? Only the signs, the counters, the embodiment of truth; but not the truth itself. That is theirs only so far as they live up to what they have heard. And it is better to do one thing for God because He has bidden us, than to cram a hundred into our minds as though for a competitive examination.

Each day read your chapter or passage with the idea that you are receiving your marching-orders, that there is some new service to render, some new duty to perform, some new virtue to acquire. Let the attitude of your soul be indicated by Samuel's word, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." When you hear, do. What you have been taught, embody in action. Take the precepts of the Bible as requiring literal and immediate obedience. Let the Spirit guide you into all truth; the onward and upward stepping of obedience, beneath His leading, will be the best commentary on what is difficult and obscure. So shall you climb to the Pisgah height, where all the realms of Bible truth to the utmost sea shall lie apparent to your gaze.

END

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