He will
not hastily rebel: but neither will he truckle basely and cowardly
to the ways of this wicked world. For Christ the Lord hates those
ways, and has judged them, and doomed them to destruction; and he
reigns, and will reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
SERMON XVI.--TERROR BY NIGHT
(Preached in Lent.)
PSALM xci. 5.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night.
You may see, if you will read your Bible, that the night is spoken of
in the Old Testament much as we speak of it now, as a beautiful and
holy thing. The old Jews were not afraid of any terror by night.
They rejoiced to consider the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the
moon and the stars, which he had ordained. They looked on night, as
we do, as a blessed time of rest and peace for men, in which the
beasts of the forest seek their meat from God, while all things are
springing and growing, man knows not how, under the sleepless eye of
a good and loving Creator.
But, on the other hand, you may remark that St. Paul, in his
Epistles, speaks of night in a very different tone. He is always
opposing night to day, and darkness to light; as if darkness was evil
in itself, and a pattern of all evil in men's souls. And St. Paul
knew what he was saying, and knew how to say it; for he spoke by the
Holy Spirit of God.
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