Divine Prescription
21
Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and
make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a
spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
This is the special work now before us. All our praying and absti-
nence from food will avail nothing unless we resolutely lay hold of
this work. Sacred obligations are resting upon us. Our duty is plainly
stated. The Lord has spoken to us by His prophet. The thoughts of the
Lord and His ways are not what blind, selfish mortals believe they are
or wish them to be. The Lord looks on the heart. If selfishness dwells
there, He knows it. We may seek to conceal our true character from
our brethren and sisters, but God knows. Nothing can be hid from
Him.
The fast which God can accept is described. It is to deal thy bread
to the hungry and to bring the poor which are cast out to thy house.
Wait not for them to come to you. The labor rests not on them to hunt
you up and entreat of you a home for themselves. You are to search
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for them and bring them to your house. You are to draw out your soul
after them. You are with one hand to reach up and by faith take hold
of the mighty arm which brings salvation, while with the other hand
of love you reach the oppressed and relieve them. It is impossible for
you to fasten upon the arm of God with one hand while the other is
employed in ministering to your own pleasure.
If you engage in this work of mercy and love, will the work prove
too hard for you? Will you fail and be crushed under the burden, and
your family be deprived of your assistance and influence? Oh, no;
God has carefully removed all doubts upon this question, by a pledge
to you on condition of your obedience. This promise covers all that
the most exacting, the most hesitating, could crave. “Then shall thy
light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth
speedily.” Only believe that He is faithful that hath promised. God can
renew the physical strength. And more, He says He will do it. And
the promise does not end here. “Thy righteousness shall go before
thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.” God will build a
fortification around thee. The promise does not stop even here. “Then
shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall
say, Here I am.” If ye put down oppression and remove the speaking
of vanity, if ye draw out your soul to the hungry, “then shall thy light
rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord