A Homily for Humble Folks

A Homily for Humble Folks

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 27, 1890,

BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 13, 1890.

"Surely I am more stupid than any man, and have not the understanding
of a man." Proverbs 30:2.

SOMETIMES it is necessary for a speaker to refer to himself and he may
feel it necessary to do so in a way peculiar to the occasion. When
Elihu addressed himself to Job and the three wise men, he commended
himself to them saying, "I am full of matter, the spirit within me
constrains me." But when Agur instructed his two disciples, Ithiel and
Ucal, he spoke in the lowliest terms of himself and declared that he
was "more stupid than any man."

Wisdom is justified of her children. Neither of these men was to blame
for his opening words to his hearers. Elihu was a young man talking to
elderly men of great note for learning–he saw that they had blundered
terribly–he felt convinced that he had the right view of the matter
under discussion, but he thought it discreet to introduce himself by
modestly stating the reasons why he thought he should be patiently
heard. Agur was probably a man of years and honor, and possibly his two
young friends looked up to him more than was necessary and therefore
his principal endeavor was to wean them from undue confidence in
himself. He passed the gravest censure upon himself so that his hearers
might not suffer their faith to stand in the wisdom of men.

I can suppose that both Elihu and Agur were equally humble–the one so
modest that he felt that he needed to commend himself to gain a
hearing–and the other so lowly that he feared the hearing he should
win would place his personal influence in too high a place. But did
Agur really mean all he said? I cannot doubt it. Forcible expressions
are not always to be understood in their strictest sense, yet I have no
doubt Agur meant to describe himself as he felt himself to be apart
from the Grace of God. Or better and more likely, he felt thus stupid
and foolish after he had been enlightened by the Spirit of God.

One mark of a man's true wisdom is his knowledge of his ignorance. Have
you ever noticed how the clean heart always mourns its uncleanness–and
the wise man always laments his folly? It needs holiness to detect our
own unholiness and it needs wisdom to discover our own folly. When a
man talks of his own cleanness, his very lips are foul with pride–and
when a man boasts of his wisdom, he proclaims his folly with trumpet
sound! Because God had taught Agur much, he felt that he knew but
little.

Especially I think the truth of our text relates to one particular line
of things. This man was a naturalist. We have nothing of his save this
chapter, but his allusions to natural history all through it are
exceedingly abundant. He was an instructed scientist, but he felt that
he could not, by searching, find out God, nor fashion an idea of Him
from his own thoughts. When he heard of the great discoveries of those
who judged themselves to be superior persons, he disowned such wisdom
as theirs. Other men with their great understanding might be fishing up
pearls of truth from the sea–as for himself he knew nothing but that
which he found in God's Word.

He had none of that boasted understanding which climbed the heavens,
bound the winds and swathed the sea and so discovered the sacred
name–he was content with Revelation and felt that "every Word of God
is pure." Not in any earthly school learned he the knowledge of the
Holy. All that he knew he had been taught by God's Book. He had in
thought climbed to Heaven and come down again–he had listened to the
speech of winds, waves and mountains–but he protested that in all this
he had not discovered God's name nor His Son's name by his own
understanding. All his light had come through the Lord's own Word–and
he shrewdly gave this caution to those who thought themselves

supremely wise above what is written–"Add you not unto His Words, lest
He reprove you and you be found a liar." Philosophy had failed him and
Revelation was his ONLY confidence.

As for himself, he did not claim that degree of perception and
profundity which enabled him to think out God, but he went to God
Himself and learned from Him, first hand, through His revealed Wisdom.
This I take to be his meaning but I shall not use the text in that way
this morning. Here was a man, who, whatever he really was, held himself
in his own opinion and judgment to be an inferior person–and yet,
nevertheless–was a firm believer in his God. He was not only a firm
believer, but he was an earnest student of the sacred Oracles. All the
more because of his ignorance he pressed on to learn more and more of
God.

Nor was this all, he was a willing worker, for he spoke prophetically
in the name of the Lord. Nor do we even end here, for from this short
writing it is clear that he was a joyful truster in God. Brutish as he
judged himself to be, he rose into supreme content at every thought of
God. Those four points I am going to handle at this time, as the Lord
may help me by His Holy Spirit.

I. The first is this–A SENSE OF INFERIORITY MUST NOT KEEP US BACK FROM
FAITH IN GOD. I will suppose that someone here is saying, "Surely I am
more stupid than any man and have not the understanding of a man." Our
text brings before us a wise man who said this of himself and yet he
had firm faith in God! If we have to say what Agur said, let us also
trust as Agur did! If only wise men might put their trust in God, what
would become of nine out of 10 of us? I hope there is nobody here so
foolish as to say, "I could trust in God if I were a man of mark." Ah,
Sirs! To be a man of mark is no help in the matter of faith!

I hope no one is so silly as to say, "If I were possessed of great
riches I could, then, come to Jesus." "How hardly shall they that have
riches enter into the kingdom of God!" Nor may you say, "If I had great
gifts I could trust in the Lord Christ." Talents involve responsibility
but they do not help towards salvation. Gifts may even drag a man
down–only Divine Grace can lift him up. The gifted man may be so full
of pride that he may never submit himself to the free-Grace Gospel of
our Lord Jesus.

I shall deal with more sensible objections than these. There are some
who seem as if they cannot trust Christ and believe in God because they
cannot go with other men in their heights–and there are others,
strange to say–who have the same difficulty because they cannot follow
others into their depths. I will have a word, first, with those who
say, "We cannot hope to be saved because we cannot reach the heights of
other men." You have marked the holy conduct of certain godly men and,
placing your own imperfections side by side with their excellences, you
have not only been humbled but greatly discouraged. You have concluded
that you could be saved if you were like these gracious men, but since
you fall so far short of their noble character you must be lost.

You have seen them in sickness and marked their patience and joy–and
their acquiescence in the Divine will and you have been greatly
humbled, which was well–but you have also fallen into unbelief–which
is not well. Since you cannot play the man under fire as these
champions do, you fear that you may not hope for eternal life.
Moreover, you have listened to their prayers–you have been edified,
you have been excited–and you have also been driven to tremble. Seeing
Jacob in his wrestling at Jabbok, you have cried, "Would God I could
wrestle like that man! But, as I cannot, woe is me!"

You have noticed Daniel go to his chamber and cry unto his God three
times a day and then you have remembered your own forgetfulness and
wandering thoughts in the matter of prayer–and you have concluded that
you could have no hope of pleading at the Throne of Grace. Other
aspects of the piety of Believers have also discouraged you. To see how
they walk with God; how their speech is perfumed with love to Jesus;
how their manner of life is above that of the world–all this has made
you fear that you could never enter into their heritage. These gracious
men seem so far above you that you cry, "Surely I am more stupid than
any man."

You have noticed, also, their usefulness–how many souls they have
brought to Christ. How God has helped them to guide the bewildered and
to instruct the ignorant. And then you have felt that it was natural
that such men should have confidence towards God–but as for yourself,
what is the use of you? You have felt good for nothing in the presence
of persons privileged to do so much for God and men. You have been even
more cast down when you have heard them talk of their high joys. The
other day you met with one who wore Heaven on his face and you said to
yourself, "I wish I knew such joy as beams in this man's countenance."

You heard your minister describe the deep peace and holy calm which
come with full assurance of faith and every word he spoke about his own
joy in the Lord was like a dagger in your heart for you felt that you
could not speak of such a blissful experience. You were never on the
top of Tabor. You never beheld the transfigured Lord. You are afraid to
trust God because you cannot compare with other men in their heights.

Carefully notice two or three little points which I will mention.
First, remember that you see these good people at their best. You have
not seen their seamy side. Perhaps they have not told you of how, at
times, their feet were almost gone, their steps had well-near slipped.
You see their days and not their nights! I think it is a very sweet
trait in your character that you do so. In this you differ from the
wicked world. The ungodly always notice the bad points in the
saints–they eat up the sins of God's people as they eat bread–it is
nourishment to them. As for you, poor troubled one, you observe only
the virtues of Believers and you overlook their shortcomings.

Surely God has worked a change in you! In this there is some ground of
hope–the Lord, who has taken away your envy, malice and all
uncharitableness–will remove the rest of your sins if you bring them
before Him in repentant faith! Remember, also, that you now see men who
have faith in God and you see in them the result of that faith. Do not
imagine that their Graces existed before their faith. If you have not
the result of faith before, you have faith itself–do not be
astonished–they had not these excellences before they believed in
Jesus!

Some of the brightest of them were once the blackest of sinners. "Such
were some of you," said Paul–"but you are washed." Can it be a wise
thing to say, "I have not those fruits of the Spirit and therefore I
will not cultivate the tree of faith from which they grow"? No, rather
say, "The Lord, who made these men what they are, can make me what they
are. He that could beautify them with righteousness can also hang my
neck with the jewels of holiness." Do you not think it would be very
great folly on your part if you should refrain from believing in the
Lord Jesus on the ground that you had greater need to seek Him than
other men? Because you lack these things which you see in the saints
and know that you can only have them of the Lord by faith–is that a
reason why you should not go to God in faith? This is a grand argument
for going at once!

Should a man plead his poverty as a reason why he should not ask for
alms? Is nakedness a reason for refusing to be dressed? Is hunger a
motive for rejecting food? Is sickness a motive for shutting out the
physician? I argue in the opposite way! Your urgent need is the
strongest reason why you should claim of the Lord, by faith, these
promises which He has made to needy souls! If you are more stupid than
any man, go to the Lord, that He may instruct you! The greater your
need, the greater opportunity you have of glorifying God by believing
in Him for an all-sufficient supply. If you lack all these lovely and
necessary things which you so much admire in others, it is a sad and
grievous need–but if you can believe that the Lord of Mercy can and
will give you all–you will do great honor to His name.

Is it not written, "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God"? If you
were a little sinner and had little needs, God could only be a little
merciful and give you a little supply–but the more stupid you are and
the less of true understanding you have–the greater opportunity have
you of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ by believing in Him for the
great things which you evidently need. If you are the greatest fool
that ever lived you will give to Christ all the more honor when you
believe that He can make you wise unto salvation! God grant that the
heights to which other men reach may never keep you back from faith in
God but may they, rather, urge you on to believe great things of God!

But, further, I said–and perhaps I surprised you–that the depths of
other men have often kept tremblers from a simple faith in God. I know
many who say, "I cannot feel as others feel–my heart is hard and
insensible and when I listen to what Believers tell me of their sharp
distresses, I fear that I cannot be saved–for into these deep places I
have never gone." These depths are of many kinds but the mention of one
or two may suffice. Some Believers have been brought to the Lord
through fearful conviction of sin–conviction most overwhelming–they
seem to have found their way to Heaven round by the brink of Hell.

"Ah!" you say, "I was never thus shaken over the Pit." Another, after
he has been converted, experiences awful conflicts–from day to day he
struggles with inbred corruptions and therefore he goes sighing and
crying to Heaven. There is, among the best of men, an amount of sorrow
which I need not here dwell upon. Plowing, harrowing, breaking up is
the lot of the best of soils. Saints go through fire and through water
in their spiritual march to the land of bliss. Perhaps some of you
escape these agonies and know but little of the grinding process. Will
you therefore fear to believe

because you think you are more unfeeling than other men? Will you
refuse the cup of Life because God has not infused all His bitters into
it?

Listen to me, you that are so readily cast down! Some of these depths
you never need wish to know, for they would not be to your advantage,
but to your loss! The dark side of much that is called "Christian
experience" is not the work of the Holy Spirit at all! In many it is
occasioned by a natural crabby disposition–some are so hard that God
must use iron wedges with them before their hearts will be reached.
There are men with such proud spirits that they need to be brought down
to feed swine before they will arise and go to their Father! Others are
obstinate and wear a brow of brass–and these must be made faint with
labor before they will yield.

In many instances the mental distress which attends the work of the
Spirit is produced by sickness of body–it is not repentance but
indigestion or some other evil agency depressing the spirits. A
sluggish liver will produce most of those fearsome forebodings which we
are so ready to regard as spiritual emotions! There is such a blending
of the physical with the mental that it is hard to name our feelings.
All the experience of a Christian man is not Christian experience. The
troubled man experiences a good deal not because he is a Christian, but
because he is a man–a sickly man–a man inclined to melancholy. Why
will you envy such a person? Do you want to feel his despondency? Do
you really desire disease? Do you think you could trust God better if
you had a morbid mind and a disordered body?

What nonsense! I do not admire your taste. I think you are very
foolish. In multitudes of instances the strange depressions which
befall some excellent people are the result of external trouble, of
grinding poverty, of frequent bereavements or of excessive labor. These
things may greatly intensify the bitterness of spiritual distress. Do
you desire affliction? Do you really think that poverty or bankruptcy
would help you to believe in God? Give some men a holiday by the sea
and their dark thoughts vanish! Were they ever desirable? In desiring
what would only grieve you, you remind me of a child that would always
cry until its mother said, "What? Do you cry for nothing? You shall
have something to cry for before long." If you covet grief and even
dare to threaten the Lord that you will not believe Him unless He vexes
you, it may be that He will deal with you according to your
desires–and then you will cry in earnest on the other side of your
mouth!

Frequently the great darkness through which many true people of God
pass is occasioned by Satan. He delights to torment the child of God
with blasphemous suggestions or with foul imaginations. Do any of you
say, because you are a stranger to this, "We cannot believe"? Why, dear
Soul, you must be out of your mind to talk so! Bless God with all your
heart that you are a stranger to these horrible temptations. Never be
so insane as to wish for this dreadful trial. These temptations may
come quite soon enough. Desire them? Never, while reason remains to
you! Do you not think, too, that many are more deeply convicted of sin,
more seriously tried and more fiercely tempted than others because the
Lord has a special design to answer in them?

Even when the terrible searching work within is all real you need not
wish for it, for it may not be necessary in your case since God has not
the same intention towards you that He has towards the much-tempted
one. Much more is needed by way of foundation for a lofty tower than
for a humble cottage–and so the grand public life of such a man may
need more digging out by inward sorrow than your more private life can
possibly require. Our Lord may also be shaping the tried soul for
special work. If a man is to be a son of consolation to others, he must
be much exercised himself. Barnabas had to taste the wormwood and the
gall or he cannot mix the cup of consolation for others.

Remember that all Christians are not and cannot be of the same caliber.
We are all soldiers, Brothers and Sisters, but we are not all
champions. God calls upon everyone that believes in Christ to fight His
battles, but many of us are happy to belong to the rank and file. We
cannot all be captains. Only here and there shall we find a David, who,
with his sling and his stone shall go forth, a solitary champion,
against gigantic Philistines. For David it was necessary that he should
fight lions and bears in his youth or he would not have faced the
giant. If God gives us less of inward and outward trials than others,
He knows best.

We need enough sorrow to drive us from self and carnal confidence–and
when that is effected it would be folly to sigh for more. Our wisdom is
to leave our experience with the Lord who will appoint us sun or shade
as best will suit our growth. Let us envy no man his standing upon
Tabor, or Pisgah–and, on the other hand–let us never desire to make
excursions with the Lord's Jonahs and go with them to the bottom of the
mountains! Seek not to copy another man's ups

or downs but wait on God and put your trust in Him even though you
should seem to yourself to be more foolish than any other living man.

II. Secondly, and very briefly–A SENSE OF INFERIORITY MUST NOT KEEP US
FROM LEARNING. Suppose you have to say, "I am more stupid than any
man"–you have so much the more need of being taught the things of God.
If you have not the understanding of a man, that is so much more cause
that you should go to school to the Holy Spirit till the eyes of your
understanding shall be enlightened and you shall know the Truth and the
Truth of God shall make you free. Vital Truth is simple. A great many
things are hard to understand, but that which is essential to salvation
is not difficult. To know yourself a sinner and Christ a Savior–is
this a deep mystery? To quit your own self and your own trusts–simply
to rely upon the Person and work of the Son of God–is this exceedingly
difficult to understand? The safest Truth of God is the simplest!

Commonly an invention in machinery grows more simple as it nears
perfection–and because God's way of salvation is perfect–therefore it
is simplicity itself! You can know the Gospel for it is not a tough
metaphysical problem, but a Revelation which he that runs may read. If
you are staggered by the sublimity of heavenly learning, consider that
these things are revealed to babes. Our Lord said, "I thank You, O
Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because You have hid these things
from the wise and prudent and have revealed them unto babes."
Therefore, if you are more than ever conscious of your spiritual
babyhood, be none the less assured that the Lord can and will reveal
His Truths to you!

Remember, also, that the Holy Spirit is a great Teacher. The best
earthly teacher may be able to do very little with such slow scholars
as we are. Therefore let us go to our heavenly Teacher, that He may
give us of His Spirit with which we may learn the Truths of God. He can
teach young men wisdom and give to babes knowledge and discretion. When
the Lord teaches, it is wonderful how quickly we learn! We have
frequently met with young children, deep-taught in the things of God,
because the Holy Spirit has been their Teacher.

Let me comfort you by the remark that a sense of ignorance is a very
good beginning for a learner. The doorstep of the Palace of Wisdom is a
humble sense of ignorance. When you are empty of all fancied wisdom
there is room for God to fill you with heavenly instruction. If you are
more stupid than any man, I should hope you are more surely on the way
to be made wise from the very foundation–by the teaching of the Spirit
of God. Hang your hope upon that promise–"All your children shall be
taught of the Lord." You are one of those children, though you are a
little one, and therefore you are included in the number of those who
shall be taught of the Lord.

The Lord will not give up one of the children of Zion as incorrigible.
Dunces, whom no other master would tolerate, the gentle Spirit will
tenderly instruct! Therefore I say unto you, let not a sense of
inferiority keep you from following on to know the Lord.

III. I have been very brief upon that second point and I must be much
the same on the third: A SENSE OF

INFERIORITY MUST NOT KEEP US BACK FROM SERVING GOD. What if, like Agur,
we take the very lowest

place? Like he did, let us speak on God's behalf. Who knows, He may
prophesy by us, also? Agur's simple word is called "the prophecy." If
God shall speak by you, my Friend, your thinking so little of yourself
will give a charm to your speech. If God shall use such as you are, He
will have all the glory of it, will He not?

When the Lord uses a very clever man there is always the fear that
people will ascribe the success to the human instrument. But when the
Lord uses the man who admits he is a poor foolish creature, then the
honor is not divided, but all men see that this is the finger of God.
The Lord loves to use tools which are not rusted with self-conceit. An
axe which boasts itself shall not be used upon the thick trees. God can
use inferior persons for grand purposes! He has often done so. Go into
His armory and see how He has worked by flies and lice, by worms and
caterpillars, by frogs and serpents! His greatest victories were won by
a hammer and a tent-pin, by an ox-goad, by the jawbone of an ass, by a
sling and a stone and such like.

His greatest Prophets at the first tried to excuse themselves on the
ground of unfitness. In the armory of the Lord you will find few swords
with golden scabbards, but you will find many unlikely weapons. God
uses what no one else would look upon. The Lord can get much glory out
of you, my poor desponding Friend! Bestir yourself! Though you think
yourself quite unworthy, go on in consecration of heart to yield
yourself wholly to God and He will not pass you by. Remember, the Lord
does not expect of you more than you can do–it is accepted if it is
according to what a man has– and not according to what he has not. In
building a house there must be the common bricks for the wall as well
as the

carved stone for the corner. Are you so ambitious that nothing but the
chief place will suit you? Shame upon you! Let no man despise anything
that may come in to complete the building of the house that God
inhabits.

Suppose you feel that you are more stupid than any man, shall I give
you a little advice? If you can do but little, make the best of
yourself by intensity. In the natural world, that creature is most to
be feared which is the most energetic, rather than that which is
greatest. You shall find your life more in danger from the slender
viper than from the huge ox. That which is the fullest of fire and
energy will achieve the most. A small musket ball in full speed will do
more execution than a great cannonball which lies still.

Make the best of yourself, also, by perseverance. If you are a little
axe and can give only a small chip at a time, keep on striking and even
the oak will yield to your blows. If you are only a drop, remember that
constant dripping wears away stones. Keep on at holy service and do so
all the more because you do so little at any one time. Many littles
will make much. Pennies given every day will make pounds. Make up, by
spiritual force what you lack in natural ability. If you lack talent,
get all the more Divine Grace and you will be no loser. If you love God
more, even though you know less of science, you will live a successful,
because a holy, life. If you have a greater love for the souls of your
hearers than the man who has 10 talents, you may be 10 times more a
soul-winner than he.

It is spiritual power, not mental power, which avails in conversion.
Agur, a little further on in his one chapter, cheers up the humbler
sort of people by his talk about little things. In his 24th verse, he
says–"There are four things which are little upon the earth, but they
are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they
prepare their meat in the summer." You that cannot do very much, take
care never to lose an opportunity. Make hay while the sun shines–seize
the seasons and turn them to account. If you were a great man and could
at one speech sway the minds of thousands, even then you ought not to
be idle. But if you can only deal with one at a time, do not let that
one escape you! Copy the bees and the ants and use the summer hours
right diligently.

Next, read verse twenty-six. You are feeble, but remember, "The conies
are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks." Keep
to the Rock. Keep to eternal Truths. Keep to the things which cannot be
moved. Never run away from the Gospel. There is not much in you, but
there is a great deal in Christ–always keep to Him. You cannot say
much, but let all you do say savor of Christ. Never quit the Gospel, or
you leave the Rock of your shelter. Keep to the Rock and you will do
much good and run no risk.

Next, if you are very little, you should, like the locusts, associate
with others and go forth in an orderly way to work. Make yourself
useful by dropping into rank and in holy companionship doing your part
in connection with the rest. One locust is a thing to be laughed at but
when they go forth in bands they make nations tremble. One Believer may
accomplish little–but in the ranks of the Sunday school the many can
do wonders! Suppose you are as little thought of as a spider, yet copy
the spider in the two things which Agur mentions. Take hold with your
hands. Always be taking hold upon the promise of the great King by the
hand of faith. Let your faith come out of your own heart as the spider
spins her web out of her own bowels. Be always hanging on to one
promise or another and constantly add to your holding.

Have also a holy courage like the spider, who is in king's palaces. She
is not satisfied with being hidden away in a barn or a cottage–she
pays a visit to Solomon and makes her abode in his painted halls. If
you can go anywhere for Christ, go and spin your web of Gospel from
your inmost soul! Make up your mind that whatever company you are in
you will begin to spin about Christ and spin a web in which to catch a
soul for your Lord! In this way, though you fear you are more stupid
than any man, God will make as much use of you as if you were the
wisest of men! I pray you, O feeble one, render to your Lord such
service as you can.

IV. Lastly–A SENSE OF INFERIORITY MUST NOT HINDER OUR FAITH IN THE
LORD. Suppose you have to say, this morning, very groaningly, "I am
more stupid than any man, I have not the understanding of a man." What
then? Are you going to fret and worry about it? Will you, therefore,
refuse to believe in your God? I do not see, if it is true to the
fullest extent, that there is any reasonable cause for being cast down
in reference to the Lord your God!

Would you expect to be saved because you were not stupid? Would you
look for Heaven because you had a fine understanding and could place a
third of the letters of the alphabet at the end of your name? If
everybody said, "What a highly-cultured man this is!" do you think
Heaven's gate would open any the more readily to you? You are on the
wrong

tack, my Friend, if you think so. Capacities and attainments put plumes
into the hat but they do not protect the head from error.

Answer me this. Are not the little things in creation full of joy? Do
not the dewdrops sparkle on the hedges? When the summer comes, walk
down your garden and see the thousands of gnats. What are they doing?
They are dancing up and down in the sunbeams. The very flies are full
of delight. Will you be shamed by a gnat or a fly? No! Take to dancing,
too, but let it be like that of David when he danced before the Ark of
God! Rejoice in the Lord always! God gives small creatures great
delight. Why should not you be as happy, after your measure, as the
angels are? Little stars twinkle for very brightness.

If you need humbler examples, look at the little birds and hear how
they sing. Great birds seldom have the gift of song. You may listen
long before you will hear an ostrich or an emu singing. In our own
farmyards neither the turkey nor the peacock charm us with their
melody. Little birds awake the sun with their harmonies and make the
morning sacred with their Psalmody. Tell me, you that feel as if you
were less than the least–is there any reason why you should not
rejoice in the Lord? Who had most joy out of the Lord Jesus when He was
here? Or rather, who expressed their delight most exultingly? It was
not great Peter, nor active James, nor holy John–it was the children
in the temple–

" Children of Jerusalem Sang the praise of Jesus 'name."

They shouted "Hosanna!" "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings He has
perfected praise," if nothing else. The little ones can praise, for
they are happy in the sweet simplicity of their faith and in the warmth
of their hearts. My dear Friend, do the same. Delight yourself also in
the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and express your gladness. "Ah, Sir! I am
foolish and ignorant." Yes, but did you notice in the 73rd Psalm, which
we read just now, that I called your attention to the singular language
used by Asaph? He says, "So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a
beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You: You have held
me by my hand."

God takes care of the foolish and guards the feeble–let them rest in
His love and be glad in His care. Remember that if, by reason of our
inferiority, you and I have to take a back seat, the back seats are
still in the house. Our littleness does not alter God's promise! It is
the same promise to the small as to the great–to the weak as to the
strong. Our deficiency does not alter our God. He is as full of Grace
and Truth as ever. He does not increase because we are
enlarged–neither is He diminished because we have declined. As a babe
in Grace, my God is the same God as those rejoice in who have attained
to fullness of stature in Christ Jesus.

What a blessed God we have! Only to think of Him is hope–to know Him
is fruition. "Yes, my own God is He," said David. And he could never
have uttered a grander word. "This God is our God forever and ever," is
a sentence which might as fairly have been spoken in Heaven as upon
this lower earth. It has a glory tone about it. Come, you little ones,
you backward ones, you foolish ones, dwell upon the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit with your hearts' delight! The triune God is
yours–your Father, your Redeemer, your Comforter–a triple blessing is
thus secured to you! Let your triple nature of body, soul and spirit
rejoice therein!

This makes no difference to the Covenant of Grace. Babes in their baby
clothes, if they are heirs, have quite as sure a right to their
inheritance as have those who are of full age. One is as legally
protected as if he were one-and-twenty. The children cannot yet take
full possession by reason of their tender years, but the law defies a
rogue to rob even an infant heir of his lawful inheritance! Enjoy,
therefore, O you little ones, the infinite wealth of the Covenant and
doubt not your right and title in Christ Jesus! However little you may
be, this makes no difference to God's love to you. Ask yourselves, do
you love that full-grown son of yours of 25 so much that you have the
less love left for your chubby little boy of two or three at home?

Bless his little heart! When he climbs into your knees today and asks
whether you have a kiss for him, will you answer, "No, Johnny, I cannot
love you, for you are so little that I gave all my love to your older
brother because he knows so much more than you do and can be so useful
to me"? Oh, no! You love the last one, perhaps, better than any of
them–certainly not less! They say that if there is a child in the
family who is a little weak, the mother always loves it most. It is so
with our God–He is most tender and most gracious to the weakest and
least known. Our Shepherd carries the lambs in His bosom and does
gently lead those that are with young–why, be not cast down because of
your conscious inferiority–but admire the condescending Grace of God.

If you feel that you are more stupid than anybody else, yet believe in
God up to the hilt–believe in Him and trust Him with all your
heart–and then feel all the more gratitude that He should have loved
such a worthless one as you are. Feel all the more content with that
free, rich, sovereign Grace which has chosen you and ordained you to
eternal life. Glorify God by your very weakness. Glory in your
infirmity, because the power of Christ rests upon you. Be all the more
trustful in God since you have nothing in yourself to rely upon. Say,
"The great ones may run alone, but I am a babe and I must be carried in
my Father's arms. Therefore I will have the greater faith to match my
greater need." Our deep sense of folly and weakness should also keep us
humble before the Lord. Where is room for boasting? What have we to
glory in? We owe all to Mercy and to Mercy shall be all the praise!

Lastly, be more tender to others who, like yourself, are feeble. It is
wonderful how gracious little ones care for other little
ones–sympathize with them, pray for them and comfort them. I believe
that the saying is strictly true, that "the poor help the poor." And I
know it is so among the spiritually poor. High and mighty ones cannot
help downcast saints–only those who have been afflicted can console
the afflicted. In the East, among the Bedouins, in a shepherd's family,
the little children, as soon as they can walk, learn to keep the lambs.
You see the little boy who can only go slowly can lead the little lambs
admirably, for he and they go well together. The big father would have
taken long strides and so have tired the little lambs. But his little
son can only go at a slow pace and that pace suits the lambs. The weak
lambs are pleased with their little shepherd who is a lamb like
themselves–he is fond of the lambs and the lambs feel at home with
him.

So, dear Friends, if the Lord permits you to be among the little ones,
look after the little ones–and whereas some would have to bend their
backs too much to look after the lowly–you are on their level and will
naturally care for their state. Thus will you find your sphere of
usefulness and in it you will earn to yourselves a good degree. Though,
like Agur, you feel more stupid than any man, you will so live that
nobody would have thought so if you had not told them–and few will
believe it when you do tell them! To God alone be glory. Amen.

PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON– Psalm 73; Proverbs 30:1-9.