Morning
“There is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
Elijah, when he fled from Jezebel, sought communion with the Lord at Horeb. He felt greatly aggrieved and sorely wounded in soul that, after the great decision of Carmel, Israel remained idolatrous, bound by a woman’s will to Baal and the calves: he therefore sought the loneliness of Horeb, wherein to give his indignation vent.
1 Kings 19:9-18
1 Kings 19:9
Thou, the brave Elijah, wherefore hast thou fled to this place? Leader in Israel, wherefore hast thou deserted thy post? There are none to instruct or rebuke in these rocky solitudes, what art thou doing in this place?
1 Kings 19:10
His sorrows were too much for him. He could have borne hunger, and thirst, and pain; but to see the. Lord blasphemed was more than his great spirit could brook. He seems vexed with the Lord for not interposing to save his servants, the prophets. His secret heart longs to see terrible things in righteousness by which the ungodly nation may be awed into adoration.
1 Kings 19:11
Come out of the cave, breathe the fresh air, and see what the Lord would teach thee.
1 Kings 19:12
Thus he learned that not by terrors and judgments are men’s hearts won to God, but by the gentler force of loving persuasion. Elijah was like earthquake and fire, and his ministry was powerful, but it was not successful; there needed a gentler soul, with more plaintive pleadings to win the revolting people to their God.
1 Kings 19:17
The best cure for depressed spirits is more work to do for God. Elijah soon recovered his cheerfulness when he had commissions to fulfil for the Lord he loved so well. After the lesson he had received, he did not again leave his field of labour through fear of Jezebel, but sternly fought the battles of the Lord till his time of service was ended. Moreover, great was his joy to find that in the apostate nation there was yet a faithful remnant, for the Lord said to him
1 Kings 19:18
The Lord knows his own. They may be driven to hide themselves through cruel persecution, but they are not hidden from him. In these evil days, when Ritualism has set up her false gods, and turned the heart of our nation away from the gospel, be it ours to remain faithful unto the Lord; and in no sense or manner to aid or abet the wretched idolatries now so much in vogue. May we be among the thousands “which have not bowed unto Baal.”
Evening
“Shall not God avenge his own elect.”
1 Kings 21:1-16
1 Kings 21:3
Naboth did not refuse to sell his vineyard merely because of a natural attachment to the inheritance of his fathers, but because the law of God forbade such a sale. The land might not be transferred from one tribe to another. Naboth knew this law, and bravely resolved to obey it.
1 Kings 21:4
Acting like a spoiled, self-willed child, he fumed and fretted because he could not have his way. How miserable are men who have not learned to bridle their desires.
1 Kings 21:7
An imperious woman is a fit tool for the Evil One. Ahab was bad enough, but he was a mere novice in evil compared with his fierce Sidonian queen. Bad women are often very bad, even as good women are the best of the human race.
1 Kings 21:13
Both the nobles and the witnesses were utterly devoid of honesty; they were willing and apt disciples of the vicious court of Jezebel.
1 Kings 21:14
A cold-blooded message indeed. Murder was in their eyes a trifle, yet these very men had just celebrated a fast. Superstition has no conscience.
1 Kings 21:16
He claimed it as a forfeit to the crown for Naboth’s alleged treason, but how could he have looked for a blessing upon it? Never let us dare to take to ourselves anything unjustly, for it will be a curse to us.
Rest in the Lord and keep his way,
Nor let thine anger rise,
Though providence should long delay
To punish haughty vice.
Thine innocence shall God display
And make his judgments known
Fair as the light of dawning day,
And glorious as the noon.