Do not be over-righteous!
(George Mylne, "Lessons for the Christian's Daily Walk" 1859)
"Do not be over-righteous!"
Ecclesiastes 7:16
How can this be?
Can any man be over-righteous?
When zeal oversteps discretion;
when tasks are self-imposed;
when religious forms are trusted in;
when flesh is vainly mortified--
all this is being over-righteous!
GOD'S people unwittingly
fall into these very errors.
Prayer, as a task, persisted in--
that we may think how long
our prayers have been--
this is a great mistake.
It is wrong in principle, and
practice too. Have you ever been
more fretful after prayer, more worldly,
more inclined to levity? The truth is this--
you prayed too long; your mind was
over-taxed; your soul responded
to your weariness. The enemy
rejoiced in your infirmity--
you were "over-righteous."
Or you have found refreshment in
the house of worship. You have gone
a second time, and found the same.
You went again (three services,
three sermons in a day!)--
the third occasion undid the other two.
Trying to have too much--
you lost all. The wearied brain
could not recall its former devotion;
the jaded memory broke down--
you were "over-righteous."
It is often the same in reading Scripture.
The mind is proud of its performances,
and reads too much. To read each
day so many chapters; in a short time
to have gone the whole round of Scripture--
rapidly to move from the Law, to History,
to the Prophets, to the Gospel in the hurry--
my friend, you are "over-righteous!"
This is not the way to grow in grace and
knowledge of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Were you to spend a lifetime over a single
Psalm, gaining daily refreshment to your soul--
would be far better, than to scamper
rapidly through the Word.
When household duties are neglected
for the sake of devotional exercises--
this, too, is being over-righteous.
(George Mylne, "Lessons for the Christian's Daily Walk" 1859)
"Do not be over-righteous!"
Ecclesiastes 7:16
How can this be?
Can any man be over-righteous?
When zeal oversteps discretion;
when tasks are self-imposed;
when religious forms are trusted in;
when flesh is vainly mortified--
all this is being over-righteous!
GOD'S people unwittingly
fall into these very errors.
Prayer, as a task, persisted in--
that we may think how long
our prayers have been--
this is a great mistake.
It is wrong in principle, and
practice too. Have you ever been
more fretful after prayer, more worldly,
more inclined to levity? The truth is this--
you prayed too long; your mind was
over-taxed; your soul responded
to your weariness. The enemy
rejoiced in your infirmity--
you were "over-righteous."
Or you have found refreshment in
the house of worship. You have gone
a second time, and found the same.
You went again (three services,
three sermons in a day!)--
the third occasion undid the other two.
Trying to have too much--
you lost all. The wearied brain
could not recall its former devotion;
the jaded memory broke down--
you were "over-righteous."
It is often the same in reading Scripture.
The mind is proud of its performances,
and reads too much. To read each
day so many chapters; in a short time
to have gone the whole round of Scripture--
rapidly to move from the Law, to History,
to the Prophets, to the Gospel in the hurry--
my friend, you are "over-righteous!"
This is not the way to grow in grace and
knowledge of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Were you to spend a lifetime over a single
Psalm, gaining daily refreshment to your soul--
would be far better, than to scamper
rapidly through the Word.
When household duties are neglected
for the sake of devotional exercises--
this, too, is being over-righteous.
The same is true when others are
inconvenienced by our devotional
exercises. The family waiting in
the hall, the carriage at the door--
while prayers are too lengthy.
Is not this being "over-righteous?"
Prayer, meditation, and the Scriptures--
how good they are! Yet there is a time
for all things. If duties rise so thick,
that you are hindered in your prayers--
even this is better than prayer persisted
in, and duties left undone!
Beware, then, Christian friend,
and do not be "over-righteous."
inconvenienced by our devotional
exercises. The family waiting in
the hall, the carriage at the door--
while prayers are too lengthy.
Is not this being "over-righteous?"
Prayer, meditation, and the Scriptures--
how good they are! Yet there is a time
for all things. If duties rise so thick,
that you are hindered in your prayers--
even this is better than prayer persisted
in, and duties left undone!
Beware, then, Christian friend,
and do not be "over-righteous."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
No comments:
Post a Comment