The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-03-21
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Some O1d.Time Trysters.
By g. D.. GORDON.

By 8. D. aoRDoI<
It Is q striking fact, that the men In
the Bible record to whom God revealed
Himself most, and whom He used
most, and through whom He gave the
larger part Of the Bible, were men
who sacredly kept this morning tryst.
That Moses kept it by Gods own ar
rangement Is plain from Exodus 34:24,
with many other statements regarding
this remarkable man to whom God
talked face to face, and who bore in
his person the indescribable charm Of
Gods presence.
It is probable that Joshua kept ii,
for he was Moses most intimate as
sociate for nearly forty years, as well
as his chosen successor, and likely.
carried the impress of. that close
friendship in many habits of life. Ex-
odus 33:T-11 and numerous references
in the book Of. Joshua give color. to
this supposition.
That Samuel kept 1t seems likely
from incidents in his life which reveal
that he was indeed 4 master hand at
prayer, IN a habitual early riser.
David reveals his habit in the mat!
ter in as many as eight illusions in the
Psalms, some Of which should have
more than mere mention in this special
connection.
Psalm SD, literally translated, reads:
"Oh, Lord, at the dawning shalt Thou hear
At the aaxnins will I prepare for Thee.
And will keep watch" d
Psalm 1875:
"Cause me 10 hear Thy loving kindness at
the dawning; .r 80,
For in Thee do l trust;
Cause me to know the way wherein !
should walk"
plainly suggesting that he looked to
the morning hour of prayer for guild
ance in daily matters. L. as s sug-
gested by some scholars. some Of these
Psalms were written by, others than {
David. it makes still palmer, the COM,
monness of this habit among godly
men of that period.
That Solomon's early life was
marked by this habit seems very prob
able, not only from his remarkable
spiritual experiences during that time,
but particularly from references in the
Song Of Solomon, the book Which
marks the high tide of his. inner life.
See Chapter So and on, already quoted.
And one cannot read carefully the:
story Of the beginning and then Of the
after years Of his career; set against
each other in such sharp contrast, with
out the conviction growing and deep
ening that this habit, SO likely in the
first part, could have had no place in
those later sadly dark years of aposta-
cy and shame. His downfall must
have dated from his inner closet, like
many another's since.
80 Isaiah knew the sweetness and pow
err Of the morning appointment with
God, as Chapter 5O:4 clearly shows.
jeremiah adds his experience In La
m~entations 1926 amid the sorrows
following the destruction of the exiled
nation.
Daniel priced so highly his trysting
time that he spent a night with the
lions rather than miss spending his
customary hour with God. He pre-
ferred the possibility of giving up his
life for God to giving up his. daily ap-
pointment with God.
The little known prophet Habakkuk
uses language in Chapter 2:t-2, revis-
ion, which indicates his familiarity
with the morning watch hour of prayer
and that his OWL messages came to hiH
at that time. A: glance back over this
list brings TO mind the fact that these
are the men to. whom God entrusted
the writing. Of by far the greater part
Of the Old Testament.
But perhaps we might omit all Of
fhooo ond And orr 0raaf ocf incniro finn y
in the fact that Jesus Himself, when a
man down here, kept the morning
tryst. For Isaiah 50:4 is plainly pro-
phetic Of Him, as a reading Of the con-
Meeting verses makes clear. And Mark
1875 gives a very strong corroborating
insight into His inner life in the words:
"And in. the morning, e great while be-
fore day. He rose up and went out into
a desert place and there prayed
RAMS Horn