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HIS HEDGE
by R. T. Holmes
"A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse,
a spring shut up, a fountain sealed" (S.O.S. 4:12).
The Lord has a garden that is enclosed so that
no real harm shall ever come to His plants. No foxes will get in
to spoil the vines; no weeds will choke the plants; He will keep His garden
night and day (S.O.S. 2:15, 4:12, Isa. 27:3).
Here is a hedge, a wall, so high and so strong
that nothing can penetrate it except by the permission of our Gardener
for our good (Job l:9-12).
God has shut His people in; they are a spring
shut up, a fountain sealed. If any try to hurt His plants they will
bring great suffering upon themselves and their families (Gen. 20:2-7,
II Th. 1:6).
But perhaps, dear Christian, you feel "shut
in" because you are weak and sickly, disabled, or old, unable to do much.
Jeremiah felt the same way; he felt hedged in, chained to an unbearable
situation, beating his head against a stone wall, not knowing what path
to take, feeling as though God had forsaken him. His hope perished, yet
this was the will of God for him; the way in which he was to serve and
glorify God (Lam. 3:7-18).
Psalm 37:23 says, "The steps of a good man
are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way." George Mueller
said, "And the stops also."
If we have learned to walk with the Lord, now
we must learn to wait for the Lord (Psa. 40:1). We must learn to
stand still, quietly waiting, not losing heart or hope; submitting to the
will of God, confident and rejoicing in Him, glorifying, honoring, and
serving Him with praise and thanksgiving; feeding Him with the fruit of
our lips that He has created (Isa. 57:19). We will, we can, if we remember,
as Jeremiah did, that the Lord's mercy and compassion are new every morning.
"The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh
him"(Lam. 3:25).
Oh, beloved Gardener, come into Your garden;
eat Your pleasant fruits; gather Your myrrh, and spice (S.O.S. 4:15-5:1).
May our fruit be as sweet to you as yours is to us (S.O.S. 2:3).
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