March 31 | Evening

March 31st, evening.

Then Rizba, the daughter of Ayah, took Sackloff and spread it for herself on the rock, from

the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens.

And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of

the field by night.

Second Samuel, chapter 21, verse 10.

If the love of a woman to her slain sons could make her prolong her mournful vigil for

so long a period, shall we grow tired of considering the sufferings of our blessed Lord?

She drove away the birds of prey, and shall we not chase from our meditations those worldly

and sinful thoughts that defile both our minds and the sacred themes upon which we are occupied?

Begone new birds of evil wing, leave the sacrifice alone.

She bore the heat of summer, the night dues and the rains, and sheltered and alone.

Sleep was chased from her weeping eyes, her heart was too full for slumber.

Consider how she loved her children.

Shall Rizba endure while we quit at the first little inconvenience or trial?

Shall we such cowards that we cannot bear to suffer with our Lord?

She chased away even the wild beasts with unusual courage, and will we not be ready to encounter

every foe for Jesus' sake?

Her children were slain by other hands than hers, and yet she wept and watched.

What ought we to do, who have by our sins crucified our Lord?

Our obligations are boundless, our love should be fervent and our repentance thorough.

To watch with Jesus should be our business, to protect his honour, our occupation, to abide

by his cross our solace.

Those ghastly corpses might well have frightened Rizba, especially by night, but in our Lord

at whose cross we are sitting there was nothing revolting but everything attractive.

There was living beauty so enchanting as a dying saviour.

Jesus, we will watch with you still and may you graciously unveil yourself to us, then

we shall not sit beneath sackcloth but in a wild pavilion.

This has been morning and evening, a production of Crossway.