A Cure for Discontent

A CURE FOR DISCONTENT

“Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise
and with Thy honor all the day.” — Psalm lxxi. 8.

LORD, may this cry of my heart reach Thine attentive ear this morning! Lips, and tongue, and mouth are all empty at this calm, quiet hour, and I come to entreat Thee to cleanse and consecrate them to Thyself and Thy service, so that “all the day long” they may be filled with the sweetness of Thy love, and out of this blessed fulness may “shew forth Thy salvation.” Far too often, O my Master, is my mouth filled with the bitterness of earth’s impure fountains ; but now, my chief desire is that only the bright streams of thankful love and praise to Thee should flow from it. How seldom does the tender grace of the early morning devotion last throughout the busy hours of the day! It is gone as the dew on the grass when the sun looks upon it, or as the fleecy cloud when the West wind blows it away. Why is it, dear Lord, that earth and earthly things have such power to draw away my thoughts and heart from the unseen but eternal realities which are so near and precious to me when I am alone with Thee? Wilt Thou not teach me the blessed secret of abiding” under the shadow of the Almighty?” 

    “My mouth.” This is a distinctly personal matter, about which I should be seriously concerned. ” All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord ; and Thy saints shall bless Thee;” but if every creature and all creation were silent, this tongue of mine ought to speak of Thy lovingkindness and Thy tender mercy, for “He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.”

     “Filled with Thy praise.” Abounding in thanksgiving! Brimming over with grateful love! So full of joy and rejoicing in God that, ” my tongue also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long. ” This is how it should be; but, alas! Lord, I have not thus glorified Thee. My heart has more often been troubled than glad, petitions have more frequently filled my mouth than praise, sharp and hasty words have escaped the lips which should ” drop as the honeycomb,” and the glory due unto Thy Name has been less thought of than the passing needs of my sinful and selfish heart. O Lord Jesus Christ, how much Thou hast to pardon and to pity. How very far I am yet from being conformed to Thy likeness!

     A surly servant is no credit to his master, a thankless guest is no joy in a house, and a miserable Christian is an anomaly in God’s universe. Lord, help me to cultivate gladness, teach me to improve every occasion of receiving mercy from Thee; do Thou so fill my mouth with praise and thanksgiving that there may be no room in it for anything less choice and precious ! I have Thy dear promise to plead when I ask this, for Thou hast said, “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” As the hungry little birds in a nest gape and clamor for the food they need, but cannot obtain for themselves, so do all the emotions of my soul long to be supplied by Thee with the power to show forth Thy praise. 

     Ah, Lord ! there is no lack of material for thanksgiving, no dearth of causes for gratitude. There are mountains of mercies to praise Thee for, seas of exceeding love, boundless stores of grace ! I am surrounded, weighed down, covered and submerged with countless blessings, all of which I owe to Thee, my God. If I could ceaselessly praise Thee throughout my mortal life, and then through all eternity, I could never begin to repay the debt of love I owe. If every word I spoke, and every act I performed, and every desire of my soul were ” to Thy Name, and to the remembrance of Thee,” this would be far less homage, more incomplete devotion than I am bound to render.

     “Filled honor.” with Thy Lord, can it be that Thy honor is thus entrusted to the lips of Thy believing people? Dost thou look to such a source for the proclamation of Thy perfect justice and Thy glorious grace? Is it in this way that Thou dost come seeking ” the fruit of our lips giving thanks to Thy Name?” How often, then, must we have disappointed and dishonored Thee, O Lord! I bow my head for very shame before Thee, when I think how often Thou hast found upon this tongue of mine either a guilty silence, or thankless and half-hearted words, when there should have been jubilant psalms of praise, and sweetest of songs of thanksgiving. But now, alter all this for me, dear Master: “Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise and with Thy honor all the day.” From morn to eve, may the chief thought of my life be, how I shall glorify my God by “speaking well of His Name.” Through every moment of every hour of every day, may the consciousness that I am Thine, and that Thou hast loved me, stir my spirit to the constant melody of whole-hearted gratitude! Thou hast said, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me,” and I joyfully reply, “Yes, Lord,’ my lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto Thee,’ and Thy praise shall continually be in my mouth. “