the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Bowen's Daily Meditations
" Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound." ― Psalms 89:15
Blessed are they to whom the gospel is proclaimed; that is, a blessing is put within their reach. But especially, essentially blessed are they who know it as glad tidings of great joy.
One land is blessed with great fruitfulness; another with great mineralogical treasures; another by its geographical situation, favorable for commerce. One nation has a liberal government; another an admirable system of education. One country has numerous and exquisite remains of ancient art; another has carried the cultivation of modern art and science to a high pitch; while another has made the most marvellous strides in manufactures. One region is blessed with magnificent rivers; another glories in its sublime mountain ranges. But neither of these nor all in combination suffice to secure the happiness of a people, or to perpetuate the prosperity of a nation. Another chapter should be added to Volney’s " Ruins of Empires," telling truly why those empires passed away. The gospel has never yet prevailed in any nation. Never yet has it been cordially received by more than a very small minority of the people of a country. But in proportion as it has been received has a blessing from on high rested on the nations. They who truly know the joyful sound, will endeavor to communicate the knowledge of it to other hearts and lands. Can you imagine a kind of music produced by invisible choristers, inaudible to all save those who have been endowed with a special sense for the perception and enjoyment of it? These walk in ecstasy, ever and anon, hearing the wondrous strains, while the unperceptive multitude pursue the sordid tenor of their way. Such strains are those of the Gospel, and they that have faith are they who have received a faculty appropriate to the reception of them. The music of the words of the Son of God is borne to them from the golden harps of the invisible ones They open the word of God, and while their unadept companion sees a dull, ineloquent page, the eye of the believer pierces the cloud-like door of the letter and detects a vista reaching to the New Jerusalem, with angels moving to and fro; exquisite melodies are wafted to his ear, and he rejoices with joy unspeakable, tasting the powers of the world to come.
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