I WILL NOT CONTEND FOR EVER

 

 
I will not contend for ever.
Isaiah 57:16
 
AFFFLICTIONS are sometimes divine contentions.
 
If we will not obey the word,
  we shall feel the rod.
 
Our heavenly Father never makes us
  smart without a needs be for it.
 
But sometimes our afflictions are long continued, and
  we fancy they will never be removed.
 
Here therefore the Lord informs us,
  that he will not contend for ever.
 
Nor will be contend one moment longer that is necessary;
  but the child must yield,
  the proud spirit must bow,
  the haughty look must be brought down.
 
If we were to mortify the flesh,
  God would not mortify our spirits.
 
If we were to crucify the old man,
  God would not so try the new man.
 
We must be weaned from the world.
We must be made partakers of the afflictions of the gospel.
We must pass through the wilderness to Canaan.
 
The cross always comes before the crown, and
  the bitter before the sweet.
 
But the wilderness will soon be crossed,
  the death will soon lift the cross from our galled shoulder,
  and the spirit of heaviness will be exchanged
    for the garment of praise.
 
The Lord will not contend for ever;
  he will turn again;
  he will lift us from the dust, and
  cause us to inherit the throne of glory.
 

Light are the sufferings we endure,

Contrasted with eternal bliss;

Strength as the day, he does ensure,

Until we see him as he is.

 
James Smith 1849