Song of Songs: The Greatest Love Story in the World

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 31        Drink From the Depths               "He... gave them drink as out of the great depths." Psa 78:15              The psalmist is here reviewing the providence of God that sustained the children of Israel in the desert. That providence had made a deep impression on him, and he delights to dwell upon its wonders. There is a sense, I believe, in which the poet is really the best of all historians. He sees by the gift of a trained imagination into the hearts of men and the character of movements. And though he may lack the minute and critical knowledge that is in the keeping of laborious students, yet he often brings us nearer to the truth than the man who discovers and refutes his errors.             ...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 30        The Secrecy of God               "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known." Psa 77:19              Men tell us that there are few more impressive sights than that of a burial at sea. It is even more solemn and arresting than the last rites beside an earthly grave. There is the ceasing of the throbbing engines, the gathering of the hushed crowd upon the deck. There is the simple service, the lifting of the body, and then--the plunge into the deep. And it is this element of silent secrecy, this hiding in unfathomable depths, which thrills and solemnizes and subdues.              Something like that was in the poet's mind when he said of God, "Thy way...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 29        The Highway in the Sea               "Thy way is in the sea." Psa 77:19              Doubtless when the psalmist penned our text, his first thought was the crossing of the Red Sea. He was seeking to revive his drooping heart by recalling the saving power of God in Israel's past. But the words of a true poet never end when we have found their literal significance. It is one mark of poetic inspiration that it is capable of indefinite expansion. It is not by narrowing down, it is by widening out, that we get to the real genius of a poet, and the writer of this psalm had the true gift. Thy way is in the sea--were there not glimpses in that of truths which the Exodus never could exhaust? So did the writer feel--so must we all feel--and it is on two of these sugg...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 28        The Higher Purposes of Winter               "Thou hast made.., winter." Psa 74:17              It is always easy to believe that God has made the summertime. There is something in a perfect summer day that speaks to us of the divine. The beauty which is around us everywhere, the singing of the birds in every tree, the warmth of the pleasant summer sun, the amazing prodigality of life, these, as by filaments invisible, draw our hearts to the Giver of them all and make it easy to say, "Thou hast made the summer."              With winter it is different. It is not so easy to see the love of God there. There is a great deal of suffering in winter both for the animal creation and for man. It may ther...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 27        Summer and Winter               "Thou hast made summer and winter." Psa 74:17              I suppose there are few who seriously doubt that the maker of summertime is God. There is something in every summer's glory that tells us of the touch of the divine, for here indeed we see the handiwork of God. But notice that in our text it says a great deal more than just that God hast made the summer. It says "Thou hast made the summer and the winter."              It was an old belief which is still held by multitudes that rival deities had been at work on nature. It was not the handiwork of one god; it was the handiwork of two gods. And all the sharp antagonisms of the universe and all the contrasts am...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 26        The Contradictions of Life               "We went through fire and through water, but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place." Psa 66:12              This psalm is the glad utterance of a soul that is looking back to the deliverance from Egypt. It is a song of praise for the great goodness of the Lord in bringing His people to the promised land. There had been times when that journey seemed a failure; times when the desert seemed so terrible that Israel began to cry again for Egypt. But God in His strange sovereignty of leadership was going to bring them on to Canaan yet. They had been brought through fire--the fiery sun in the wilderness of Sinai; the fiery serpents with the venomous bites. They had been through water. Had they not crossed the Red Sea...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 25        Harvest Thanksgiving               "The valleys...are covered over with corn." Psa 65:13              One of the uses of the harvest festival is to awaken us to things we take for granted. We are always in danger of taking things for granted, especially in organized communities. The desert traveler can never take his water for granted, he has to shape his route to reach the wells. But in the city, where we have water supplied to every house, such a thing causes us no concern at all. That is especially true of daily bread. We just take it for granted. It has been bought at the baker's or the grocer's, and beyond that our vision seldom goes. And then comes the harvest festival, and beyond our city shops we see the golden mystery of harvest. We are awakened; w...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 24        Leaving It There               "Leave it all quietly to God, my soul." Psa 62:1 (Moffatt)              There are times in life when it is a great help to have someone say to us, "Leave all that to me." Like a gentle wind it blows the clouds away. When one has a difficult schedule or has arrangements to make for a marriage or a funeral, to have someone who is competent and expert take over is often an untold relief. There is much in life that we must do ourselves, and no one can relieve us of certain duties. There are crosses each of us must carry and burdens nobody can take away. But how much more difficult life would be in times of anxiety or strain were there not someone standing by to say to us, "Leave all that to me." That is particularly the voice of f...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 23        The Rock That Is Higher Than I               "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psa 61:2              Whatever suggested the image of our text, the inward meaning of it is explicit. It is the long cry of the human heart for the forgiveness and comforting of God. There are times when the deepest craving of the soul is for something higher than itself. The self-reliance of our sunny hours is lost in a deep feeling of dependence. And that deep feeling of dependence, expressed in many relationships of life, is never satisfied nor perfected until it finds its rest in God. Now when the heart is overwhelmed (as was the psalmist's) there always falls a dimness on the eye. The rock of safety may be very near, but the mist hangs heavy, and we cannot see it....

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 22        Fear and Faith               "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Psa 56:3              Let us consider for a little while some of the springs of human fear, and then notice how many of our fears spring from the imagination. It has been said (and I think truly said) that life is ruled by the imagination. The things we picture and weave in glowing colors have a very powerful influence over conduct. Often that influence is stimulative, illumining the pathway to discovery; often it creates or liberates fear. People who are highly sensitive are far more apt to be fearful than their neighbors. There are a hundred fears that never touch the man of stolid, unimaginative nature. That is why for a certain type of person to be brave may be comparatively eas...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For January 21        Daily Defilements               "Mine enemies would daily swallow me up." Psa 56:2              There are some enemies which only come to us at interludes. But you will note that it was different with the psalmist. It was not rarely and briefly that his enemies fell upon him to destroy him. What inspired his bitter cry was that every day he lived he was in peril: "Mine enemies would daily swallow me up." He never woke with a heart that was at peace saying, "Thank God all is well today." At any moment he might hear the ringing of the battle cry. And it was that which almost broke his heart and drove him in a wild despair to God and robbed him of all power to be happy.        ...