1 Chronicles 27:24

"Handfuls of Purpose,"

For All Gleaners

"Joab, the son of Zeruiah, began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel." 1 Chronicles 27:24 .

Joab was not a poet; Joab believed in arithmetic; and Joab was conscientious so far, that he worked according to his faculty. Do not expect from Joab what you expect from David. This must be held to be the law of judgment throughout all the life and action of the Church. Inquire into the scope of a man's mind before you pronounce definitely upon his actions. Joab thought he would be able to finish, simply because he was a great man; but every man is small when pitted against the omnipotence of God. Why will men betake themselves to doing wrong work, or even needless work, or work that taxes the attention beyond its power to yield reward? It would seem as if the Lord alone could number Israel. Even the work we do in the way of numbering is not credited to us. This was notably the case in the instance of Joab, in connection with which we read: "Neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David." So all the numbering went for nothing. Joab might as well have been dreaming as counting, for his arithmetic found no record in the register of the king. It is not enough to be busy, we must be busy in the right direction. We know in commerce that it is not enough to be industrious; we must be industrious under proper conditions, if our industry is to be crowned with satisfactory results. The Joabs of the Church should never be too warmly encouraged; they are literal, arithmetical, material; they only value what they can handle; whereas the genius of the Church is one of prophecy, spirituality, a sacred dreaming that is higher in value than all philosophy and rational speculation; there is a dreaming that is akin to inspiration. All we have to do is to attend to the business of the present moment, sow the seed, tell the truth, acknowledge error, and whoso doeth the will of God to him shall the doctrine in due time be revealed.