" It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." - Psalms 119:71.

What would this world be without calamity! Men talk about the mystery of present things. The mystery would be infinitely greater, if there was no affliction. We should be utterly at a loss to know what to make of the character of God, if unmingled prosperity were the lot of man. This world would then resemble a Hindoo heaven; and it would be necessary to suppose Hindoo gods presiding over it, in order to get rid of the monstrous anomaly of impenitent sinners occupying the seats of the blessed.

The Christian has reason to thank God that things have not been accommodated to his wishes. When the mist of tears was in his eyes, he looked into the word of God and saw magnificent things. When Jonah came up from the depths of ocean, he showed that he had learned the statutes of God. One could not go too deep to get such knowledge as he obtained. Nothing now could hinder him from going to Nineveh. It is just the same as though he had brought up from the deep an army of twelve legions of the most formidable troops. The word of God, grasped by faith, was all this to him and more. He still, however, needed further affliction; for there were some statutes not yet learned. Some gourds were to wither. He was to descend into a further vale of humiliation. Even the profoundest affliction does not, perhaps, teach us everything; a mistake we sometimes make. But why should we compel God to use harsh measures with us? Why not sit at the feet of Jesus and learn quietly what we need to learn?