Deuteronomy 3:29

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"So we abode in the valley." Deu 3:29

Places have moral interest. Sometimes the valley is in the highland, and is therefore only a valley relatively: as compared with valleys far away down it may actually be a very high mountain. The lesson we have to learn is to abide in the place assigned by Providence. There is a subtle tone of submission and patience in the text. There is no complaining as to the lot. The valley is accepted as a sanctuary. It was a valley of God's making, and therefore was to be regarded as a place on which he had expended special care. In the valley we may have shelter. In the valley we may have harvests. In the valley we may have security. It is the business of the Christian to discover the advantages of his position rather than to moan over its disadvantages. There is another valley in which we shall not abide, but shall pass through it under the comfort of the rod and the staff of the divine Shepherd. Some persons seem never to get out of the valley; they literally abide in it as men abide in a home. Who are we that we should chide the Providence which has made such appointments? How do we know how much the dwellers in the valley are saved from? Who can tell what compensations fall to their lot? The text is not supposed to teach the kind of contentment which it is almost impossible to distinguish from indifference. Such contentment is no virtue. The true contentment is that which accepts the hard lot without repining, knowing that God has some good purpose in its appointment, and assured that even the hardest position may be turned to noble uses. When our superiors attempt to keep us in the valley we may well inquire as to their authority: when God means us to abide in the valley we may be sure that he will not forsake us in our lowest estate.