The Sun of Truth
DAY THIRTEEN
PONDER THIS ENGRAVING
MEDITATE ON THESE VERSES
Ecclesiastes 11:7 | Malachi 4:4 | Jeremiah 31:35 | Psalms 27:1 | Isaiah 9:2 | John 8:12 | Ephesians 5:8 | John 3:19, 20
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105 –– The Lord God is a sun and shield. Psalm 84:11
POETIC REFLECTION
Lo! on a path that through the mountains sweeps,
And climbs their summits, and descends their deeps,
The Sun pours wide his bright diffusive rays,
And shows two travelers on their different ways;
His shade behind, his pathway always bright,
One travels forward with increasing light,
Til equatorial o’er his head it burns,
And all of shadow into day it turns;
The other turns upon the sun his back,
His lengthening shadow darkens all his track;
Which now not seen, he turns him from the right,
And ends his journey in the realms of night.
DEVOTION OF INTERPRETATION
See where, among the mountain heights, a long straight path stretches itself til it is lost in the distance beyond. The sun pours wide his rays of living light, illuminating the path, and shedding luster all around. Two travelers are pursuing their different routes. One advances toward the sun; his shadow is behind, his path is bright before him. As he proceeds his shadow diminishes, while his path grows brighter and brighter, until, directly overhead, the sun pours the full tide of its glory upon him, and the whole of the shadow disappears.
The other has turned his back upon the orb of day. See he follows his own shadow. It darkens his pathway before him. Now he leaves the track; his shadow lengthens more and more; he wanders into sunken labyrinths, and finally loses himself amid the darkness of night.
This emblem represents the moral world. The sun designates the Sun of Truth. The travelers denote, first, those who follow the light; their path shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day; their souls become enlightened, vivified, and purified; darkness disappears, and heavenly light shines on their souls forever. Secondly, it signifieds those who turn their backs on the light, and who, as they journey, wander further and further from His bright beams; their path becomes darker and darker; their shadow lengthens as they proceed, until, having forsaken altogether the way of truth, they lose themselves among the wilds of error, and perish in the darkness of everlasting night.
Where shines the Sun of Truth? In the Holy Bible. The Scriptures are a “light” to the weary traveler, illuminating all his goings, pointing out his proper path, and showing where the mountains of error lift up their desolating heads. This Sun of Truth shines on the traveler himself. It discovers his ignorance, guilt, danger, helplessness, and, at the same time, his immortality. Again it shines, and he beholds Calvary, with all its weeping tragedies. It reveals to him now his “wisdom, justification, sanctification, and redemption.” Where shines the Sun of Truth? In the person of Jesus Christ. He who wisely uses the light of the Scriptures, will be led to contemplate Him who is the “Light of the world,” the “Sun of Righteousness,” the “Splendid Glory of Jehovah,” the “Way, the Truth and the Life.”
The Christian, following the light of the glorious Sun of Truth, discovers ever-opening mines of riches knowledge. Fountains of living waters roll their treasures at his feet. Trees of Life overhang his pathway, and drop into his lap their golden stores, til at length, he beholds the opening gates of the New Jerusalem,
Where Light and Truth, their mystic powers combine,
And o’er the realms of Love forever shine.
The infidel, turning his back upon the light, walks in the vain shadow of his own opinions. Darker, and yet more dark, the shadow grows; he waxes worse and worse; one truth after another is given up, one lie after another is embraced; further and further he wanders from God and bliss and finally he takes his fearful “leap in the dark,” and finds himself contrary to his expectations, in outer darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and woe.
Barber, John Warner, 1798-1885. Bible Looking Glass: Reflector, Companion and Guide to the Great Truths of the Sacred Scriptures, and Illustrating the Diversities of Human Character, and the Qualities of the Human Heart.
Philadelphia, Bradley, Garretson & Co., 1861