1 Behold, how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious ointment upon the
head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the
skirts of his garments; 3 As
the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion:
for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Psalms
133:1-3)
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel:
he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. (Hosea
14:5)
I have written devotions in time past on the subject of the
Dew of Heaven resembling the works of the Holy Ghost in our lives. Dew is also
likened to the Word of God and is a common subject about which men speak, and
even sing, very casually. It is even mentioned in an old Scots song, Annie
Laurie; and is sung as a military march played at the US Military Academy and
for the US Calvary of days gone by: “Maxwelton's braes are bonnie, Where
early fa's the dew, 'Twas there that Annie Laurie Gi'ed me her promise
true. Gi'ed me her promise true - Which ne'er forgot will be, And for bonnie
Annie Laurie I'd lay me down and dee.”
The Bible suggests that there was no storm or rain prior to
the Fall of Adam in the Garden at Eden. “5 And every plant of the
field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew:
for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a
man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered
the whole face of the ground.”
(Gen 2:5-6)
The dew gathered in the still hours of the night and
watered, with imperceptible accumulation, all plants of the Garden. No man saw
it’s forming, but all felt its benefits. Grace, too, is like that Dew of Heaven
for it is, as the dew that distills in the stillness of the dawn; Grace is
dispensed from the Fountain which flows from the Cross of Golgotha. The Holy
Ghost comes in the small wee hours of the quiet morning when we first awake in
our search for God. We who seek Him early shall surely find Him by the garden
brooks and dew covered pasturelands.
I will focus my devotion today on the Word of god in its
similarities to the Dew of Heaven. How is the Word of God likened to the Dew of
Heaven? I believe we may compare it in at least five particulars:
Firstly, when I was a young fellow, I
wanted to camp out – not in a wilderness since I lacked courage - but in our
own backyard. I made my makeshift tent and something resembling a bedroll;
however, near the time of dawn, I would awaken to wet blankets and drops of dew
coming through my non-waterproof tent. I could not believe that dew could
condense in such measure as to have the results of rain, but it did! We cannot
detect the distillation of dew on that ground exposed to the night sky, but it
forms nonetheless – silently and without eye-witness. The results can certainly
be seen and felt. The silent efficacy of the Word of God on our souls is
likewise imperceptible in its approach, but quite dramatic in its effect.
Secondly, as dew descends gently and
sweetly on the night vapors, so does the Gospel of Christ sweetly and
imperceptibly permeate the heart and provide nourishing Water of Life upon
which the heart may thrive and mature in the Way of the Lord. The change may
not be obvious at first to friends and family, but in the process of time, a
Garden of Delight and Righteousness will manifest itself in the soul of its
recipient. The Word will always have the effect God intends. “11 So shall my word be
that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it
shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11) My mother used to be out to her garden early
in the morning – “while the dew was still on the roses.” Her times of
most touching devotion were among her flowers of the garden. God spoke to her
heart as the dew of Heaven just as the morning dew had benefitted those roses.
And she often sang that old hymn of beauty, “In the Garden.”
Thirdly,
the natural dew that falls ere dawn spreads its thirst-quenching waters abroad
on herbal plants and vegetables and sinks into the leaves and from thus to the
roots of the plant – imparting strength, growth and fruit. So does the word of
God settle into the heart from the perceptions of the awakening mind, and
therein produces nourishment for the soul, growth in faith, and fruit in good
works. “I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and
cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” (Hosea 14:5)
Fourthly,
the dew distills regardless of our efforts to stop it. God has placed His
operative will in nature to effect the accumulation of the morning dew. Man
cannot interfere with its formation. Many sinners that we might never expect to
be receptive to the Word of God are changed in a moment – in the twinkling of
an eye. This is the marvelous effect of God’s Word, tempered by the gentle
Comforter.
Fifthly, the natural dew comes only
during the nighttime. It does not distill in the noon day hour. The Word of God
also comes to us at moments when we realize that we are in darkness and need
the Light of the World to illumine our souls. We must get still and hear the
voice of God’s Dew. It will not form in blustery winds, or immoderate music and
social clamor. “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among
the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalms
46:10)
There is another way in which the natural dews are like the
Word of God. The natural dews do not cover all ground with equal abundance.
Dry, parched earth will often remain dry after the dews have moistened all
plants there about. Some consciences have become seared as with a hot iron, and
not longer receptive to the Word of God or to His Holy Spirit. “
1 Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in
hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;” (1
Tim 4:1-2) God
speaks always, but our continual disregard for His Voice may deafen our ears to
hearing future tones of it. There are many who, through habitual sin and
disregard of the Holy Ghost, cannot hear the voice of God though it continually
speaks.
I saw this explanation of the natural cause of dew formation
in a book of illustrations: “According to the encyclopedia, “dew” is the
name given to tiny, glistening drops of water, that often appear on plants and
blades of grass early on clear mornings. The dew point is the temperature at
which moisture in the air begins to condense. Objects receive heat from the sun
during the day by the direct process of radiation. But, when night comes, the
blade of grass is not able to retain the heat that is stored during the day.
So, the little grass becomes cool. Also, the air around it becomes cool as
well. Then, when the air reaches the dew point, it can no longer hold all the
moisture that’s present in the air, and so it deposits this excess moisture as
dew on the blade of grass.” Sounds like a fifth grade science class doesn’t
it? Though simple, it is true. The Manna of Moses was covered with dew. The
graces and mercies of God are covered, too, with the dew of His Word. When we
are passing through the night hours of the world, our hearts grow cool of
devotion, but, when the heart of a Christian begins to cool to a certain point –
the dew point of God, then His great love and mercies distill in our hearts and
prepare us for the coming battles of the day. This is just like God, isn’t it?
The
question to be gleaned from this devotion is this: “Do you allow your heart to
be soaked by the dew of God’s word daily – especially early in the morning
while it is yet dark? Do you seek His counsel first of all before hearing that
of men? Do you have the early morning thirst of David? “O God, thou art
my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth
for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy
glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.” (Psalms
63:1-2)
If
not, you may never know the Dews of Heaven.
