A plentiful rain.
Closely rendered, "A rain of free bounty didst thou shed forth, O God! Thine inheritance, when weary, thou strengthenedst it." In the poetic Hebrew phrase, the land suffering from drought is said to be "weary;" as if exhausted and thirsting for the rain. If the reference here (as commonly supposed) be to the manna and other blessings, even including spiritual blessings, bestowed by God on Israel; yet the image is drawn from nature. Nothing is more delightful to every sense than an abundant rain after scorching drought. None of God's works is more full of usefulness, beauty, or spiritual symbolism than the rain. Take some of its lessons.
I. THE RICHES OF GOD'S BOUNTY. As its uncounted millions of drops fall from the sky, they vividly remind us that "every good gift is from above." All life, of man and lower creatures, hangs on those tiny drops. In wells, springs, storage reservoirs, they furnish the life-giving draught; which lacking, intolerable torments of thirst would presently end in death. At the roots of grass, corn, trees, plants of divers kinds they are food for man and beast; and not food only, but clothing, habitation, fuel, inexhaustible material of industry. Gathered in streams and rivers, or vanishing again in steam, they are motive power, slaves of traffic, builders of homesteads and of cities. Truly does another psalm say, "Thou greatly enrichest it." Our wealth and luxury, as well as food and drink, descend in the "plentiful rain."
II. THE GENTLENESS OF DIVINE POWER. The silent softness with which the raindrops fall conceals the tremendous strength stored up in them. Now and then waterspouts, floods, hailstorms, show how easily the rain may become the minister of ruin and death, instead of nourishment and growth. God's gentleness makes us great. A drop of rain from a mile high will not hurt a child's hand. An ounce of ice from the same height would kill a giant.
III. GOD'S FAR-WORKING POWER AND ALL-EMBRACING WISDOM. The provision for rain—in the seas and oceans covering so large a proportion of our globe; in the heat which raises the vapour, the winds which bear the clouds, the forces by which the rain drops are formed and fail—presents a network of contrivance encompassing the whole globe; one of the most wonderful and beautiful examples of creative design. No wonder the references in the Bible are so numerous: St. Paul, to the idolaters of Lystra (Acts 14:17); Amos 5:8; Jeremiah 14:22; our Saviour (Matthew 5:45). The general laws according to which this prime necessary of life is supplied are simple and uniform, and there are regions in which they work with monotonous regularity; but in the countries chosen for the principal education of the human race there is a wide margin of mystery and apparent irregularity, which seems specially intended to give scope for the discipline of providence and for prayer (Amos 4:7, Amos 4:8; James 5:17, James 5:18).
IV. THE RAIN IS THE IMAGE OF SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS, ESPECIALLY OF DIVINE TRUTH AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Isaiah 4:1-6:10, 11; Isaiah 44:3, Isaiah 44:4; Ezekiel 36:25, Ezekiel 36:26.) And as the rain falls in vain on the sea and on the sandy waste, so the truth and grace of God are offered in vain to thankless, unbelieving hearts (Hebrew Ezekiel 6:7, Ezekiel 6:8; 2 Corinthians 6:1).