The Discipline of Discontentment

''And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord'' (Num. 11:1)

   Bunyan paints a colorful portrait of contentment in his description of the shepherd boy in the Valley of Humiliation, ''Now as they were going along and talking they espied a boy feeding his father's sheep. The boy was in very mean clothes, but of a very fresh and well-favoured countenance; and as he sat by himself he sang: 'Hark,' said Mr. Great-heart, 'to what the shepherd's boy saith.' So they hearkened, and he said:

''He that is down need fear no fall;

He that is low, no pride;

He that is humble, ever shall

Have God to be his guide.

I am content with what I have,

Little be it or much;

And, Lord, contentment still I crave,

Because Thou savest such.

Fulness to such a burden is,

That go on pilgrimage;

Here little, and hereafter bliss

Is best from age to age!''

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   ''Then said their guide, 'Do you hear him? I will dare to say that this boy lives a merrier life, and wears more of that herb called heart's-ease in his bosom, than he that is clad in silk and velvet.' ''

   ''Godliness with contentment is great gain'' (II Tim. 6:6) is the divine commentary on this wholesome and healthful attitude of the soul. On the contrary, the danger of discontentment is written large in the Scriptures. Is it fair to infer that godliness without contentment can be great loss?

   Discontentment disregards the divine Presence promised to the Lord's own. In their wilderness journey the children of Israel had the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, to go before them in the way (Exod. 13:21, 22), to defend them from their foes (14:19, 20), to show them where they should pitch their tents and when they should journey (Num. 9:15-23): the outward, visible assurance of the Covenant presence. By day or by night they had only to look to the pillar above the Tabernacle, to assure them of God's presence, of His going before them, of His help against their foes. To Moses had been given the strong promise, ''My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest'' (Exod. 33:14). Throughout the long wilderness journey it could be said of Moses, ''He endured, as seeing him who is invisible'' (Heb. 11:27). Despite the Divine Presence, the people complained (Num. 11:1). ''They forgot God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt'' (Ps. 106:21).

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   In New Testament times we have no visible indications of His presence with His people, but we have strong and sure statements by the Saviour: ''All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth . . . and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (age)'' (Matt. 28:18, 20). That covenant Presence would be by His Spirit, as He explained to His disciples in the upper room: ''If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you'' (John 14:15-17). Sweet, wonderful, gracious Presence of the Lord! With us by His Spirit, whom we disregard when we are discontent!

   Discontentment despises the promises of God. The children of Israel had been led out of the iron furnace of Egypt by the strong hand of God, to go to the land promised unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exod. 13:3-5). When dissatisfaction gripped their spirit they ''despised the pleasant land'' (Ps. 106:24), and remembered only ''the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic'' (Num. 11:5). Complaint caused them to prefer onions and garlic in Egypt's hard bondage to freedom in a land flowing with milk and honey!

   When we are discontent do we not despise our Lord's promises; not only that of His present presence

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with us, but also of His future provision for us? Did He not say, ''Let not your heart be troubled . . . in my Father's house are many mansions''? (John 14:1, 2). When Peter, spokesman for the others, reminded Him, ''Lo, we have left all, and followed thee,'' He replied at once, ''Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting'' (Luke 18:28-30). Ample promises for time and for eternity.

   Discontentment discounts the provision God makes for us. For the children of Israel there was daily bread, day by day, in the form of manna, enough for everybody (Exod. 16:4, 14-18). To the hungry and grateful people to whom it came ''it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey'' (vs. 31). When they became disgruntled they could declare with disdain, ''But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes'' (Num. 11:6). By that time ''the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil'' (vs. 8). The taste of honey when they were delighted, the taste of fresh oil when they were discontented!

   Does that alteration of taste caused by change of attitude seem altogether far-fetched to us; or do we remember seasons when the Word of God is exceedingly sweet to our taste, and when, under the cloud of complaint we find it to be tasteless and commonplace?

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Honey, or oil, dependent upon our delight in the Word, or our discounting it! Without the Word, how weak and wretched we can feel; with it, how sturdy and strong. ''Godliness, with contentment, is great gain.''

   The children of Israel not only discounted the provision of God but also desired the destructive. The divine commentary on their experience says, ''They waited not for his counsel: but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul'' (Ps. 106:13-15). Discontent abounding, desire accomplished, only to turn to destruction of their own good. God deliver us from the ''leanness of soul'' that proceeds from the persistence of our discontent and insistence on our desire!

   Discontentment displeases God (Num. 11:1). Imagine an Israelite, delivered from the bitter bondage of Egypt, led by the pillar of cloud and fire, fed by daily manna, doing anything to displease God his Saviour! It is recorded that the Lord ''hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant'' (Ps. 35:27), that He delights to do good always unto them: ''For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness'' (107:9). It is possible to be a disappointment unto our Lord by not believing Him, for ''without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him'' (Heb. 11:6). Of Israel it is

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said, ''They believed not his word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord'' (Ps. 106:24, 25). Unbelief that displeased Him; murmuring that hardened their ears to His Voice!

   Of the people of Nazareth it is recorded that the Lord Jesus ''marvelled because of their unbelief'' (Mk. 6:6). They had seen Him in His youth, they had heard of His wisdom and mighty works (6:1); but they had only scorn for Him, saying ''Is not this the carpenter?'' (vs. 3). Of their attitude the Lord had to say, ''A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house'' (vs. 4). Unbelief that made impossible any deeds of mercy in their behalf! Could that not be said of Israel complaining in the wilderness; but what about us who also have the Lord's presence, promises and provision?

   Discontentment may be a natural part of our disposition, but contentment can become a major characteristic of our Christian life. The Apostle Paul could testify, ''Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me'' (Phil. 4:11-13). I have learned, I have been instructed, I can do all in Christ—that is the process of achieving contentment. At the very sunset of life

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the Apostle could say, ''Having food and raiment let us be therewith content'' (I Tim. 6:8).

   The discipline of discontentment is to turn from a complaining spirit, and the criticism that corrodes, from the dissatisfaction that displeases God, to a thankful attitude and ''a merry heart (that) doeth good like a medicine'' (Prov. 17:22), to the faith and the praise that bring pleasure to the heart of the Almighty. It is to be ''content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me'' (Heb. 13:5, 6).

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?

The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging

round?

On Jesus' bosom naught but calm is found.

Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?

In Jesus' keeping we are safe, and they.

                                                      —Edward H. Bickersteth.

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Hush

''Bowed and bended,

Undefended,

Stripped and stunned;

Apprehended

For God's best,

For nature's worst,

For God's rest,

And slacked thirst,

For the deep peace

Undisturbed,

And the heart-throb

Unperturbed—

''Gripped by God

The soul at last

Finds the battle

Is all past.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .

''Sweet and silent

God-protected;

Closely welded

God-connected

In God's Will—

All is still.''

Chapter Twenty-three  ||  Table of Contents