Psalms 72:6

How grateful the soft rain must feel to the mown grass, all cut as it is, and, as we imagine it, so sore! But the rain is healing: and so God says He will come to His people “Like rain falling on a mown field.”

There is so much in life that is like the cutting-machine, and the heart becomes sore and needs the healing influences that come from God. No matter what we may call that which is healing to us it is God coming “like rain . . . on a mown field.” And may it be with us as with the beautiful lawns we admire: the more cutting and the more rain, the more beautiful we shall be; but it must not be one, but both. SELECTED

He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.

He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.—Glory to God . . . on earth peace, good will toward men.

Amos tells of “the king’s mowings” (Amos 7:1 KJV). Our King also has many scythes and is constantly using them to mow His lawns. The bell-like sound of the whetstone against the scythe foretells of the cutting down of countless blades of grass, daisies, and other flowers. And as beautiful as they were in the morning, within a few hours they will lie in long, faded rows.

In human life, we try to take a brave stand before the scythe of pain, the shears of disappointment, or the sickle of death. And just as there is no way to cultivate a lawn like velvet without repeated mowings, there is no way to develop a life of balance, tenderness, and sympathy for others without enduring the work of God’s scythes.