I. Notice, first, the characters here described. They are sowers. Of course a sower implies seed, and it will be well for us to acknowledge at the outset that there is only one granary, so to speak, in which the living seed of the kingdom is treasured, viz., the Bible. (1) The true spiritual sower, having first of all received himself the seed, will manifest a real love for the work. He will go forth willingly, conscientiously, and lovingly to scatter broadcast the precious treasure, not merely on well-cultivated patches of human soil, but "beside all waters," finding very often his chiefest joy in sowing the unlikeliest patches. (2) The true spiritual sower will not only have an ardent love for, but he will also have faith in, his work. This is eminently the case with the earthly husbandman. You see him yonder on the eastern hill-slope with seed-basket in one hand, and the other employed in casting forth the seed. And think you that he would be at all that trouble unless he firmly and in his deepest soul believed, nay, was certain, that the glad harvest-home would crown at length his efforts? If the earthly sower has such faith in the vitality of his seed, how much more should we in that seed of the Word which liveth, abideth for ever. (3) The true spiritual sower will not only have faith in the seed, but also in the soil. The farmer who does not believe the soil capable of producing fruit will certainly not waste time in its cultivation. If we did not to-night believe that between every human heart and the Gospel seed there was such affinity that it could not help taking root therein, we should most certainly give up our toil. (4) The true spiritual sower will often encounter difficulty in his work. (5) The spiritual sower is earth's truest philanthropist.
II. Consider our sphere of operation "beside all waters." Wherever there is a solitary spot capable of receiving the good and living seed whether at home or abroad, in dens of squalor or palaces of luxury and ease, in the crowded city or the rural village we are commanded to go and plant it there.
III. Consider the benediction here pronounced. "Blessed are they that sow beside all waters." (1) The work itself is its own reward. (2) The spiritual sower enjoys the benediction of others. (3) He has the smile and benediction of Him in whose service he is engaged.
J. W. Atkinson, Penny Pulpit,No. 940.
Reference: Isaiah 32:20. Preacher's Monthly,vol. i., p. 497.