4. They wandered in the wilderness. They wandered,
for the track was lost, no vestige of a road remained; worse still, they
wandered in a wilderness, where all around was burning sand. They were
lost in the worst possible place, even as the sinner is who is lost in sin;
they wandered up and down in vain searches and researches as a sinner does when
he is awakened and sees his lost estate; but it ended in nothing, for they
still continued in the wilderness, though they had hoped to escape from it. In a solitary way. No human dwelling was near, and no other company of
travelers passed within hail. Solitude is a great intensifier of misery. The
loneliness of a desert has a most depressing influence upon the person who is
lost in the boundless waste. The traveler’s way in the wilderness is a waste
way, and when he leaves even that poor, barren trail to get utterly beyond the
path of man, he is in a wretched light indeed. A soul without sympathy is on
the borders of hell: a solitary way is the way of despair. They found no city to dwell in. How could they? There was none. Israel in the wilderness
abode under canvas, and enjoyed none of the comforts of settled life; wanderers
in the Sahara find no town or village. People when under distress of soul find
nothing to rest upon, no comfort and no peace; their efforts after salvation
are many, weary, and disappointing, and the dread solitude of their hearts
fills them with dire distress.
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