1 Kings 19:8

And went in the strength of that meal forty days.

Elijah’s repast

I. The prophet’s repast.

1. The sacramental feast is alike simple and plain.

2. Yet is this a mysterious repast.

II. The peculiar unworthiness of the prophet on this occasion.

1. The Lord’s Supper is a repast prepared for sinners!

2. True, they must be penitent, broken-hearted sinners.

3. It is for the weary, burthened, troubled servants of Jesus.

III. The great benefit which the prophet derived from this repast, although he was so unworthy.

1. Spiritual benefits are not necessarily so attached to the Christian feast. (F. Close, M. A.)

Thought, on life

This incident suggests three things.

I. An undesirable possibility in human life. The fact that a man lived forty days and forty nights without food, certainly impresses us with the possibility of his being kept in existence without food for ever. The possibility is obvious. But such a state would clearly be very undesirable. Were men to continue here without food, a disastrous inactivity would ensue. Want of food keeps the world in action, keeps the limbs and faculties of men going. What would life be without action? a weak and worthless thing.

II. The supporting element of all life. What is it that kept Elijah alive without food? The will of God, nothing else; and this is that which supports all created existences every moment. “Man cannot live by bread alone.” God’s will can starve men with bread, and sustain them without it. It is He, not material substances, not food, that sustains life. He may do it with means, or without means, according to His pleasure. Let us not trust in means or secondary causes, but in Him who is the “Fountain of Life.”

III. The Divine care of a godly life. That God takes care of His people individually is

(1) Accordant with reason;

(2) taught by Scripture;

(3) attested by the experience of the good. (Homilist.)