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Title: The Faithful Promiser
Author: John Ross Macduff
Release Date: November 28, 2008 [EBook #27344]
Language: English
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THE FAITHFUL PROMISER.
By the Author of
"THE WORDS OF JESUS,"
"THE MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES,"
ETC.
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great
and precious promises."--2 Pet. i. 4.
NEW YORK:
STANFORD & DELISSER,
No. 508, BROADWAY.
1858.
The Faithful Promiser.
It has often been felt a delightful exercise by the child of God, to
take, night by night, an individual promise and plead it at the
mercy-seat. Often are our prayers _pointless_, from not following, in
this respect, the example of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, the Royal
Promise pleader, who delighted to direct his finger to some particular
"word" of the Faithful Promiser, saying, "Remember Thy word unto Thy
servant, on which thou hast caused me to hope!"
The following are a few gleanings from the Promise Treasury,--a few
crumbs from "the Master's Table," which may serve to help the thoughts
in the hour of closet meditation, or the season of sorrow.
ST. M----,
_December_, 1849.
1ST DAY OF MONTH.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool."--ISAIAH i. 18.
Pardoning Grace.
My soul! thy God summons thee to His audience chamber! Infinite purity
seeks to reason with infinite vileness! Deity stoops to speak to dust!
Dread not the meeting. It is the most gracious, as well as wondrous of
all conferences. Jehovah himself breaks silence! He utters the best
tidings a lost soul or a lost world can hear: "God is in Christ
reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing unto men their
trespasses." What! _Scarlet_ sins, and _crimson_ sins! and these all to
be forgiven and forgotten! The just God "justifying" the unjust!--the
mightiest of all beings, the kindest of all! Oh! what is there in thee
to merit such love as this? Thou mightest have known thy God only as the
"consuming fire," and had nothing before thee save "a fearful looking
for of vengeance!" This gracious conference bids thee dispel thy fears!
It tells thee it is no longer a "fearful," but a _blessed_ thing to fall
into His hands? Hast thou closed with these His overtures? Until thou
art at peace with Him, happiness must be a stranger to thy bosom. Though
thou hast all else beside, bereft of God thou must be "bereft indeed."
Lord! I come! As thy pardoning grace is freely tendered, so shall I
freely accept it. May it be mine, even now, to listen to the gladdening
accents, "Son! Daughter! be of good cheer! thy sins, which are many, are
all forgiven thee."
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
2D DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"As thy days, so shall thy strength be."--DEUT. xxxiii. 25.
Needful Grace.
God does not give grace till the hour of trial comes. But when it
_does_ come, the amount of grace, and the nature of the special grace
required is vouchsafed. My soul, do not dwell with painful apprehension
on the future. Do not anticipate coming sorrows; perplexing thyself with
the grace needed for future emergencies; to-morrow will bring its
promised grace along with to-morrow's trials. God, wishing to keep His
people humble, and dependent on himself, gives not a stock of grace; He
metes it out for every day's exigencies, that they may be constantly
"travelling between their own emptiness and Christ's fulness"--their own
weakness and Christ's strength. But _when_ the exigency comes, thou
mayest safely trust an Almighty arm to bear thee through! Is there now
some "thorn in the flesh" sent to lacerate thee? Thou mayest have been
entreating the Lord for its removal. Thy prayer has, doubtless, been
heard and answered; but not in the way, perhaps, expected or desired by
thee. The "thorn" may still be left to goad, the trial may still be left
to buffet; but "more grace" has been given to endure them. Oh! how often
have His people thus been led to glory in their infirmities and triumph
in their afflictions, seeing the power of Christ rests more abundantly
upon them! The strength which the hour of trial brings, often makes the
Christian a wonder to himself!
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
3D DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always
having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good
work."--2 COR. ix. 8.
All-Sufficient Grace.
"All-sufficiency in all things!" Believer! surely thou art "thoroughly
furnished!" Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances. It is a
glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock, but never
empty. A fountain, "full, flowing, _ever_ flowing, _over_flowing." Mark
these three ALL's in this precious promise. It is a three-fold link in a
golden chain, let down from a throne of grace by a God of grace.
"_All-grace!_"--"_all-sufficiency!_" in "_all things!_" and these to
"abound." Oh! precious thought! My want cannot impoverish that
inexhaustible treasury of grace! Myriads are hourly hanging on it, and
drawing from it, and yet there is no diminution: "Out of that fulness
all we too may receive, and grace for grace!" My soul, dost not thou
love to dwell on that all-abounding grace? Thine own insufficiency in
every thing, met with an "all-sufficiency in all things!" Grace in all
circumstances and situations, in all vicissitudes and changes, in all
the varied phases of the Christian's being. Grace in sunshine and
storm--in health and in sickness--in life and in death. Grace for the
old believer and the young believer, the tried believer, and the weak
believer, and the tempted believer. Grace _for_ duty, and grace _in_
duty,--grace to carry the joyous cup with a steady hand,--grace to drink
the bitter cup with an unmurmuring spirit,--grace to have prosperity
sanctified,--grace to say, through tears, "Thy will be done!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
4TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to
you."--JOHN xiv. 18.
Comforting Grace.
Blessed Jesus! How thy presence sanctifies trial, takes loneliness from
the chamber of sickness, and the sting from the chamber of death! Bright
and Morning Star! precious at all times, thou art never _so_ precious as
in "the dark and cloudy day!" The bitterness of sorrow is well worth
enduring to have thy promised consolations. How well qualified, thou Man
of Sorrows, to be my Comforter! How well fitted to dry my tears, Thou
who didst shed so many thyself! What are _my_ tears--my sorrows--my
crosses--my losses, compared with Thine, who didst shed first Thy tears,
and then Thy blood for _me_! Mine are all deserved, and infinitely more
than deserved. How different, O Spotless Lamb of God, those pangs which
rent Thy guiltless bosom! How sweet those comforts Thou hast promised to
the comfortless, when I think of them as flowing from an Almighty
_Fellow-Sufferer_,--"A brother born for adversity,"--the "Friend that
sticketh closer than any brother!"--one who can say, with all the
refined sympathies of a holy exalted human nature, "I know your
sorrows!" My soul! calm thy griefs! There is not a sorrow thou canst
experience, but Jesus, in the treasury of grace, has an exact
corresponding solace: "In the multitude of the _sorrows_ I have in my
heart, Thy _comforts_ delight my soul!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
5TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as
wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail
not."--LUKE xxii. 31, 32.
Restraining Grace.
What a scene does this unfold! Satan tempting--Jesus praying! Satan
sifting--Jesus pleading! "The strong man assailing"--"the stronger than
the strong" beating him back! Believer? here is the past history and
present secret of thy safety in the midst of temptation. An interceding
Saviour was at thy side, saying to every threatening wave, "Thus far
shalt thou go, and no farther?" God often permits His people to be on
the very verge of the precipice, to remind them of their own weakness;
_but never farther than the verge!_ The restraining hand and grace of
Omnipotence is ready to rescue them. "Although he fall, yet shall he not
be cast down utterly; and why? for the Lord upholdeth him with His right
hand!" The wolf may be prowling for his prey; but what can he do when
the Shepherd is always there, tending with the watchful eye that
"neither slumbers nor sleeps?" Who cannot subscribe to the testimony,
"When my foot slipped, Thy mercy, O Lord! held me up?" Who can look back
on his past pilgrimage, and fail to see it crowded with Ebenezers, with
this inscription: "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes
from tears, and my feet from falling?" My soul, where wouldst thou have
been this day, hadst thou not been "_kept_" by the power of God?
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
6TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"I will heal their backsliding."--HOSEA xiv. 4.
Restoring Grace.
Wandering again! And has He not left me to perish? Stumbling and
straying on the dark mountains, away from the Shepherd's eye and the
Shepherd's fold, shall He not leave the erring wanderer to the fruit of
his own ways, and his truant heart to go hopelessly onward in its career
of guilty estrangement? "My thoughts," says God, "are not as your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." Man would say, "Go, perish!
ungrateful apostate!" God says, "Return, ye backsliding children!" The
Shepherd _will_ not, _cannot_ suffer the sheep to perish He has
purchased with His own blood. How wondrous His forbearance towards
it!--tracking its guilty steps, and ceasing not the pursuit till He lays
the wanderer on His shoulders, and returns with it to His fold
rejoicing! My soul! why increase by farther departures thine own
distance from the fold?--why lengthen the dreary road thy gracious
Shepherd has to traverse in bringing thee back? Delay not thy return!
Provoke no longer His patience; venture no farther on forbidden ground.
He waits with outstretched arms to welcome thee once more to His bosom.
Be humble for the past, trust Him for the future. Think of thy former
backslidings, and tremble; think of His forbearance, and be filled with
holy gratitude; think of His promised grace, "and take courage."
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
7TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ."--PHIL. i. 6.
Sanctifying Grace.
Reader! is the good work begun in thee? Art thou holy? Is sin
crucifying? Are thy heart's idols, one by one abolished? Is the world
less to thee, and eternity more to thee? Is more of thy Saviour's image
impressed on thy character, and thy Saviour's love more enthroned in thy
heart? Is "Salvation" to thee more "the one thing needful?" Oh! take
heed! there can be no middle ground, no standing still; or if it be so,
thy position must be a false one. The Saviour's blood is not more
necessary to give thee a title to Heaven, than His Spirit to give thee a
meetness for it. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is _none
of His_!" "Onwards!" should be thy motto. There is no standing still in
the life of faith. "The man," says Augustine, "who says '_Enough_,' that
man's soul is lost?" Let this be the superscription in all thy ways and
doings, "Holiness to the Lord." Let the monitory word exercise over thee
its habitual power, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."
Moreover, remember, that to be holy, is to be happy. The two are
convertible terms. Holiness! It is the secret and spring of the joy of
angels; and the more of holiness attained on earth--the nearer and
closer my walk is with God--the more of a sweet earnest shall I have of
the bliss that awaits me in a holy Heaven. Oh! my soul, let it be thy
sacred ambition to "Be holy!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
8TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be
weary; they shall walk, and not faint."--ISAIAH xl. 31.
Reviving Grace.
"Wilt thou not revive us, O Lord?" My soul! art thou conscious of thy
declining state? Is thy walk less with God, thy frame less heavenly?
Hast thou less conscious nearness to the mercy-seat,--diminished
communion with thy Saviour? Is prayer less a privilege than it has
been?--the pulsations of spiritual life more languid, and fitful, and
spasmodic?--the bread of life less relished?--the seen, and the
temporal, and the tangible, displacing the unseen and eternal? Art thou
sinking down into this state of drowsy self-contentment, this
conformity-life with the world, forfeiting all the happiness of true
religion, and risking and endangering the better life to come? Arise!
call upon thy God! "Wilt thou not revive us, O Lord?" He might have
returned nothing but the withering repulse, "How often would I have
gathered thee; but thou wouldst not!" "Ephraim is joined to his idols;
let him alone!" But "in wrath He remembers mercy." "They _shall_ revive
as the corn." "The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." How and where is
reviving grace to be found? He gives thee, in this precious promise, the
key. It is on thy bended _knees_--by a return to thy deserted and
unfrequented chamber! "_They that wait upon the Lord!_" "Wait on the
Lord; be of good cheer, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I
say, on the Lord!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
9TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"The righteous shall hold on his way."--JOB xvii. 9.
Persevering Grace.
Reader! how comforting to thee amid the ebbings and flowings of thy
changing history, to know that the change is all with thee, and not with
thy God! Thy spiritual bark may be tossed on waves of temptation, in
many a dark midnight. Thou mayest think thy pilot hath left thee, and be
ready continually to say, "Where is my God?" But fear not! The bark
which bears thy spiritual destinies is in better hands than thine; a
golden chain of covenant love links it to the eternal throne! That chain
can never snap asunder. He who holds it in His hand gives thee _this_ as
the pledge of thy safety,--"Because I live, ye shall live also." "Why
art thou then cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within
me? _hope thou in God!_" Thou wilt assuredly ride out these stormy
surges, and reach the desired haven. But be faithful with thyself: see
that there be nothing to hinder or impede thy growth in grace. Think how
little may retard thy progress. One sin indulged--one temptation
tampered with--one bosom traitor, may cost thee many a bitter hour and
bitter tear, by separating between thee and thy God. Make it thy daily
prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my
thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting."
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
10TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"I have the keys of hell and of death."--REV. i. 18.
Dying Grace.
And from whom could dying grace come so welcome, as from Thee, O
blessed Jesus? Not only is Thy name, "The Abolisher of Death;" but Thou
didst thyself _die_! Thou hast sanctified the grave by Thine own
presence, and divested it of all its terrors. My soul! art thou at times
afraid of this, thy last enemy? If the rest of thy pilgrimage-way be
peaceful and unclouded, rests there a dark and portentous shadow over
the terminating portals? Fear not! When that dismal entrance is reached,
He who has "the keys of the grave and of death" suspended at His golden
girdle, will impart grace to bear thee through. It is the messenger of
peace. Thy Saviour calls thee! The promptings of nature, when, at first,
thou seest the darkening waves, may be that of the affrighted disciples,
when they said, "It is a spirit, and cried out for fear!" But a gentle
voice will be heard high above the storm, "It is I! Be not afraid!"
Death, indeed, as the wages of sin, must, even by the believer, be
regarded as an enemy. But, oh! blessed thought, it is thy _last_
enemy--the cause of thy last tear. In a few brief moments after that
tear is shed, thy God will be wiping every vestige of it away? "O Death!
where is thy sting? O Grave! where is thy victory? Thanks be unto God,
who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" Welcome,
vanquished foe!--Birthday of heaven!--"to die is gain!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
11TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"The Lord will give grace and glory."--PSALM lxxxiv. 11.
After Grace, Glory.
Oh! happy day, when this toilsome warfare will all be ended, Jordan
crossed, Canaan entered, the legion-enemies of the wilderness no longer
dreaded; sorrow, sighing, death, and, worst of all, _sin_, no more
either to be felt or feared! Here is the terminating link in the golden
chain of the everlasting covenant. It began with _predestination_; it
ends with _glorification_. It began with sovereign grace in a by-past
eternity, and no link will be awanting till the ransomed spirit be
presented faultless before the throne! Grace and glory! If the earnest
be sweet, what must be the reality? If the wilderness table contain such
rich provision, what must be the glories of the eternal banqueting
house? Oh! my soul, make sure of thine interest in the one, as the
blessed prelude to the other. "Having access by faith into this _grace_,
thou canst rejoice in hope of the _glory_ of God;" for "whom He
_justifies_, them He also _glorifies_!" Has grace begun in thee? Canst
thou mark--though it should be but the drops of the incipient rill which
is to terminate in such an ocean--the tiny grains which are to
accumulate and issue in such "an exceeding weight of glory!" Delay not
the momentous question! The day of offered grace is on the wing; its
hours are fast numbering; and, "No grace, no glory!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
12TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter,
that He may abide with you for ever."--JOHN xiv. 16.
Another Comforter.
Blessed Spirit of all grace! how oft have I grieved Thee! resisted Thy
dealings, quenched Thy strivings; and yet art thou still pleading with
me! Oh! let me realize more than I do the need of Thy gracious
influences. Ordinances, sermons, communions, providential dispensations,
are nothing without Thy life-giving power. "It is the Spirit that
quickeneth." "No man can call Jesus, Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
Church of the living God! is not this one cause of thy deadness? My
soul! is not this the secret of thy languishing frames, repeated
declensions, uneven walk, and sudden falls, that the influences of the
Holy Ghost are undervalued and unsought? Pray for the outpouring of this
blessed Agent for the world's renovation, and thine own. "I will pour
out my Spirit on all flesh," is the precursor of millennial bliss.
Jesus! draw near, in thy mercy, to this torpid heart, as thou didst of
old to thy mourning disciples, and breathe upon it, and say, "Receive ye
the Holy Ghost." It is the mightiest of all boons; but, like the sun in
the heavens, it is the freest of all: "For if ye, being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father
in heaven give the Holy Spirit unto them that ask Him!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
13TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"All things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose."--ROM. viii. 28.
Providential Overruling.
My soul! be still! thou art in the hands of thy Covenant God. Were
these strange vicissitudes in thy history the result of accident, or
chance, thou mightest well be overwhelmed; but "_all things_," and
_this_ thing (be what it may) which may be now disquieting thee, is
_one_ of these "_all things_" that are _so_ working mysteriously for thy
good. Trust thy God! He will not deceive thee,--thy interests are with
Him in safe custody. When sight says, "All these things are against me,"
let faith rebuke the hasty conclusion, and say, "Shall not the Judge of
all the earth do right?" How often does God hedge up our way with
thorns, to elicit simple trust! How seldom can we _see_ all things so
working for our good! But it is better discipline to _believe_ it. Oh!
for faith amid frowning providences, to say, "I _know_ that thy
judgments are good;" and, relying in the dark, to exclaim, "Though He
slay me, yet will I trust Him!" Blessed Jesus! to thee are committed the
reins of this universal empire. The same hand that was once nailed to
the cross, is now wielding the sceptre on the throne,--"all power given
unto thee in heaven and in earth." How can I doubt the wisdom, and
faithfulness, and love, of the most mysterious earthly dealing, when I
know that the Roll of Providence is thus in the hands of Him who has
given the mightiest pledge Omnipotence _could_ give of His tender
interest in my soul's well-being, by giving _Himself_ for me?
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
14TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"All the Paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep
His covenant and His testimonies."--PSALM xxv. 10.
Safe Walking.
The paths of the Lord? My soul! never follow thine own paths. If thou
dost so, thou wilt be in danger often of following sight rather than
faith,--choosing the evil, and refusing the good. But "commit thy way
unto the Lord, and He shall bring it to pass." Let this be thy prayer,
"Show me _Thy_ ways, O Lord; teach me _Thy_ paths." Oh! for Caleb's
spirit, "_wholly_ to follow the Lord my God,"--to follow Him when self
must be sacrificed, and hardship must be borne, and trials await me. To
"walk with God,"--to ask in simple faith, "What wouldst thou have me to
do?"--to have no will of my own, save this, that God's will is to be
_my_ will. Here is safety,--here is happiness. Fearlessly follow the
Guiding Pillar. He will lead you by a _right_ way, though it may be by a
way of hardship, and crosses, and losses, and privations, to the city of
habitation. Oh! the blessedness of thus lying passive in the hands of
God; saying, "Undertake thou for me!"--dwelling with holy gratitude on
past mercies and interpositions--taking these as pledges of future
faithfulness and love--hearing His voice behind us, amid life's manifold
perplexities, exclaiming, "This is the way, walk ye in it!" "Happy,"
surely, "are every people who are in such a case!" Happy, Reader! will
it be for thee, if thou canst form the resolve in a strength greater
than thine own: "This God shall be _my_ God for ever and ever; He shall
be my _Guide_ even unto death!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
15TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten."--REV. iii. 19.
Love in Chastisement.
Sorrowing Believer! what couldst thou wish more than this? Thy furnace
is severe; but look at this assurance of Him who lighted it. Love is the
fuel that feeds its flames! Its every spark is love! Kindled by a
Father's hand, and designed as a special pledge of a Father's love. How
many of his dear children has He so rebuked and chastened; and all,
_all_ for one reason, "_I love them!_" The myriads in glory have passed
through these furnace-fires,--_there_ they were chosen,--_there_ they
were purified, sanctified, and made "vessels meet for the Master's use;"
the dross and the alloy purged, that the pure metal might remain. And
art thou to claim exemption from the same discipline? Art thou to think
it strange concerning these same fiery trials that may be trying thee?
Rather exult in them as thine adoption-privilege. Envy not those who are
strangers to the refining flames,--who are "_without chastisement_;"
rather, surely, the severest discipline _with_ a _Father's love_, than
the fullest earthly cup without that Father's smile. Oh! for grace to
say, when the furnace is hottest, and the rod sorest, "Even so,
_Father_!" And what, after all, is the severest of thy chastisements in
comparison with what thy sins have deserved? Dost thou murmur under a
Father's correcting love? What would it have been to have stood the
wrath of an unpropitiated Judge, and that, too, _for ever_? Surely, in
the light of eternity, the heaviest pang of earth is indeed "a light
affliction!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
16TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"If need be."--1 PETER i. 6.
A Condition in Chastisement.
Three gracious words! Not one of all my tears shed for nought! Not one
stroke of the rod unheeded, or that might have been spared? Thy heavenly
Father loves thee too much, and too tenderly, to bestow harsher
correction than thy case requires? Is it loss of health, or loss of
wealth, or loss of beloved friends? Be still! there was a _need be_. We
are no judges of what that "need be" is; often through aching hearts we
are forced to exclaim, "Thy judgments are a great deep!" But God here
pledges himself, that there will not be one redundant thorn in the
believer's chaplet of suffering. No burden too heavy will be laid on
him; and no sacrifice too great exacted _from_ him. He will "temper the
wind to the shorn lamb." Whenever the "need be" has accomplished its
end, then the rod is removed--the chastisement suspended--the furnace
quenched. "If need be!" Oh! what a pillow on which to rest thy aching
head,--that there is not a drop in all thy bitter cup but what a God of
love saw to be _absolutely_ necessary! Wilt thou not trust Him, even
though thou canst not trace the mystery of His dealings? Not too
curiously prying into the "_Why_ it is?" or "_How_ it is?" but satisfied
that "So it is," and, therefore that all _must_ be well! "Although thou
sayest, thou canst not see Him, yet judgment is before Him, _therefore_
trust thou in Him!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
17TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not
quench."--MATT. xii. 20.
Strength in the Weak.
Will Jesus accept such a heart as mine?--this erring, treacherous,
traitor heart? The past! how many forgotten vows--broken
covenants--prayerless days! How often have I made new resolutions, and
as often has the reed succumbed to the first blast of temptation, and
the burning flax been well-nigh quenched by guilty omissions and
guiltier commissions! Oh! my soul! thou art low indeed,--the things that
remain seem "ready to die." But thy Saviour-God will not give thee "over
unto death." The reed is bruised; but He will not pluck it up by the
roots. The flax is reduced to a smoking ember; but He will fan the
decaying flame. Why wound thy loving Saviour's heart by these repeated
declensions? He will not--_cannot_ give thee up. Go, mourn thy weakness
and unbelief. Cry unto the Strong for strength. Weary and faint one!
thou hast an Omnipotent arm to lean on. "_He_ fainteth not, neither is
weary!" Listen to His own gracious assurance: "Fear not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will _strengthen_ thee; yea,
I will help thee with the right hand of my righteousness!" Leaving all
thy false props and refuges, be this thy resolve: "In the Lord put I my
trust: why say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
18TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast
out."--JOHN vi. 37.
Encouragement to the Desponding.
"Cast out!" My soul! how oft might this have been thy history! Thou
hast cast off thy God,--might He not oft have "cast out" thee? Yes! cast
thee out as fuel for the fire of His wrath,--a sapless, fruitless
cumberer. And yet, notwithstanding all thine ungrateful requital for His
unmerited forbearance, He is still declaring, "As I live, saith the
Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." Thy sins may
be legion-like,--the sand of the sea may be their befitting type,--the
thought of their turpitude and aggravation may be ready to overwhelm
thee; but be still! thy patient God waits to be gracious! Oh! be deeply
humbled and softened because of thy guilt, resolve to dedicate thyself
anew to His service, and so coming, "He will _by no means_ cast thee
out!" Despond not by reason of former shortcomings,--thy sins are great,
but thy Saviour's merits are greater. He is willing to forget all the
past, and sink it in oblivion, if there be present love, and the promise
of future obedience. "Simon, son of Jonas, _lovest thou me_?" Ah! how
different is God's verdict from man's! After such sins as thine, man's
sentence would have been, "_I_ will in nowise receive!" But "it is
better to fall into the hands of God, than into the hands of man;" for
He says, "I will in _nowise_ cast out!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
19TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world
giveth."--JOHN xiv. 27.
Peace in Believing.
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee."
"Perfect peace!"--what a blessed attainment! My soul! is it thine? Sure
I am it is _not_, if thou art seeking it in a perishable world, or in
the perishable creature, or in thy perishable self. Although thou hast
all that the world would call enviable and happy, unless thou hast peace
_in_ God, and _with_ God, all else is unworthy of the name;--a spurious
thing, which the first breath of adversity will shatter, and the hour of
death utterly annihilate! Perfect peace! What is it? It is the peace of
forgiveness. It is the peace arising out of a sense of God reconciled
through the blood of the everlasting covenant,--resting sweetly on the
bosom, and the work of Jesus,--to Him committing thine eternal all. My
soul! stay thyself on God, that so this blessed peace may be thine. Thou
hast tried the world. It has deceived thee. Prop after prop of earthly
scaffolding has yielded, and tottered, and fallen. Has thy God ever done
so? Ah! this false and counterfeit world-peace may do well for the
world's work, and the world's day of prosperity. But test it in the hour
of sorrow; and what can it do for thee when most it is needed? On the
other hand, what though thou hast no other blessing on earth to call
thine own? Thou art rich indeed, if thou canst look upwards to Heaven,
and say with "unpresumptuous smile," "I am at peace with God."
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
20TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."--REV. xiv. 13.
Bliss in Dying.
My Soul! is this blessedness thine in prospect? Art thou ready, if
called this night to lie down on thy death-pillow, sweetly to fall
asleep in Jesus? What is the sting of death? It is sin. Is death, then,
to thee, robbed of its sting, by having listened to the gracious accents
of pardoning love, "Be of good cheer, thy sins, which are many, are all
forgiven thee?" If thou hast made up thy peace with God, resting on the
work and atoning blood of His dear Son, then is the Last Enemy divested
of all his terror, and thou canst say, in sweet composure, of thy dying
couch and dying hour,--"I will both lay me down in peace and sleep,
because Thou, Lord, makest me to dwell in safety!" Reader! ponder that
solemn question, "Am I ready to die? Am I living as I should wish I had
done when that last hour arrives?" And when shall it arrive? To-morrow
is not thine. "Verily, there may be but a step between thee and death."
Oh! solve the question speedily,--risk no doubts and no peradventure.
Every day is proclaiming anew the lesson, "The race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong." Seek to live, so that that hour cannot
come upon thee too soon, or too unexpectedly. Live a dying life! How
blessed to live,--how blessed to die, with the consciousness, that there
may be but a step between thee and glory!
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
21ST DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"In due season we shall reap, if we faint not."--GAL. vi. 9.
A Due Reaping.
Believer! all the glory of thy salvation belongs to Jesus,--none to
thyself; every jewel in thine eternal crown is His,--purchased by His
blood, and polished by His Spirit. The confession of time will be the
ascription of all eternity: "By the grace of God I am what I am!" But
though "all be of grace," thy God calls thee to personal strenuousness
in the work of thy high calling;--to "labour," to "fight," to "wrestle,"
to "_agonize_;" and the heavenly reaping will be in proportion to the
earthly sowing: "He that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly;
and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully!" What an
incentive to holy living, and increased spiritual attainments! My soul!
wouldst thou be a star shining high and bright in the firmament of
glory?--wouldst thou receive the ten-talent recompense? Then be not
weary. Gird on thine armour for fresh conquests. Be gaining daily some
new victory over sin. Deny thyself. Be a willing cross-bearer for thy
Lord's sake. Do good to all men as thou hast opportunity; be patient
under provocation, "slow to wrath," resigned in trial. Let the world
take knowledge of thee that thou art wearing Christ's livery, and
bearing Christ's spirit, and sharing Christ's cross. And when the
reaping time comes, He who has promised that the cup of cold water
cannot go unrecompensed, will not suffer thee to lose thy reward!
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
22D DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"The days of thy mourning shall be ended."--ISAIAH lx. 20.
An End of Weeping.
Christ's people are a weeping band, though there be much in this lovely
world to make them joyous and happy. Yet when they think of sin--their
own sin, and the unblushing sins of a world in which their God is
dishonoured--need we wonder at their tears?--that they should be called
"Mourners," and their pilgrimage-home a "Valley of Tears?" Bereavement,
and sickness, and poverty, and death, following the track of sin, add to
their mourning experience; and with many of God's best beloved, one tear
is scarce dried when another is ready to flow! Mourners! rejoice! When
the reaping time comes, the weeping time ends! When the white robe and
the golden harp are bestowed, every remnant of the sackcloth attire is
removed. The moment the pilgrim, whose forehead is here furrowed with
woe, bathes it in the crystal river of life,--that moment the pangs of a
lifetime of sorrow are eternally forgotten! Reader! if thou art one of
these careworn ones, the days of thy mourning are numbered! A few more
throbbings of this aching heart, and then the angel who proclaims
"time," shall proclaim also, sorrow, and sighing, and mourning, to "be
no longer!" Seek now to mourn thy sins more than thy sorrows; reserve
thy bitterest tears for forgetfulness of thy dear Lord. The saddest and
sorest of all bereavements, is when the sins which have separated thee
from Him, evoke the anguish-cry, "Where is my God?"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
23D DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"Behold, I come quickly."--REV. iii. 11.
A Speedy Coming.
"Even so! come, Lord Jesus!" "Why tarry the wheels of Thy chariot?" Six
thousand years this world has rolled on, getting hoary with age, and
wrinkled with sins and sorrows. A waiting Church sees the long-drawn
shadows of twilight announcing, "The Lord is at hand." Prepare, my soul,
to meet Him. Oh! happy days, when thine adorable Redeemer, so long
dishonoured and despised, shall be publicly enthroned, in presence of an
assembled universe, crowned Lord of All, glorified in His saints,
satisfied in the fruits of His soul's travail, destroying His enemies
with the brightness of His coming--the lightning-glance of
wrath,--causing the hearts of His exulting people to "rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory." Prepare, my soul, to meet Him! Let it be
a joyous thought to thee,--thy "blessed hope,"--the meeting of thine
Elder Brother. Stand oftentimes on the watchtower to catch the first
streak of that coming brightness, the first murmur of these chariot
wheels. The world is now in preparation! It is rocking on its worn-out
axle. There are voices on every side proclaiming, "He cometh! He cometh!
to judge the earth." Reader! art thou among the number of those who
"love His appearing?" Remember the attitude of His expectant saints:
"Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh, will find
WATCHING!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
24TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"At evening-time it shall be light."--ZECH. xiv. 7.
Eventide Light.
How inspiring the thought of coming glory! How would we rise above our
sins, and sorrows, and sufferings, if we could live under the power of
"a world to come!" Were faith to take at all times its giant leap beyond
a soul-trammelling earth, and remember its brighter destiny. If it could
stand on its Pisgah Mount, and look above and beyond the mists and
vapours of this land of shadows, and rest on the "better country." But,
alas! in spite of ourselves, the wings ofttimes refuse to soar--the
spirit droops--guilty fears depress--sin dims and darkens--God's
providences seem to frown--God's ways are misinterpreted--the Christian
belies his name and his destiny. But, "At eventide it shall be
light."--The material sun, which wades through clouds and a troubled
sky, sets often in a couch of lustrous gold? So, when the sun of life is
setting, many a ray of light will shoot athwart memory's darkened sky,
and many mysterious dealings of the wilderness will then elicit an "All
is well!" How frequently is the presence and upholding grace of Jesus
especially felt and acknowledged at that hour, and griefs and misgivings
hushed with His own gentle accents, "Fear not! it is I; be not afraid."
A triumphant death-bed! It is no unmeaning word; the eye is lighted with
holy lustre, the tongue with holy rapture, as if the harps of heaven
were stealing on it. My soul! may such a life's evening-tide be thine!
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
25TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know
hereafter."--JOHN xiii. 7.
Heavenly Illumination.
As the natural sun sometimes sinks in clouds, so, occasionally, the
Christian who has a bright rising, and a brighter meridian, sets in
gloom. It is not _always_ "light" at his evening-time; but this we know,
that when the day of immortality breaks, the last vestige of earth's
shadows will for ever flee away. To the closing hour of time, Providence
may be to him a baffling enigma: but ere the first hour has struck on
heaven's chronometer, all will be clear. My soul! "in God's light thou
shalt see light;" the Book of His decrees is a sealed book now,--"A
great deep" is all the explanation thou canst often give to His
judgments; the _why_ and the _wherefore_ He seems to keep from us, to
test our faith, to discipline us in trustful submission, and lead us to
say, "Thy will be done!" But rejoice in that hereafter-light which
awaits thee! Now we see through a glass darkly; but _then_, face to
face. In the great mirror of eternity all the events of this chequered
scene will be reflected; the darkest of them will be seen to be bright
with mercy,--the severest dispensations, "only the severer aspects of
His love!" Pry not, then, too curiously; pronounce not too censoriously
on God's dealings with thee. Wait with patience till the grand day of
disclosures; one confession shall then burst from every tongue,
"Righteous art thou, O Lord!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
26TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am,
there ye may be also."--JOHN xiv. 3.
A Glorious Reunion.
If the meeting of a long absent friend, or brother, on earth, be a
joyous event, what, my soul, must be the joy of thy union with this
Brother of brothers, this Friend of friends! "I will come again!" Oh!
what an errand of love, what a promised honour and dignity is this!--His
saints to share, not His Heaven only, but His immediate presence. "Where
_I am, there ye_ shall be also!" "Father, I _will_ (it was His dying
wish,--a wondrous codicil in that testamentary prayer) that those whom
Thou hast given me be with me where _I am_." Happy reunion! Blessed
Saviour, if Thy presence be so sweet on a sin-stricken earth, and when
known only by the invisible eye of faith, what must be that presence in
a sinless Heaven, unfolded in all its unutterable loveliness and glory!
Happy reunion! it will be a meeting of the whole ransomed family--the
Head with all its members--the Vine with all its branches--the Shepherd
with all His flock--the Elder Brother with all His kinsmen. Oh, the joy,
too, of mutual recognition among the death-divided--ties snapt asunder
on earth, indissolubly renewed--severed friendships reunited--the
triumph of love complete--love binding brother with brother, and friend
with friend, and _all_ to the Elder Brother! My soul! what thinkest thou
of this Heaven? Remember who it is that Jesus says shall sit with Him
upon His throne,--"Him that overcometh."
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
27TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever."--HOSEA ii. 19.
Everlasting Espousals.
How wondrous and varied are the figures which Jesus employs to express
the tenderness of His covenant love! My soul! thy Saviour-God hath
"married thee!" Wouldst thou know the hour of thy betrothment? Go back
into the depths of a by-past eternity, before the world was; then and
there, thine espousals were contracted: "I have loved thee with an
everlasting love." Soon shall the bridal-hour arrive, when thine absent
Lord shall come to welcome His betrothed bride into His royal palace.
"The Bridegroom tarrieth;" but see that thou dost not slumber and sleep!
Surely there is much all around demanding the girded loins and the
burning lamps. At "midnight!" (the hour when He is least expected) the
cry _may_ be--_shall_ be heard,--"Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!" My
soul! has this mystic union been formed between thee and thy Lord? Canst
thou say, in humble assurance of thine affiance in Him, "My beloved is
mine, and I am His!" If so, great, unspeakably great, are the glories
which await thee! Thy dowry, as the bride of Christ, is all that
Omnipotence can bestow, and all that a feeble creature can receive. In
the prospect of those glorious nuptials, thou needest dread no pang of
widowhood. What God has joined together, no created power can take
asunder; He betroths thee, and it is "for ever!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
28TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"This corruptible must put on incorruption."--1 COR. xv. 53.
A Joyful Resurrection.
Marvel of marvels? The sleeping ashes of the sepulchre starting at the
tones of the archangel's trumpet!--the dishonoured dust, rising a
glorified body, like its risen Lord's? At death, the soul's bliss is
perfect in kind; but this bliss is not complete in degree, until
reunited to the tabernacle it has left behind to mingle with the sods of
the valley. But tread lightly on that grave, it contains precious,
because ransomed dust! My body, as well as my spirit, was included in
the redemption price of Calvary; and "them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with Him." Oh! blessed Jubilee-day of creation, when
Christ's "dead men shall arise;"--when, together with His dead body,
they shall come; and the summons shall sound forth, "Awake, and sing, ye
that dwell in the dust!" All the joys of that resurrection morn we
cannot tell; but its chief glory we _do_ know,--"When He shall appear,
we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." Like Him!--My
soul, art thou waiting this manifestation of the sons of God? Like
Him!--Hast thou caught up any faint resemblance to that all-glorious
image? Having this hope in thee, art thou purifying thyself, even as He
is pure? Be much with Jesus now, that thou mayst exult in meeting Him
hereafter. Thus taking Him as thy Guide and Portion in life, thou mayst
lay thee down in thy dark and noisome cell, and look forward with
triumphant hope to the dawn of a resurrection morn, saying, "What time I
awake, I am still with Thee!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
29TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"There shall be no night there."--REV. xxi. 25.
A Nightless Heaven.
My soul! is it night with thee here? Art thou wearied with these
midnight tossings on life's tumultuous sea? Be still! the day is
breaking! soon shall thy Lord appear. "His going forth is prepared as
the morning." That glorious appearing shall disperse every cloud, and
usher in an eternal noontide which knows no twilight. "Thy sun shall no
more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall
be thine everlasting light." Everlasting light! Wondrous secret of a
nightless world!--the glories of a present God!--the everlasting light
of the Three in One, quenching the radiance of all created
orbs--superseding all material luminaries. "My soul waiteth for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning!" The haven is nearing--star
after star is quenched in more glorious effulgence--every bound over
these dark waves is bringing thee nearer the eternal shore. Wilt thou
not, then, humbly and patiently endure "weeping for the night," in the
prospect of the "joy that cometh in the morning?" Strange realities! a
world without night--a firmament without a sun; and, greater wonder
still, _thyself_ in this world,--a joyful denizen of this nightless,
sinless, sorrowless, tearless Heaven!--basking underneath the Fountain
of uncreated light! No exhaustion of glorified body and spirit to
require repose; no lassitude or weariness to suspend the ever-deepening
song: "They _rest not_!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
30TH DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of
glory that fadeth not away."--1 PETER v. 4.
A Crown of Life.
What! is the beggar to be "raised from the dunghill, set among princes,
and made to inherit a throne of glory?" is dust and ashes, a puny rebel,
a guilty traitor, to be pitied, pardoned, loved, exalted from the depths
of despair, raised to the heights of Heaven--gifted with kingly
honour--royally fed--royally clothed--royally attended--and, at last,
royally crowned? O my soul, look forward with joyous emotion to that day
of wonders, when He whose head shall be crowned with many crowns, shall
be the dispenser of royal diadems to His people; and when they shall
begin the joyful ascription of all eternity, "Unto Him that loved us and
washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us KINGS----; to
Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Wilt thou not be
among the number? Shall the princes and monarchs of the earth wade
through seas of blood for a corruptible crown; and wilt thou permit
thyself to lose the incorruptible, or barter it for some perishable
nothings of earth? Oh! that thou wouldst awake to thy high destiny, and
live up to thy transcendant privileges as the citizen of a Kingly
Commonwealth, a member of the blood-royal of Heaven. What wouldst thou
not sacrifice,--what effort wouldst thou grudge, if thou wert included
at last in the gracious benediction, "Come, ye blessed of My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world?"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
31ST DAY.
"He is Faithful that Promised."
"God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain: for the former things are passed away."--REV. xxi. 3, 4.
The Vision and Fruition of God.
Glorious consummation! All the other glories of Heaven are but
emanations from this glory that excelleth. Here is the focus and centre
to which every ray of light converges. God is "all in all." Heaven
_without God_!--it would send a thrill of dismay through the burning
ranks of angels and archangels; it would dim every eye, and hush every
harp, and change the whitest robe into sackcloth. And shall I then,
indeed, "_see God_?" What! shall I gaze on these inscrutable glories,
and live? Yes, God himself shall be with them, and be their God: they
shall "_see his face_!" And not only the vision, but the _fruition_. Oh!
how does sin in my holiest moments damp the enjoyment of Him! It is the
"pure in heart" alone who can "see," far more, who can enjoy "God." Even
if he did reveal himself _now_, these eyes could never endure His
intolerable brightness. But _then_, with a heart purified from
corruption--a world where the taint of sin and the power of temptation
never enters--the soul again a bright mirror, reflecting the lost image
of the Godhead--all the affections devoted to their original high
destiny--the love of God the motive principle, the ruling passion--the
glory of God the undivided object and aim--the will no opposing or
antagonist bias,--man will, for the first time, know all the blessedness
of his chief end,--"to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
All
The Promises of God
In Him
Are Yea and in Him
Amen.
* * * * *
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently corrected.
11th Day: For consistency, "bypast" has been changed to "by-past".
16th Day: For consistency, "1 PETER 1." has been changed to "1 PETER i."
30th Day: The spelling of "transcendant" has been retained.
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