March 16
Morning
"I am a stranger with thee." —
Psa_39:12
Yes, O Lord, with thee, but not to thee. All my natural alienation from
thee, thy grace has effectually removed; and now, in fellowship with thyself, I
walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. Thou art a
stranger in thine own world. Man forgets thee, dishonours thee, sets up new
laws and alien customs, and knows thee not. When thy dear Son came unto his
own, his own received him not. He was in the world, and the world was made by
him, and the world knew him not. Never was foreigner so speckled a bird among
the denizens of any land as thy beloved Son among his mother's brethren. It is
no marvel, then, if I who live the life of Jesus, should be unknown and a
stranger here below. Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien.
His pierced hand has loosened the cords which once bound my soul to earth, and
now I find myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these Babylonians
among whom I dwell an outlandish tongue, my manners are singular, and my
actions are strange. A Tartar would be more at home in Cheapside than I could
ever be in the haunts of sinners. But here is the sweetness of my lot: I am a
stranger with thee. Thou art my fellow-sufferer, my fellow-pilgrim. Oh, what
joy to wander in such blessed society! My heart burns within me by the way when
thou dost speak to me, and though I be a sojourner, I am far more blest than
those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who dwell in their
ceiled houses.
"To me remains nor place, nor time:
My country is in every clime;
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.
While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none:
But with a God to guide our way,
'Tis equal joy to go or stay."
Psalms 39:12
hold: Psa_56:8,
Psa_116:3; 2Sa_16:12 *marg. 2Ki_20:5;
Job_16:20; Heb_5:7
for I am: Psa_119:19,
Psa_119:54; Lev_25:23; 1Ch_29:15;
2Co_5:6; Heb_11:13;
1Pe_1:17, 1Pe_2:11
as all: Gen_47:9
Evening
"Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." — Psa_19:13
Such was the prayer of the "man after God's own heart." Did
holy David need to pray thus? How needful, then, must such a prayer be for us
babes in grace! It is as if he said, "Keep me back, or I shall rush
headlong over the precipice of sin." Our evil nature, like an ill-tempered
horse, is apt to run away. May the grace of God put the bridle upon it, and
hold it in, that it rush not into mischief. What might not the best of us do if
it were not for the checks which the Lord sets upon us both in providence and
in grace! The psalmist's prayer is directed against the worst form of sin-that
which is done with deliberation and wilfulness. Even the holiest need to be
"kept back" from the vilest transgressions. It is a solemn thing to
find the apostle Paul warning saints against the most loathsome sins.
"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which
is idolatry." What! do saints want warning against such sins as these?
Yes, they do. The whitest robes, unless their purity be preserved by divine
grace, will be defiled by the blackest spots. Experienced Christian, boast not
in your experience; you will trip yet if you look away from him who is able to
keep you from falling. Ye whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose
hopes are bright, say not, "We shall never sin," but rather cry,
"Lead us not into temptation." There is enough tinder in the heart of
the best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell, unless God
shall quench the sparks as they fall. Who would have dreamed that righteous Lot
could be found drunken, and committing uncleanness? Hazael said, "Is thy
servant a dog, that he should do this thing?" and we are very apt to use
the same self-righteous question. May infinite wisdom cure us of the madness of
self-confidence.
Psalms 19:13
Keep: Gen_20:6;
1Sa_25:32-34, 1Sa_25:39
presumptuous: Exo_21:14;
Num_15:30-31; Deu_17:12-13; 2Pe_2:10
let: Psa_119:133;
Rom_6:12-14, Rom_6:16-22
upright: Psa_7:10,
Psa_11:7, Psa_84:11;
Act_24:16
I shall: Psa_18:23;
1Ch_10:13-14
great: Heb. much.
Daily Devotions.
Extract from
e-Sword- the sword of the LORD with an electronic
edge.
Through the Bible Day by Day.(F.B Meyer)
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