March 6
GUARDIAN OF THE FATHERLESS
"In thee the fatherless findeth mercy" Hos. 14:3
This is an excellent reason for casting away all other confidences
and relying upon the Lord alone. When a child is left without its
natural protector, our God steps in and becomes his guardian: so also
when a man has lost every object of dependence, he may cast himself
upon the living God and find in Him all that he needs. Orphans are
cast upon the fatherhood of God, and He provides for them. The writer
of these pages knows what it is to hang on the bare arm of God, and he
bears his willing witness that no trust is so well warranted by facts,
or so sure to be rewarded by results, as trust in the invisible but
ever living God.
Some children who have fathers are not much the better off because
of them, but the fatherless with God are rich. Better have God and no
other friend than all the patrons on the earth and no God. To be
bereaved of the creature is painful, but so long as the Lord remains
the fountain of mercy to us, we are not truly orphaned. Let fatherless
children plead the gracious word for this morning, and let all who
have been bereaved of visible support do the same. Lord, let me find
mercy in thee! The more needy and helpless I am, the more confidently
do I appeal to thy loving heart.