May 28
REMIND GOD OF HIS PROMISE
"And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good" Gen. 32:12
This is the sure way of prevailing with the Lord in prayer. We may
humbly remind Him of what He has said. Our faithful God will never run
back from His word, nor will He leave it unfulfilled; yet He loves to
be enquired of by His people, and put in mind of His promise. This is
refreshing to their memories, reviving to their faith, and renewing to
their hope. God's Word is given, not for His sake, but for ours. His
purposes are settled, and He needs nothing to bind Him to His design
of doing His people good; but He gives the promise for our
strengthening and comfort. Hence He wishes us to plead it, and say to
Him, "Thou saidst."
"I will surely do thee good" is just the essence of all the Lord's
gracious sayings. Lay a special stress on the word "surely." He will
do us good, real good, lasting good, only good, every good. He will
make us good, and this is to do us good in the very highest degree. He
will treat us as He does his saints while we are here, and that is
good. He will soon take us to be with Jesus and all His chosen, and
that is supremely good. With this promise in our hearts we need not
fear angry Esau, nor anyone else. If the Lord will do us good, who can
do us hurt?