Evening, May 3
Go To Morning Reading
“A very present help.”
Psalm 46:1
Covenant blessings are not meant to be looked at only, but to be appropriated.
Even our Lord Jesus is given to us for our present use. Believer,
thou dost not make use of Christ as thou oughtest to do. When thou
art in trouble, why dost thou not tell him all thy grief? Has he not
a sympathizing heart, and can he not comfort and relieve thee? No,
thou art going about to all thy friends, save thy best Friend, and
telling thy tale everywhere except into the bosom of thy Lord. Art
thou burdened with this day’s sins? Here is a fountain filled with blood: use it, saint, use it.
Has a sense of guilt returned upon thee? The pardoning grace of Jesus
may be proved again and again. Come to him at once for cleansing.
Dost thou deplore thy weakness? He is thy strength: why not lean upon
him? Dost thou feel naked? Come hither, soul; put on the robe of Jesus’ righteousness. Stand not looking at it, but wear it. Strip off thine
own righteousness, and thine own fears too: put on the fair white
linen, for it was meant to wear . Dost thou feel thyself sick? Pull the night-bell of prayer, and
call up the Beloved Physician! He will give the cordial that will
revive thee. Thou art poor, but then thou hast “a kinsman, a mighty man of wealth.” What! wilt thou not go to him, and ask him to give thee of his abundance,
when he has given thee this promise, that thou shalt be joint heir
with him, and has made over all that he is and all that he has to
be thine? There is nothing Christ dislikes more than for his people
to make a show-thing of him, and not to use him. He loves to be employed
by us. The more burdens we put on his shoulders, the more precious
will he be to us.
“Let us be simple with him, then,
Not backward, stiff, or cold,
As though our Bethlehem could be
What Sinai was of old.”