Evening, October 31
Go To Morning Reading
“I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.”
Hosea 13:5
Yes, Lord, thou didst indeed know me in my fallen state , and thou didst even then choose me for thyself. When I was loathsome
and self-abhorred, thou didst receive me as thy child, and thou didst
satisfy my craving wants. Blessed forever be thy name for this free,
rich, abounding mercy. Since then, my inward experience has often been a wilderness; but thou hast owned me still as thy
beloved, and poured streams of love and grace into me to gladden me,
and make me fruitful. Yea, when my outward circumstances have been at the worst, and I have wandered in a land of drought,
thy sweet presence has solaced me. Men have not known me when scorn
has awaited me, but thou hast known my soul in adversities, for no
affliction dims the lustre of thy love. Most gracious Lord, I magnify
thee for all thy faithfulness to me in trying circumstances, and I
deplore that I should at any time have forgotten thee and been exalted
in heart, when I have owed all to thy gentleness and love. Have mercy
upon thy servant in this thing!
My soul, if Jesus thus acknowledged thee in thy low estate, be sure
that thou own both himself and his cause now that thou art in thy
prosperity. Be not lifted up by thy worldly successes so as to be
ashamed of the truth or of the poor church with which thou hast been
associated. Follow Jesus into the wilderness: bear the cross with
him when the heat of persecution grows hot. He owned thee, O my soul,
in thy poverty and shame—never be so treacherous as to be ashamed of him. O for more shame
at the thought of being ashamed of my best Beloved! Jesus, my soul
cleaveth to thee.
“I'll turn to thee in days of light,
As well as nights of care,
Thou brightest amid all that’s bright!
Thou fairest of the fair!”