the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Bowen's Daily Meditations
"Blessed be God who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me." - Psalms 66:20,
This language is appropriate to one who, having been led to supplicate God with respect to some matter that was very near his heart, has afterwards perhaps waited long and seen many things that appeared to be designed by Providence to extinguish faith and hope, but has persevered in expectation, and finally in some golden hour, never to be forgotten, has received the answer to his prayer, in most abundant measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.
Thus was it perhaps with the sisters of Lazarus, in the day of his sore sickness. His sickness had at first no power to affright them, for they knew the love of Jesus, and judged it sufficient to communicate to him their need. They felt that their prayer must be answered, their brother must be saved; the necessity for it lay very deep, even in the depths of Christ’s own character, who could not but be true unto himself But thenceforward everything seemed to frown upon their expectation. Their brother sank rapidly; Jesus came not; there came no message even. The hours as they vanished seemed to say in louder and still louder tones, " Prayer avails nothing; faith in Christ" is a delusion. And when Lazarus was buried, did it not seem as though all the promises were buried with him, the faithfulness of Christ shut up with him in the sepulcher? But, the stone is at length rolled away, and Lazarus comes forth; best of all, comes forth into the light of noon day the imperishable faithfulness of Christ. Then with over flowing hearts they blessed God, who had not turned away their prayer, nor his mercy from them.
Nothing is more important than that we should cherish a habit of pouring forth our hearts in gratitude to God, in view of his mercy shown in responses to our prayers. One end for which he grants us our desires, is that we may express gratitude to him; and it is therefore a piece of dishonesty in us to neglect this. Gratitude is a most important aid to faith. It serves to sink the memorials of benefits deep into the mind; and our faith, in the hour of prayer, takes great courage from the contemplation of these. And then again, a thing may be a good deal more than itself. In itself a mere trifle, yet as an expression of God’s mercy, and as a token that we have a friend on the throne, it is of priceless value. If we take it without gratitude, a mere trifle; but if we consider well what it betokens, and set our gratitude to work to gather from it a treasure of divine love, this treasure shall not be wanting.
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