the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
June 4—Morning—Song of Solomon 4:16
"Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south; blow upon my garden."—Song of Solomon 4:16.
Are these the words of my Lord? Yes, surely, they can be no other; for none but Jesus can send the Holy Ghost to his church and people. And besides, none can call the church "my garden," but he that is the rightful owner of it. Surely, Lord, it is thine, both by thy Father’s gift, and by thy choice, and by thy purchase, and by the conquests of thy grace, and by the voluntary surrender of thy people, when thou hast made them willing in the day of thy power. And dost thou call then, both the north wind and the south, thou dearest Lord, to blow upon my soul? Dost thou command all suited influences of thy grace to visit me, that one may search, and another warm my affections, and call thine own gifts and graces forth in exercise, upon thy glorious Person, and thy glorious work? Oh come then, thou Holy Spirit, with all thy sweet and precious offices. Come, Lord, to convince and comfort me, to humble and direct me, to chill my affections to the world, and to warm them towards the Lord Jesus. Come, thou holy, gracious, almighty, quickener, reviver, restorer, and glorifier of my God and Saviour! Oh if thou wilt make my soul like the chariots of Amminadib, and cause those graces thou hast planted there to go forth in a way of love, and desire, and faith, and expectation, and hope upon the Person and glory of him whom my soul loveth, then shall I cry out with the church, and say, "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat of his pleasant fruits."
June 4—Evening—Deuteronomy 33:3
"Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thine hand."—Deuteronomy 33:3.
My soul, here is a very blessed portion to meditate upon in the night watches, and to lie down with, reposing in the bosom of Jesus. The word yea, is a sweet scripture word, and very strong to the purpose. God’s "yeas," and "amens," are firmer than all the oaths of creatures; and when Jehovah puts his yea to the love that he hath to his people, it ought to give great comfort and confidence to our faith. And Oh what testimonies hath Jehovah, in his three-fold character of person, manifested, in the Father’s love, the Redeemer’s grace, and the Holy Ghost’s fellowship, in proof of this affection! Blessed Lord! help me to keep it in remembrance. But, my soul, do not stop here. Mark what the Holy Ghost hath said, as a farther testimony of it: "All his saints are in thine hand." In whatever point of view we read these words, they become blessed. Whether the saints of the Lord Jesus, here spoken of, be old testament saints, or new testament believers, the sense is the same. Jesus committed all his people into his Father’s hands. "Keep them," cried the Saviour, in that divine prayer, the specimen of his holy intercession, "keep, holy Father, through thine own name, those whom thou hast given me!" John 17:11. And hence, the Redeemer elsewhere saith, "My sheep shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them me, is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand; I and my Father are one." John 10:28-30. Think, my soul, how eternally safe and secure must the church of Jesus be, thus kept by the mighty power of God, through faith, unto salvation! What shall unclasp the hands of Jehovah? Who shall wrest the weakest, the humblest, the poorest of Christ’s little ones, from the holding of his omnipotency? Why then art thou, my soul, so frequently exercised with fears, and doubts, and misgivings? It is the Lord’s love that is the foundation of thy assurance, and not the strength of thy graces! His own free mercy, and not thy merit, were the first causes of thy calling; and what is it now, in thy present preservation, but the same which holds thee up, and carries thee through every difficulty? "Yea, he loved the people:" that is, the source, the reason, the sole motive. And their safety he secures: "All his saints are in thy hands!" Precious Lord Jesus! it is enough. How shall a child of thine perish, when secured by such almighty support? Oh! to hear thy voice, in the soft whispers of thy love, comforting my soul, as thou didst the church of old: "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget; yet, will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."
