the Fourth Week after Easter
Click to donate today!
Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
June 17—Morning—Psalms 23:3
"He restoreth my soul."—Psalms 23:3.
Yes, Lord, it is indeed thou that bringest back the strayed sheep; for as no man ever quickened, so none can keep alive his own soul. It was indeed thy promise, and most graciously dost thou fulfil it!—"As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep, so will I seek out my sheep, and bring again that which was driven away." Ezekiel 34:11-16. My soul, mark this trait of character in thy Jesus for thy morning meditation. It is well for thee that restoring work, reclaiming work, reviving work, all is with Jesus; begins in him, and is carried on and completed by him, and through his grace in thee. And it is well for thee, my soul, that though thou so often failest in all things towards thy Jesus, yet he never faileth in his love to thee in any thing. Sweet consideration! his love, and not thy deserts, become the standard for all his tenderness to his people. And mark it down, my soul, in strong characters, that Jesus’s grace is much shewn this way. He doth not wait our return, for then we should never return at all; neither doth he wait our cry for help, but he puts that cry into the soul. Alas, how often have we wandered and gone away, even before that we were sensible of our departure. How blessed is it then to see and know that Jesus’s eye is upon us, and that before we return to him, he is coming forth to us. His love, his pity, his compassion, are the security of his people’s recovery. Yes, Lord, it is thou that restorest my soul. Praises to thy name, for thou doest it all in such a way as proves it to be for thy great name’s sake, that thy grace comes freely and without upbraiding. "He restoreth my soul, and leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake."
June 17—Evening—John 1:29-37
"I shall behold man no more, with the inhabitants of the world."—Isaiah 38:11.
My soul, though thou art, I trust, prepared for thy great change, and in an habitual state for death, whenever the Lord shall come to take thee home; yet there is also an actual state of being on the lookout for it, so that it is proper at times to go down to the grave in imagination, before thou art carried thither in reality; that by earthing thyself, thou mayest consider what will be the immediate consequences of death in those things which are now most about thee, and with which thou art necessarily much occupied. "Thou wilt behold man no more, with the inhabitants of the world:" would it not be proper, therefore, to wean thyself from too great an acquaintance with them now, that the separation may be the less felt? Thou wilt be called upon to enter upon a state altogether new, and a path thou hast never before trodden; and would it not be wise to send forth enquiries concerning them, such as scripture gives the clearest answer to, and study the best way to make preparation in Jesus for thy change? What a blessed example hath the apostle Paul left upon record of his conduct in this particular; "I protest," said he to the Corinthian church, speaking on this subject, "by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily," 1 Corinthians 15:31. Such were both the habitual and actual frames of Paul’s mind, that he was every day, and all the day, waiting and looking for his Master’s call. The fact was, he knew the certainty of the ground on which he stood; he had no farther questions to ask concerning his safety in Christ; and therefore, he rather wished to bring the hour on, than to put it off. His whole heart, his whole affections, centered in Christ; and as such, though to live was Christ, yet to die was gain. My soul, what sayest thou to this blessed frame? Oh! for the same earnestness, and from the same cause; that whether this night, or at cock-crowing, or in the morning, when the Lord comes, though thou wilt behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world, yet thou wilt behold the face of God in glory; and when thou awakest after his likeness, thou wilt be satisfied with it.
