“Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.” Psalm 119:53My soul, feelest thou this holy shuddering at the sins of others? for otherwise thou lackest inward holiness. David’s cheeks were wet with rivers of waters because of prevailing unholiness; Jeremiah desired eyes
“I am the Lord, I change not.” Malachi 3:6It is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of life, there is One whom change cannot affect; One whose heart can never alter, and on whose brow mutability can make no furrows. All things else have changed-all things are changing. The sun itself grows
“And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:39Universal was the doom, neither rich nor poor escaped: the learned and the illiterate, the admired and the abhorred, the religious and the profane, the old and the young, all sank
“The church in thy house.” Philemon 1:2Is there a Church in this house? Are parents, children, friends, servants, all members of it? or are some still unconverted? Let us pause here and let the question go round-Am I a member of the Church in this house? How would father’s heart leap for joy, and mo
“I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.” Hosea 13:5Yes, 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. B
“Renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10A backslider, if there be a spark of life left in him will groan after restoration. In this renewal the same exercise of grace is required as at our conversion. We needed repentance then; we certainly need it now. We wanted faith that we might come to Chr
“Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.” Song of Solomon 8:13My sweet Lord Jesus remembers well the garden of Gethsemane, and although he has left that garden, he now dwells in the garden of his church: there he unbosoms himself to those who keep
“I will praise thee, O Lord.” Psalm 9:1Praise should always follow answered prayer; as the mist of earth’s gratitude rises when the sun of heaven’s love warms the ground. Hath the Lord been gracious to thee, and inclined his ear to the voice of thy supplication? Then praise him as long as thou lives
“But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.” Luke 24:16The disciples ought to have known Jesus, they had heard his voice so often, and gazed upon that marred face so frequently, that it is wonderful they did not discover him. Yet is it not so with you also? You have not seen Jesus lat
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, etc.” Matthew 6:9This prayer begins where all true prayer must commence, with the spirit of adoption, “Our Father.” There is no acceptable prayer until we can say, “I will arise, and go unto my Father.” This child-like spirit soon
“His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.” Song of Solomon 5:11Comparisons all fail to set forth the Lord Jesus, but the spouse uses the best within her reach. By the head of Jesus we may understand his deity, “for the head of Christ is God” and then the ingot of
“I have chosen you out of the world.” John 15:19Here is distinguishing grace and discriminating regard; for some are made the special objects of divine affection. Do not be afraid to dwell upon this high doctrine of election. When your mind is most heavy and depressed, you will find it to be a bottl
“We are all as an unclean thing.” Isaiah 64:6The believer is a new creature, he belongs to a holy generation and a peculiar people-the Spirit of God is in him, and in all respects he is far removed from the natural man; but for all that the Christian is a sinner still. He is so from the imperfection
“It is a faithful saying.” 2 Timothy 2:11Paul has four of these “faithful sayings.” The first occurs in 1Ti_1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” The next is in 1Ti_4:6, “Godliness is profitable unto all things, havin
“All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.” Ecclesiastes 1:7Everything sublunary is on the move, time knows nothing of rest. The solid earth is a rolling ball, and the great sun himself a star obediently fulfillin
