May
M^j
GODS WILL ENERGIZED BY LOVE
Prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2
The will of God which has seemed in old far-off days a stern and fateful power, is only love energized; love saying, "I will."
And when once we really grasp this (hardly so much by faith as by love itself), the will of God cannot be otherwise than acceptable, for it is no longer a question of trusting that somehow or other there is a hidden element of love in it, but of understanding that it is love; no more to be dissociated from it than the power of the sun's rays can be dissociated from their light and warmth.
And love recognized must surely be love accepted and reciprocated.
So, as the fancied sternness of God's will is lost in His love, the stubbornness of our will becomes melted in that love, and lost in our acceptance of it.
With quivering heart and trembling will The word hath passed thy lips.
Within the shadow, cold and still.
Of some fair joy's eclipse.
"Thy will be done!"
Thy God hath heard.
And He will crown that faith-framed word.
Thy prayer shall be fulfilled: but how?
His thoughts are not as thine; While thou wouldst only weep and bow, He saith, "Arise and shine!"
Thy thoughts were all of grief and night.
But His of boundless joy and light.
May 2
INCREASING JOY
These things write we unto you, that your Joy may be full.
1 John 1:4
Never in His Word are we told anything contradicting or explaining away this precious and reiterated promise.
All through we are brightly pointed not merely to hope of permanent joy, but an increase of joy.
"The meek shall increase [not merely shall keep up] their joy in the Lord."
There are mingled promises and commands as to growth and increase in grace, knowledge, love, strength and peace, and does not increase of these imply and insure joy?
It is suggested that we cannot expect to be always joyful, but it is wi-itten, "Rejoice in
the Lord [not 'sometimes,' but] alway."
"As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing."
When we are told that it would not even be good for us, remember that it is written again, "The joy of the Lord is your strength."
Perhaps in that word "of" lies the whole secret of lasting joy, for it is even more than joy in the Lord; it is His own joy flowing into the soul that is joined to Himself which alone can remain in us, not even our joy in Him.
"That they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves."
Let us, then, seek not the stream but the fountain; not primarily the joy but that real and living union with Jesus by which His joy becomes ours.
Thy love, Thy joy, Thy peace.
Continuously impart Unto my heart; Fresh springs, that never cease, But still increase.
May 3
ON "FALLING"
Thy foot shall not stumble.
Proverbs 3:23
Many a Christian says, "I shall be kept from falling at last, but, of course, I shall stumble continually by the way."
But have ye not read this Scripture, "Thy foot shall not stumble"?
And if you have only once read it, ought not the "of course" to be put over on the other side?
For "hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?"
"And the Scripture cannot be broken."
But as a matter of fact man does stumble, and though he riseth again, yet even the "just man falleth seven times."
Of course we do, and this is entirely accounted for by the first "of course."
God gives us a promise and instead of humbly saying, "Be it unto me according to Thy word," we either altogether overlook or deliberately refuse to believe it.
And then, of course, we get no fulfillment of it.
The measure of the promise is God's faithfulness, the measure of its realization is our faith.
Perhaps we have not even cried, "Help Thou mine unbelief" as to this promise, much less said, "Lord, I believe."
Increase our faith that we may claim each starry promise sure.
And always triumph in Thy name, and to the end endure.
Increase our faith, that never dim or trembling it may be, Crowned with the "perfect peace" of Him "whose mind is stayed on Thee."
Increase our faith, for Thou hast prayed that it should never fail; Our steadfast anchorage is made with Thee, within the veil.
Al^^j 4
MOMENTS FOR ETERNITY
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Psalm 90:12
It is not so often a whole sermon as a single short sentence in it, that wings God's arrow to a heart.
It is seldom a whole conversation that is the means of bringing about the desired result, but some sudden turn of thought or word, which comes with the electric touch of God's power.
Sometimes it is less than that; only a look (and what is more momentary?) has been used by Him for the pulling down of strongholds.
Again, in our own quiet waiting upon God, as moment after moment glides past in the silence at His feet, the eye resting upon a page of His Word, or only looking up to Him through the darkness, have we not found that He can so irradiate one passing moment with His light that its rays never die away, but shine on and on through days and years?
Are not such moments proved to have been kept for Him? And if some, why not all?
This view of moments seems to make it clearer that it is impossible to serve two masters, for it is evident that the service of a moment cannot be divided.
If it is occupied in the service of self, or any other master, it is not at the Lord's disposal He cannot make use of what is alread.y occupied.
The weary waiting times are but the muffled peals Low preluding celestial chimes, that hail His chariot-wheels.
Trust Him to tune Thy voice to blend with seraphim; Hi.s "Wait" shall issue in "Rejoice"!
W'ait patiently for Him.
May 3
NOT OF OURSELVES
A new heart also will I give you.
Ezekiel 36:26
Why does God promise this?
Because our old hearts are so evil that they cannot be made any better; and so nothing will do any good but giving us a new heart.
Because we cannot make a new heart for ourselves ; the more we try, the more we shall find we cannot do it; so God, in His great pity and kindness says He will give it to us.
Because, unless we have a new heart we cannot enter the kingdom of God, we cannot even see it!
Without this gift we must be left outside in
the terrible darkness when the door is shut.
There is a great difference between the old heart and the new one.
The old heart is afraid of God, and does not love Him, and would much rather He were not always seeing us.
The new heart loves God and trusts what He says, and loves to think that He is always watching it.
Oh, how happy and blessed to have this new heart!
All God's children receive it, for He has said, "I will give them one heart"
; that is, all the same new heart.
Do you not want to have it too?
You must come to Him for it, for He hath said, "A new heart also will I give you I"
My heart to Thee I bring, the heart I cannot read; A faithless, wandering thing, an evil heart indeed.
I bring it, Saviour, now to Thee That fixed and faithful it may be.
May 6
INFLUENCE OF THE KING
I will be thy king.
Hosea 13:10
He knows our need of a King. He knows the hopeless anarchy, not only of the world, but of a heart without a king.
Is there a more desolate cry than, "We have no king"?—none to reverence and love, none to obey, none to guide and protect us and rule over us, none to keep us in that truest freedom of wholehearted loyalty? Have we not felt that we really want a strong hand over our hearts?
That having our own way is not so good as another way if only that other is one to whom our hearty and entire confidence and allegiance can be and are given? Has there not been an echo in our souls of the old cry,
"Give me a king"?—a cry nothing can still but this divine promise, "I will be thy King!" But the promise has been given; and now, if the old, desolate wail of a kingless heart comes up in an hour of faithless forgetfulness, His word comes like a royal clarion, "Now, why dost thou cry out aloud?
Is there no king in thee?"
And then the King's gracious assurance falls with hushing power, "I will be thy King."
"He is thy Lord!"
Oh, I am glad of this.
So glad that Thou art Master, Sovereign, King!
Only I want Thy rule to be supreme And absolute; no lurking rebel thought.
No traitor in disguise to pass its bounds.
So glad — because it is such rest to know That Thou hast ordered and appointed all.
And wilt yet order and appoint my lot.
M.a-j 7
PURGING MUST COME
And thou shalt .
. anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me. Exodus 28:41
If we look at any Old Testament text about consecration, we shall see that the marginal reading of the word is "fill the hand."
Now, if our hands are full of "other things," they cannot be filled with "the things that are Jesus Christ's"
; there must be emptying before there can be any true filling.
So if we are sorrowfully seeing that our hands have not been kept for Jesus, let us humbly begin at the beginning, and ask Him to empty them thoroughly, that He may fill them completely.
For they must be emptied.
Either we come to our Lord willingly about it, letting Him unclasp their hold, and gladly dropping the glittering weights they have been carrying, or, in very love. He will have to force them open, and wrench from the reluctant grasp the "earthly things" which are so occupying them that He cannot have His rightful use of them.
There is only one other alternative, a terrible one—to be let alone till the day comes when not a gentle Master, but the relentless king of terrors shall empty the trembling hands as our feet follow him out of the busy world into the dark valley, for "it is certain we can carry nothing out."
Take all Thy vessels, O glorious Finer, Purge all the dross, that each chalice may be Pure in Thy pattern, completer, diviner.
Filled with Thy glory and shining for Thee.
May 8
THINE, LORD
I am thine.
Psalm 119:94
This is a wonderful stone for the sling of faith.
It will slay any Goliath of temptation, if we only sling it out boldly and determinately at him.
When self tempts us (and we know how often that is), let it be met with "not your own," and then look straight away to Jesus with "I am Thine."
If the world tries some lure, old or new, remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own ; .
. But I have chosen j'ou out of the world"
; and lest the world should claim us as its own, look
away to Jesus and say, "I am Thine."
Is it sin, subtle and strong and secret, that claims our obedience?
Acknowledge that "ye were the servants of sin"
; but now, "being made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness," and conquer with the faith-shout, "I am Thine."
Is it a terrible handto-hand fight with Satan himself making a desperate effort to reassert his old power?
Tell the prince of this world that he hath nothing in Jesus and that you are "in Him that is true," a member of His body, His very own, and see if he is not forced to flee at the sound of your confident "I am Thine"?
He is thy Lord!
Thyself, O Saviour dear.
And not another. Whom have I but Thee In Heaven or earth?
And whom should I desire!
For Thou hast said, "So shall the King desire thee!"
And well may I respond in wondering love, "Thou art my Lord, and I will worship Thee."
May 9
HIS HEART FOR THEE
Behold ... he is mighty ... in heart.
Job 36:5, margin And this mighty and tender heart is for thee !
If He had only stretched forth His hand to save us from bare destruction, and said, "My hand for thee!" how could we have praised Him enough?
But what shall we say of the unspeakably marvelous condescension which says, "Thou hast ravished [margin, taken atvay] my heart, my sister, my spouse!"
The very fountain of His divine life, and light, and love, the very center of His being, is given to His beloved ones, who are not only "set as a seal upon His heart," but taken into His heart, so that our life is hid there, and we dwell there in the very center of all safety, and power, and love, and glory. What will be the revelation of that day, when the Lord Jesus promises, "Ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me"?
For He implies that we do not yet know it, and that our present knowledge of this dwelling in Him is not knowledge at all compared with what He is going to show us about it. Now shall we, can we, reserve any corner of our hearts from Him?
We thirst for God, our treasure is above; Earth has no gift our one desire to meet.
And that desire is pledge of His own love.
Sweet question; with no answer! oh how sweet!
My heart in chiming gladness o'er and o'er Sings on — God's everlasting love!
What wouldst thou more?
May 10
NO CONVENIENT SEASON
Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
Matthew 21:28
The Lord's work is always pressing, and may never be put off.
Much of it has to do with souls which may be in eternity tomorrow ; and with opportunities which are gone forever if not used then and there ; there is no convenient season for it but today.
Often it is not really done at all, because it is not done in the spirit of holy haste.
We meet an unconverted friend again and again, and beat about the bush, and think to gain quiet influence and make way gradually, and call it judicious not to be in a hurry, when the real reason is that we are wanting in holy eagerness and courage to do the King's true business with that soul, and in nine such cases out of ten nothing ever comes out of it; but "As thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone."
Have we not found it so?
Delay in the Lord's errands is next to disobedience, and generally springs out of it or issues in it.
"God commanded me to make haste."
Let us see to it that we can say, "I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments."
Have you not a word tor Jesus? Some, perchance, while you are dumb, Wait and weaiy for your message, hoping you will bid them come; Never telling hidden soirows, lingering just outside the door, Longing tor your hand to lead them into rest for evermore.
May
YOU ARE NEVER FORGOTTEN
Not one of them Is forgotten before God.
Luke 12:6
When you come to those parts of the Bible which are too often undervalued and left out of the daily reading, still, though it may be through a less transparent veil, God will reveal Himself.
For instance, when you come to the genealogies in Chronicles, consider how His individual care is illustrated by the otherwise unknown names, noted in His book because of their connection with Christ; no mattei" how remote that connection, through the distant generations and collateral branches, might seem to human ways of thinking. And then remember that "this God," who thus inscribed their individual names for Christ's sake, is "our God" who has inscribed our individual names in the book of life for Christ's sake, because we are
chosen in Him.
And when we read the life of His dear Son, and see what that beloved Son, in the infinite lovableness of His exquisite perfection, must have been to the Father who yet spared Him not; and, most of all, when we read of the hand of God being laid upon the Man of His right hand, when
He made the iniquities of us all to meet on Him, and let Him suffer unto death for us men and for our salvation, then, above all, let us turn to God the Father and say, "This God, who so loved the world, is our God!"
It seems as if this personal relationship to us as our "God," were one in which He specially delights, and which He would have us keep continually in mind.
It is so sweet to trust Thy Word alone:
I do not ask to see The unveiling of Thy purpose, or the shining Of future light on mysteries untwining:
Thy promise-roll is all my own — Thy Word is enough for me.
May 12
ROYAL BOUNTY
Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
Psalm 104:28
According to thine own heart, hast thou done ail this greatness.
Chronicles 17:19
Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word.
Psalm 119:65
His hand, His heart, His word—what an immeasurable measure of His bounty!
The great hand that holds the ocean in its hollow is opened to satisfy our desire, and to go beyond that exceeding abundantly, giving us according to the heart that so loved the world, and according to the icord which is so deep and full that all the saints that ever drew their hope and joy from it cannot fathom its ever-upspringing fountain.
Perhaps nobody knows the Bible well enough to know the full significance of saying, "Be it unto me according to Thy word"; how much less can we imagine what shall be the yet unrevealed royal bounty according to His heart of infinite love and hand of infinite power.
"What
do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter."
"And ye shall ... be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you."
Great our need, but greater far, is our Father's loving power; He upholds each mighty star. He unfolds each tiny flower.
He who number? every hair, earnest of His faithful care.
Gave His Son for us to die; God shall all your need supply.
May 13
HE GIVETH AND GIVETH AND GIVETH
Every good gift and every perfect gift Is from above, and Cometh down from the Father of lights.
James 1:17
Think a little this morning of God's great kindness to you.
How very good He is to you !
I know one of His dear children who looks up many, many times a day, and says, "Good Lord
Jesus !" or "Kind Lord Jesus !"
She does not set herself to say it, but it seems as if she could not help saying it, just because He is so good and kind. And then it seems only natural to look up again and say, "Dear Lord Jesus !" How can anybody go on all day long, and never see how good He is, and never look up and bless Him?
Most especially on bright, pleasant days, when He giveth us more even than usual to enjoy! He "giveth."
Not one single pleasant thing, not one single bit of enjoyment comes to us but what He giveth. We cannot get it, we do not earn it, we do not deserve it; but He giveth lovingly, and kindly, and freely.
Suppose He stopped giving, what would become of us?
No valley-life but hath some mountain days, Fair sunlit memories of joy and praise.
Grave on thy heart each past "red letter day"!
Forget not all the sunshine of the Avay By which the Lord hath led thee; answered prayers,
And joys unasked, strange blessings, lifted cares, Grand promise-echoes.
Thus thy life shall be One record of His love and faithfulness to thee.
May 14
CONFESSION
IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL
We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.
Judges 10:15
The children of Israel were sold for their evil deeds into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites, and vexed and oppressed for eighteen years.
("Vexed and oppressed"—does that describe your case?) They come to the Lord with bare excuseless confession, "We have sinned," and then they cast themselves on bare undeserved mercy: "Do Thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto Thee." And what then?
"His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel."
Could anything be more humanly tender, as well as divinely magnanimous!
Is it not a
lesson to come straight to His heart with any misery of which the sting is that we have brought it on ourselves, and deserved it a thousandfold?
First confess the sin, and then leave the sorrows wholly in His hands, and we find Him verily "the same
Lord, whose property is always to have mercy."
And mercy includes help, for the Lord did not stop short at grieving over their misery; He sent Jephthah to deliver them, so that they
"dwelled safe" for about thirty years.
(Compare Judges 11 :oo and 1 Samuel 12:11.) "Thou hast forgiven — even until now!"
We bless Thee, Lord, for this.
And take Thy great forgiveness as we bow In depth of suffering bliss; While over all the long, regretful past This veil of wondrous grace Thy sovereign hand doth oast.
May D
TIDINGS MAKE THE FEET
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace.
Isaiah 52:7
"How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!"
That is the best use of all; and I expect the angels think those feet beautiful, even if they are cased in muddy boots or galoshes.
Once the question was asked, "Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?"
So if we want to have these beautiful feet, we must have the tidings ready which they are to bear.
Let us ask Him to keep our hearts so freshly full of His good news of salvation that our mouths may speak out of their abundance.
"If the clouds be full of rain they empty themselves upon the earth."
The two olive branches empty the golden oil out of themselves. May we be so filled with the Spirit that we may thus have much to pour out for others!
"Such as I have I sow, it is not much,"
Said one who loved the Master of the field; "Only a quiet word, a gentle touch.
Upon the hidden harp strings, which may yield No quick response; I tremble, yet I speak For Him who knows the heart, so loving, yet so weak."
And so the words were spoken, soft and low.
Or traced with timid pen; yet oft they fell On soil prepared, which she would never know.
Until the tender blade sprang up, to tell That not in vain her labor had been spent; Then with new faith and hope more bravely on she went.
A[^)' 16
A SHARED SORROW
The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron.
2 Samuel 15:23
And Jesus went before them.
Mark 10:32
Jesus went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron.
How precisely the Old Testament shadow corresponds with the New^ Testament fulfillment!
The king in sorrow and humiliation, is here brought before us, passing from his royal home, from all its glory and gladness — passing over into exile and unknown distresses. There is no need for imagination in dwelling on His sorrows.
The pathos of the plain words is more than enough ; no pen has power to add to it. Do we know anything of fellowship with Him in His sorrow?
All the people, except the rebels passed over with the king. Do we know anything of this passage over Cedron, the brook of sadness with Him?
Possibly it seems presumptuous to think of sharing the fellowship of His sufferings, that mysterious privilege I But mark, it was not only the mighty Ittai and all his men, the nobles and the veterans, that passed over, but all the "little ones" that were with him too.
And so the little ones, the weak ones, the least member of his body may thus continue with Jesus ; and nothing brings one closer to another than a shared sorrow.
Thy claim to rest on Jesus' breast all weariness shall be.
And pain thy portal to His heart of boundless sympathy.
Xo conflict, but the King's own hand shall end the glorious strife; No death, but leads thee to the land of everlasting life.
May n
WILLINGNESS — THE SECRET OF KNOWING
Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
John 2:5
How are you to know what He says to you?
Ah, it is so easy to know if we are really willing to know, and willing to obey when we do know!
He has spoken so plainly to us in His Word !
In that He tells us exactly what to do.
It is most wonderful how He has said everything there for us, told us everything we ought to do.
When you read a chapter, listen and watch to see what He saith unto you in it.
There is another way in which He tells us what to do. He speaks to you through
your conscience. Now "whatsoever He saith unto you, do it!"
Whether easy or hard, do it because He tells you; do it for love of Him, and it will be much better and happier to obey the Lord than to please yourself.
"Whatsoever He saith unto j^ou, do it!"
"Do it!"
Do the exact thing He would have you do, not something a little bit different, or something which you think will be nearly the same, but do "it." And do it at once.
It is so true, that the very first moment is the easiest for obedience.
Every minute that you put off doing the right thing makes it harder.
Do not let your Lord have to "speak twice" to you.
"Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it" cheerfully, exactly, instantly.
Master, speak! and make me ready, when Thy voice is truly heard.
With obedience glad and steady, still to follow every word.
I am listening, Lord, for Thee; Master, speak, oh, speak to me!
May 18 HE IS KING!
... IS HE YOURS?
Thou art my King.
Psalm 44:4
Can I say it?
Ought I to say it?
Do I say it?
Is Jesus in very deed and truth my King? Where is the proof of it? Am I living in His kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost now? Am I speaking the language of that kingdom? Am I following the customs of the people which are not His people, or do I diligently learn the ways of His people?
Am I practically living under the rule of His laws?
Have I done heart homage to Him? Am I bravely and honestly upholding His cause, because it is His, not merely because those around me do so?
Is my allegiance making any practical difference to my life today?
He came Himself to purchase me from my tyrant and His foe; He laid aside His crown and His royal robes, and left His kingly palace, and came down Himself to save a rebel; though He was rich, yet for my sake became poor, that I "through His poverty might be rich." God has called me unto His Kingdom and glory ; He hath translated me into the kingdom of the Son of His love; and shall the loyal words falter or fail from my lips, "Thou art my King"?
O Saviour, precious Saviour, whom yet unseen we love; O Name of might and favor, all other names above!
We worship Thee, we bless Thee, to Thee alone we sing; We praise Thee, and confess Thee our holy Lord and King!
May 19
SUPERABOUNDING COMPENSATION
The hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants.
Isaiah 66:14
"All that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed." More than that, the whole world shall "know that Thou hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me," and "I will make them ... to know that I have loved thee."
Is not this superabounding compensation for any tiny share we may now have in the world-wide misunderstanding of our Father's wisdom and our Saviour's love?
"And they shall know," is not only for those w^ho do not know at all ; for "at that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you"—revelations of the mysteries of Godhead and of the ineffable union of Christ with His people, which have not yet entered into our hearts to conceive.
"Then shall we know [if we follow on to know] the Lord."
"For now I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
Yes, work by faith and not by sight, fast clinging to My hand; Content to feel My love and might, not yet to understand.
A little while thy course pursue, till grace to glory grow; Then what I am and what I do, hereafter thou shalt know.
May 20
NO RETIREMENT FROM HIS SERVICE
He luveth .hee and thine house, because he is well with thee.
Deuteronomy
: 16
The Hebrew servant had trial of his master's service for six years, and in the seventh he might go out free if he would.
But then, "if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master ...
I will not go out free," then publicly and legally, he was sealed to his service forever.
It all depended on the love.
He would say, "I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee."
How this meets our case, dear fellow-servants! We do not want to go away from Jesus, because we love Him ; and we love His house too, the spiritual house, the blessed company of the faithful. And are we not well with Him? Where else so well?
Where else anything but ill?
Has He not dealt well with His servants?
What a chorus it would be if we all spoke out, and said, "I love my Master, and it hath been well for me
with Him!"
Why don't we speak out, and let people know what a Master He is, and what a happy service His is? Who is to speak out, if we have not a word to say about it?
Let us stand up for Jesus and His service, every one of us !
Perhaps, when we do speak out, we shall realize the joy of His promise as never before.
It was not till the servant had owned his love, and given up "the rest of his time in the flesh," and had his ear bored, that the word was spoken, "He shall serve him for ever"
; and it is only the loving and consecrated heart that leaps up for joy at the heavenly prospect: "And his servants shall serve Him."
How can the lip be dumb, The hand all still and numb.
When Thee the heart doth see and own Her Lord and God alone?
Tune for Thyself the music of my days, And open Thou my lips that I may show Thy praise.
Yea, let my whole life be One anthem unto Thee, And let the praise of lip and life Outring all sin and strife.
O Jesus Master! by Thy name supreme For Heaven and earth the one, the grand eternal theme.
Ma'^ 21
CHRIST JESUS SAVES FROM SIN AND SINS
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
1 Timothy 1:15
In death we would cling to these words. Why not in life equally cling to, and equally make real use of the promise, "He shall save His people from their sins"—not merely from sin in general, but definitely from their sins, personal and plural sins?
"Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?"
His salvation is indeed finished. His work is perfect; and yet our King is still working salvation in the midst of the earth, applying the reality of His salvation
(if we will only believe His power) to the daily details of our pilgrimage and our warfare. We need it not only at last, but now—every hour, every minute. And the King "shall deliver the needy when he crieth," "and shall save the souls of the needy." May He say to your soul this day, "I am thy salvation."
On Thee the Lord My mighty sins hath laid; And against Thee Jehovah's sword Flashed forth its fiery blade.
The stroke of justice fell on Thee, That it might never fall on me.
May 22
GOD'S TREASURE HOUSE IS OURS
The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure. Deuteronomy 28:12
When the wise men opened their treasures, they brought out gold and frankincense and myrrh. When Jehovah opens unto us His good treasure, we shall see greater things than these.
The context of this rich promise seems to make the Heaven the treasure house; and in its primary and literal sense, the fertilizing rain is the first outpouring of the opened treasure, soon after expanded into beautiful details of "the precious things of heaven and .
. the precious things of the earth."
But the spiritual blessings are closely interwoven with the temporal in the whole passage, and the faithful Israelites who did not "look only for transitory promises" may well have claimed the opening of heavenly treasure through this promise.
Nor withhold we glad thanksgiving for His mercies ever new, Precious things of earth and Heaven, sun and rain and quickening dew;
Precious fruits and varied crowning of the year His goodness fills.
Chief things of the ancient mountains, precious things of lasting hills.
May 25
GIVING WHAT WAS GIVEN
Freely ye have received, freely give.
Matthew 10:8
The context shows that we must not content ourselves with applying this only to silver and gold.
Those to whom the command was spoken neither possessed nor provided any. Far greater gifts had they received, far greater gifts were they to give.
What have we freely received?
Our Bibles give us a threefold answer.
(1) Love: God our Father says, "I will love them freely."
(2) Justification: for we are "justified freely by His grace" and "by His blood."
(3) Life: for He says, "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."
And unto us has been preached this "gospel of God freely."
We are responsible not only for having received such gifts, but for knowing that we have received them, for "we have received .
. the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
The whole Bible is one long inventory of the things that are freely given to us, and yet we cannot reckon our wealth, for "all things
are yours."
Possessing the one unspeakable gift, Jesus Christ Himself, is "possessing all things."
"As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same."
How will you do this?
Can you make it a question of dollars and cents?
Is that what you have received?
Is that as you have received?
Will you not say, "I will freely sacrifice unto Thee"?
Sacrifice!
What?
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice."
There are so many who would delight to go, but whose way God has entirely hedged up.
Are there none whose way is not so hedged up? He who spared not His own Son, but with Him freely gives us all things, is saying very clearly and loudly, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
Will any one who might say, "Here am I, send me," refuse to say it?
What hast Thou done for me, O mighty Friend Who lovest to the end!
Reveal Thyself, that I may now behold Thy love unknown, untold.
Bearing the curse, and made a curse for me.
That blessed and made a blessing I might be.
May 24
HE DID WHAT HE CAME TO DO
I have finished the work.
John 17:4
His great promise has had its first fulfillment "unto Thee."
It is a finished fact of sevenfold grace.
The Lord has come, and His own voice has given the objects of His coming—"to do Thy will, God"; to fulfill the law; "to call sinners to repentance"
; "to seek and to save that which was lost"
; "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly"; "a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."
What He came to do He has done, for "He faileth not." On this we may and ought to rest quietly and undoubtingly, for "the Lord hath done it."
For I know that what He doeth stands forever, fixed and true; Nothing can be added to it, nothing left for us to do; Nothing can be taken from it, done for me and done for you.
Evermore and evermore.
Listen now! the Lord hath done it! for He loved us unto death; It is finished! He has saved us!
Only trust to what He saith.
He hath done it!
Come and bless Him, spend in praise your ransomed breath Evermore and evermore.
A PRESENT YIELD
Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
2 Corinthians 4:17
We think of trials as intended to do us good in the long run and in a general sort of way, but the Lord says of each one,
"It yieldeth."
Apply this to the present.
The particular annoyance which befell you this morning, the vexatious words which met your ear, and grieved your spirit, the disappointment which was His appointment for you today, the slight but hindering ailment, the presence of someone who is a grief of mind to you, whatever this day seemeth not joyous but grievous is linked in "the good pleasure of His goodness" with a corresponding afterward of peaceable fruit, the very seed from which if you only do not choke it shall spring up and ripen.
If we set ourselves to watch the Lord's dealings with us, we shall soon be able to detect a most beautiful correspondence and proportion between each individual chastening and its own resulting afterward.
The habit of thus watching and expecting will be very comforting and a great help to quiet trust when some new chastening is sent, for then we shall simply consider it as the herald and earnest of a new afterward.
What shall Thine "afterward" be, O Lord?
How long must Thy child endure?
Thou knowest!
'Tis well that I know it not!
Thine "afterward" cometh, I cannot tell what, But I know that Thv Word is sure.
May 26
FREE AND CLEAR
Put that on mine account.
Philemon
When Paul asked Philemon, in a most beautiful letter, to take back Onesimus who had run away from him, he said, "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on my account."
Onesimus had been a bad servant to Philemon ; and being willing to come back and do better, would not pay for what he had wronged him in before, and would not pay his Old debts.
And he evidently had nothing himself to pay them with.
But Paul offered to pay all, so that Onesimus might be
received, "not now as a servant," but as a "brother beloved."
This is an exquisite picture of what the Lord Jesus Christ does.
He not only intercedes for us with Him from whom we have departed, and against whom we have sinned; but, knowing to the full how much we have wronged God, and how much we owe Him, He says, "Put that on Mine account." And God has put it all on His account, and the account has been paid, paid in blood. When the Lord "laid on Him the iniquity of us all,"
Jesus saw and knew all your sins ; and He said, "Put that on Mine account."
Oh, what wonderful "kindness and love of God our Saviour"
Nothing to pay! the debt is so great; What will you do with the awful weight?
How shall the way of escape be made?
Nothing to pay! yet it must be paid!
Hear the voice of Jesus say, "Verily thou hast nothing to pay!
All has been put to My account, I have paid the full amount."
May 21
FOREVER SATISFIED
He did eat continually at the king's table.
2 Samuel 9:13
And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
2 Kings 25:.10
It is not occasional but continual feeding on Christ that really satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
"He did eat continually at the king's table."
It is "he that Cometh to Me" who "shall never hunger," not "he who did come."
"To whom coming," always coming, never going away, because we "have tasted that the Lord is gracious," we shall be "built up."
If we really are guests at the King's table in its fullest sense — if w^e are feeding upon Christ Himself, and not on any shadow of the true substance — we must be satisfied.
Here is a strong, severe test.
Christ must satisfy then, if we are not satisfied, it must be because we are not feeding on Him wholly and only.
The fault is not in the provision w^hich is made—"For all that came unto King Solomon's table, they lacked nothing."
God doth not bid thee wait to disappoint at last; A golden promise, fair and great, in precept-mold is cast.
Soon shall the morning gild the dark horizon rim, Thy heart's desire shall be fulfilled, "Wait patiently for Him."
May 28
CHRIST IN YOU DAY AND NIGHT
We will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
John 14:23
Do not let us say, "How can this be?" but, like Mary, "How shall this be?"
The means, though not the mode, of the mystery is revealed for our grasp of adoring wonder: "That Christ may dwell in your heart by faith."
It is almost too wonderful to dare to speak of.
Christ Himself, my King, coming to me, into me! abiding, dwelling in my very heart!
Really staying there all day, all night, wherever I am, whatever I am doing; here in my poor, unworthy heart at this very moment!
And this only because the grace that flowed from His own love has broken the bars of doubt, and because He has given the faith that wanted Him and welcomed Him.
Let us pause a little to take it in Again that holy Breeze swept by in might, And tanned each faint desire to stronger flame; He said, "O bid me come to Thee!"
He came, Just as he was, that memorable night; And lo! the King, who waited at the door.
Entered to save, to reign, and to go ont no more.
May 29
POSSESSING THE TREASURE OF TREASURES
Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king Is come again in peace unto his own house.
2 Samuel 19:30
It is when the King has really come in peace to His own home in the "contrite and humble spirit"
(not before) — when He has entered in to make His abode there (not before) — that the soul is satisfied with Him alone, and is ready to let any Ziba take all else, because all else really seems nothing at all in comparison to the conscious possession of the Treasure of treasures.
Sometimes this is reached at once, in the first flush of wondering joy at finding the King really "come in peace" to the empty soul which wanted to be "His own house."
Sometimes very gradually—as year after year we realize His indwelling more and more, and find again and again that He is quite enough to satisfy us in all circumstances; that the empty corners of the house are filled one after another; that the old longings have somehow gone away, and the old am-
bitions vanished ; that the old tastes and interests in the things of the world are superseded by stronger tastes and interests in the things of Christ; that He is day by day more really filling our lives—we "count"
(because we really find) one thing after another "but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord," till He leads us on to the rapturous joy of the "Yea, doubtless," and "all things!"
Take what Thou wilt, beloved Lord, For I have all in Thee!
My own exceeding great reward.
Thou, Thou Thyself shalt be!
Ma-] y)
SILENCE IS GOLDEN
There was silence, and I heard a voice.
Job 4:16
The words of wise men are heard in quiet.
Eccleslastes 9:17
Who hears the dew fall? What microphone could reveal that music to our "gross unpurged ears"?
The dew distills in silence.
So does the speech of our God.
Most frequently in the silence of trust.
In that stillness God's silent love can be condensed into dewlike communications; not read, not heard, but made known by the direct power of the Spirit upon the soul.
Most often He does this by thrilling into remembrance something from the written Word, already learnt, but nowflashing out in the quickened memory as if it had never been heard before. We do not get much of this if we are always in the midst of noise and turmoil and bustle.
He can, and now and then He does, send this "speech" through a very chaos of bustle or trouble.
He can make a point of silence in the very center of a cyclone, and speak there to our hearts.
But the more usual way is to make a wider silence for His dew to fall, by calling us apart into some quiet place of sorrow or sickness.
So when we find ourselves thus led into a wilderness, let us forthwith look out for the dew, and it will not fail.
Then our desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose; very likely much more so than the hot harvest fields, or the neat gardens from which we have been called away.
There are songs which only flow in the loneliest shades of night, There are flowers which cannot grow in a blaze of tropical light, There are crystals which cannot form till the vessel be cooled and stilled; Crystal, and flower, and song, given as God hath willed.
May 31
OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST
I pray for them.
John 17:9
He ever liveth to make intercession for us; and so while you have been silent to Him, He has been praying for you.
If His hand has been upon you so that you could not pray, why need you be mourning over this, when your merciful and faithful High Priest has been offering up the pure and sweet and costly incense of His own intercession?
But if your heart condemns you, and you know you gave way to indolent coldness when you might have roused yourself to more prayer, will it not touch you to recollect that, in His wonderful long-suffering, Jesus has been praying instead ! What confident and powerful petitions for His disciples He was pouring out when He said,
"I pray for them." And how gracious of Him to let us overhear such breathings of Almighty love on their behalf.
If He had said no more than this, we might have tremulously inferred that, being always the same Lord, He might give us a remote share of some reflected blessing from this prayer.
But He anticipates a wish that we should hardly have been bold enough to form, and says:
"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word."
Have you believed on Him through their word?
Then you have His plain and positive assurance that He was praying for you then, that verse by verse you may take that prayer of prayers and say, "Jesus prayed this for me."
And now that He is the center of the praises of Heaven, whence no other echo floats down to us, what is our one permitted glimpse of the continual attitude and occupation of this same
Jesus?
"Who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."
That is what He is doing for you noiv.
He prayeth. — But for whom?
For Himself He needeth nought; Nor strength, nor peace, nor pardon, where of sin there is no spot; But 'tis for us in powerful prayer He spendeth all the night, That His own loved ones may be kept and strengthened in the fight; That they may all be sanctified, and perfect made in one; That they His glory may behold where they shall need no sun:
That in eternal gladness they may be His glorious bride:
It is for this that He hath climbed the lonely mountain side.
It is for this that He denies His weary head the rest Which e'en the foxes in their holes, and birds have in their nest.