Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: June 17th

The paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. - Psalms 25:10.

“THE ways of the Lord” here mean the way in which God walks with regard to us. His ways in nature, in the seasons of the year, in. the beauties of creation, in the produce of the garden and of the field, in his marching forth in the loveliness of the spring and in the plenty of the summer, to cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man,-producing first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear, till the fields stand thick with corn, and the little hills rejoice on every side. They include his dispensations of providence. Nothing in the world occurs by chance: what men call chance is nothing less than the wise permission, the appointment, the administration, of God.

Therefore we should never forget him, but, as events occur, say, with Eli, “It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good.” These dispensations of providence are various; some of them plain, others are very dark and mysterious. Sometimes his way is in the sea and his path in the deep waters, and his footsteps are not known. With regard to some of these ways of the Lord, therefore, we are required to walk by faith, and not by sight. David could rejoice in them all. He said, “I will sing of mercy and judgment;” and, however mysterious to us now, we have the encouraging assurance that what we know not now we shall know hereafter; and then we shall be able to say, what we now believe, “He hath done all things well.”

How abundantly is the mercy and truth of God manifested in his dispensations of grace, by which he rescues sinners from the ruin of the fall! This is called “the way of salvation;” and he hath sent his gospel and he sends his ministers to “show unto men the way of salvation;” the way in which this salvation was devised before time, procured in time, carried on through time, and in which it is completed when time shall he no longer. This, God himself considers his highest dispensation. Here he displays all his perfections, and brings glory to himself in the highest, furnishes materials for the study of angels who “desire to look into these things,” and will fill all heaven with endless admiration and praise.

And I will look for him. - Isaiah 8:17.

THIS language only suits one being in the universe, namely, a Christian mourning after an absent God. It is a sad thing to be without the presence of God; but it is far worse to be insensible of our need of it. This never will be the case, never can be the case, with those who are partakers of the grace of God in truth; each of them will be disposed to say, in such a condition as this, with David, “Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled;” and make this resolution of the church their own: “I will wait upon him who hideth himself from the house of Jacob, and will look for him.” And the language only suits such.

If we were to ascend up into heaven, we should not hear anything compared to this; there they have found him, and “in his presence is fullness of joy;” they “behold his face in righteousness, and are satisfied.” And were we to descend into hell, we should hear nothing like this. There they are saying, “Hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” And if we go forth and examine the thousands of our fellow-creatures around us, we should find them minding their farms and their merchandise; we should hear them saying, “Who will show us any good?” And as for the child of God, who is walking in the light of his countenance, though he desires the continuance and the increase of this, yet he properly does not use this language, he has found him whom his soul loveth. No; but it is the language of him who, after having been favoured with intercourse with God, after having seen him in his word, and enjoyed him in his ordinances, now finds himself in darkness and alone, conflicting with his numerous difficulties and dangers, and saying with the church, in the days of Jeremiah, “The comforter who should relieve my soul is removed far from me,” and therefore, as it is here, “I will look for him.” This desire and determination to seek after God’s presence arises from three causes.

First, it proceeds from their new nature; persons will desire according to their convictions and their disposition; being born of God, the believer naturally aspires towards him, and passing by those creatures which attract and detain others, he says, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.”

Secondly, This desire to find God arises from experience. When they first sought after God, they felt their need of him but then they had never tasted that he was gracious-now they have; and there is nothing they remember more vividly when they look back, than places, and seasons, and exercises, made sacred by their communion with God, and during which they have said-

“While such a scene of sacred joy

Our raptured eyes and souls employ,

Here we could sit and gaze away

A long, an everlasting day.”

Thirdly, It arises from a consciousness of their dependence upon him. They feel that all their sufficiency is of God. They know that he does not stand in need of them; but they know that “without him they can do nothing,” that they are nothing, that “in him they live, move, and have their being.” I need his presence, therefore, says the Christian, every moment. I want continually the joy of his salvation, the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and the upholding of his free Spirit. I cannot stand longer than he upholds me, I cannot walk beyond where he leads me, I cannot see farther than he enlightens me, I cannot act but as he strengthens me, I cannot live but as he enlivens me. He is “all and in all” to my soul. What wonder, under his absence, he should make this resolution his own, and say, “I will wait upon him that hideth himself from the house of Jacob, and will look for him.”