the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
June 19—Morning—Ecclesiastes 9:7
"Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works."—Ecclesiastes 9:7.
My soul, here is a sweet subject for thy morning thoughts. Art thou accepted in the Beloved? Hast thou accepted Jesus, and God accepted thee in Jesus? Well mayest thou then eat of the bread of common providences, and drink of the sweet of all sanctified mercies, for every thing is blessed in Jesus, and Jesus is blessing thee in every thing. Surely an accepted soul is a blessed soul, for he is blessed in his basket and in his store; blessed in his lying down, and blessed in his rising up; blessed in his going out, and blessed in his coming home; yea, blessed in time, and blessed to all eternity. Yes, thou blessed Source of all my blessedness, thou precious Jesus, I will go my way, for thou art my way; I will eat my bread with joy, for thou art my bread of life; I will drink the wine which thou hast mingled for me, for thy love is better than wine. And as God my Father accepteth me in thee, this forms an everlasting cause of everlasting joy; joy in what I have; joy in what I expect; joy in even what I want, for those very wants will lead me the closer and the nearer to thee; joy in what I fear, for my fear will keep me depending upon thee; joy in what I suffer, for my sufferings are sweetly blessed when they afford a renewed occasion for my Jesus to soothe me under them, and in his time to deliver me out of them; and joy in all I lose, for lose what I may I cannot lose thee, I cannot lose God’s Christ; I cannot lose his love, his favour, his grace, his Spirit, the efficacy of his blood, and the merits of his righteousness. Oh precious security, precious salvation in the Lord our Righteousness! Shall I not then live up to this heritage, and live under its influence, in the thankful, joyful use of it from day to day? Go thy way, my soul, go in Jesus as thy way; every day, and all the day, eat thy bread with joy; eye Jesus as the spiritual food, and always present at thy table; drink hourly of his cup of salvation, with a cheerful heart, for thou art accepted in the Beloved.
June 19—Evening—Psalms 57:7
"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise."—Psalms 57:7.
My soul! here is a delightful subject proposed for thine evening meditation, in the fixedness of the heart. The only possible way of really "singing and giving praise to the Lord" with the heart, is when the Lord hath fixed thine heart to the service. Many rush to ordinances, as the unthinking horse rusheth to the battle: not so, my soul, be thy practice. See to it, that He who alone can give a fixedness to the heart, hath fixed thine; for then, when the view of a God in Christ is brought home by the Holy Ghost to thy warmest and most devout affections, then, and not before, will there be a going forth of those affections, awakened and led by the same Almighty Spirit, upon the glorious person of thy Lord, and faith will be in lively exercise, in a way of praise, and love, and obedience, and joy. Then thou wilt sing and give praise "with the spirit, and with the understanding also." Sit down now, in the coolness of this sweet summer evening, and wait upon thy Jesus in silence and in meditation before him, until the Lord hath given thee this fixedness of affection on his person and righteousness; and then thou wilt find a fitness for devotion, and a fitness in devotion, from the sweet influences of God the Holy Ghost. Oh! how blessed is it to retire from every eye but his, who seeth in secret; and to remember, that while thine eye is looking upon Him, he is ever looking upon thee! Such a thought as this begins to give a fixedness to the heart; for the whole current and stream of the affections are directed, and therefore pour in to this one channel; so that, like a river not divided, nothing of it runs another way. And when the full tide of thine affections is thus tending to the person of Jesus, shall not such a fixedness of thought make thee cry out, as David, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise?" It is this state of the heart, which makes all the difference between the gracious and the carnal. Both may use closet duties; both may read, yea, study the word; yea, become proficients in the outer understanding of the word; the meditation may furnish the head, but not feed the heart: but it is the gracious soul that enjoys. It is a solemn consideration, how many are employed from year to year, in spiritual things, whose hearts all the while remain carnal. But where there is a fixedness of the heart, by the Spirit of the living God, upon the person, offices, and character of the Lord Jesus Christ, the meditation doth not settle for the mere discharge of a duty, but for the joy of the soul. Oh how I love thy law!" is then the language of the fixed heart; "it is my meditation all the day." My soul, dost thou know these things by heartfelt testimony? Doth God the Holy Ghost shine in upon thee with his light, to give thee sweet views, engaging views, soul-arresting views of Jesus? Are thine eyes, I mean the whole affections of thy soul, fixing themselves on Jesus, as a longing woman fixeth upon the one object of her desire, which nothing beside can satisfy? Oh! it is blessed to have this fixedness of mind at all times upon the person of Jesus. For this is to enter into the heart, and to shut to the door, (as Christ expresseth it) by shutting out all thoughts besides, and then looking in every direction for Jesus, and finding him in all, and upon all. His word, his grace, his secret whispers, his communications, are like so many rich cabinets of jewels, which the soul turns over, and finds Jesus in every one. Oh! thou dear Lord Jesus! grant me this happy frame of mind, that I may say, with David, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise!"
