the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
September 7—Morning—Malachi 2:16
"For the Lord the God of Israel saith, that he hateth putting away."—Malachi 2:16.
And well is it for thee, my soul, that he doth: for if the Lord God of Israel had dealt by thee once, as thou hast been dealing with him always, thou wouldest have been ruined for ever. But what is the cause of thy mercies? Is it not the covenant faithfulness of God thy Father, founded in his own everlasting love, engaged in his promise and his oath, to Jesus, and secured in his blood and righteousness? And is this the cause why the Lord God of Israel hateth putting away? Is this the cause why God resteth in his love? Oh for grace to see the cause, to adore the mercy; and where the Lord God of Israel rests, there, my soul, do thou rest also. See to it, my soul, that thy life of faith, and thy life of hope, are both founded in Jesus, and not in the sense thou hast of these precious things. The things are the same, how different soever, at different times, thy view of them may be. The everlasting worth, the everlasting efficacy, of Jesus’s blood and righteousness, is always the same; and his people’s interest in it the same, although, from the different view we have of it, at different times, it seems as if sometimes it were lost, and our own state was worse and worse. My soul, upon such occasions call to mind this sweet scripture:" The Lord God of Israel saith, that he hateth putting away." Observe, the Lord not only doth hate putting away, but he saith it, that his people may know it, and properly esteem his unchanging love. Oh to cry out under the assurance of this precious truth, and to feel the blessedness of what the Lord said by his servant the prophet:" The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: he will save: he will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."
September 7—Evening—1 Samuel 9:13
"For the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden."—1 Samuel 9:13.
I know not how scrupulous the Israelites were of not partaking of the sacrifice, until the prophet Samuel had blessed it in the name of the Lord; but well I know, no offering, under the gospel dispensation, can be profitable or blessed, until Jesus be first seen in it, and first enjoyed in it too. Surely, thou dear Lord! thou art the all in all of every thing that is sacred, blessed, and interesting. Thou art the altar, the sacrificer, and the sacrifice! And it can only be from thy blessing upon our poor ordinances, when we hold a feast upon thy one all-sufficient sacrifice, that any real enjoyment of a spiritual nature can be found in them. Neither, Lord, till I hear thy bidding, can I venture to eat. If Jesus indeed say," Eat, O friends, drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved;" then I feel a confidence in thy welcome to every gospel feast, and" sit down under thy shadow with great delight, and thy fruit is sweet to my taste." Come then, thou dear Lord! come to thine own banquet; to thy church, thy table, thine house of prayer, thine ordinances! Come and bless thy people, and command a blessing upon all thine own appointments, and all will be blessed indeed!
