the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Our Daily Homily - Volume 3
Jeremiah 16:19—O Lord, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction. (R.V.)
One of the puritans was accustomed to describe prayer as the flight of the lonely man to the only God. There is such prayer here. This man is very lonely. He is like a speckled bird, set on by all the birds of the flock. He looks right and left, but there is no man to care for his soul; then he addresses himself to God in these touching words.
My strength.—The psalmist spoke of God as the strength of his life. The apostle of love said that little children could overcome the world, because He that was in them was greater and stronger than he that was in the world. "God is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
My stronghold.—A stronghold is what holds strongly. A keep is that which keeps. We keep God’s deposit, which is his Gospel: God keeps our deposit, which is ourselves. And none, man nor devil, can snatch us away.
My refuge in the day of affliction.—The night darkening the sky drives the chicks to the hen’s wings; so affliction drives us to God. "In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast."
Do you wish to know Him thus? See that you do not burden yourself by your endeavors. God is a Spirit, and within your spirit. You need not ascend into heaven, nor descend into the deep. You need not weary yourself with the reasonings and reflections and questionings of your mind or heart. By these means you will wander further from Him and his knowledge. Be still and know. Enter into the still and peaceful land of inward spiritual fellowship. Commune with your own heart. Be a child before Him, innocent, unaffected, unrestrained.
