September 22 - Morning"Let Israel rejoice in him." — Psalm 149:2
Be glad of heart, O believer, but take care that thy gladness has its spring in the Lord. Thou hast much cause for gladness in thy God, for thou canst sing with David, "God, my exceeding joy." Be glad that the Lord reigneth, that Jehovah is King! Rejoice that He sits upon the throne, and ruleth all things! Every attribute of God should become a fresh ray in the sunlight of our gladness.
That He is wise should make us glad, knowing as we do our
own foolishness. That He is mighty, should cause us to rejoice who
tremble at our weakness. That he is everlasting, should always be a theme
of joy when we know that we wither as the grass. That He is unchanging,
should perpetually yield us a song, since we change every hour. That He is
full of grace, that He is overflowing with it, and that this grace in covenant
He has given to us; that it is ours to cleanse us, ours to keep us, ours to
sanctify us, ours to perfect us, ours to bring us to glory — all this should
tend to make us glad in Him. This gladness in God is as a deep river; we
have only as yet touched its brink, we know a little of its clear sweet,
heavenly streams, but onward the depth is greater, and the current more
impetuous in its joy.
The Christian feels that he may delight himself not
only in what God is, but also in all that God has done in the past. The
Psalms show us that God's people in olden times were wont to think
much of God's actions, and to have a song concerning each of them. So let
God's people now rehearse the deeds of the Lord! Let them tell of His
mighty acts, and "sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously."
Nor let them ever cease to sing, for as new mercies flow to them day by
day, so should their gladness in the Lord's loving acts in providence and in
grace show itself in continued thanksgiving. Be glad ye children of Zion
and rejoice in the Lord your God. September 22 - Evening"When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." — Psalm 61:2
Most of us know what it is to be overwhelmed in heart; emptied as when a
man wipeth a dish and turneth it upside down; submerged and thrown on
our beam ends like a vessel mastered by the storm. Discoveries of inward
corruption will do this, if the Lord permits the great deep of our depravity
to become troubled and cast up mire and dirt. Disappointments and
heart-breaks will do this when billow after billow rolls over us, and we are
like a broken shell hurled to and fro by the surf.
Blessed be God, at such
seasons we are not without an all-sufficient solace, our God is the harbour
of weather-beaten sails, the hospice of forlorn pilgrims. Higher than we are
is He, His mercy higher than our sins, His love higher than our thoughts. It
is pitiful to see men putting their trust in something lower than
themselves; but our confidence is fixed upon an exceeding high and glorious
Lord. A Rock He is since He changes not, and a high Rock, because the
tempests which overwhelm us roll far beneath at His feet; He is not
disturbed by them, but rules them at His will.
If we get under the shelter of
this lofty Rock we may defy the hurricane; all is calm under the lee of that
towering cliff. Alas! such is the confusion in which the troubled mind is
often cast, that we need piloting to this divine shelter. Hence the prayer of
the text. O Lord, our God, by Thy Holy Spirit, teach us the way of faith,
lead us into Thy rest. The wind blows us out to sea, the helm answers not
to our puny hand; Thou, Thou alone canst steer us over the bar between
yon sunken rocks, safe into the fair haven. How dependent we are upon
Thee — we need Thee to bring us to Thee. To be wisely directed and
steered into safety and peace is Thy gift, and Thine alone. This night be
pleased to deal well with Thy servants. September 22 |