October 31 - Morning"Renew a right spirit within me." — Psalm 51:10
A backslider, if there be a spark of life left in him will groan after
restoration. In this renewal the same exercise of grace is required as at our
conversion. We needed repentance then; we certainly need it now. We
wanted faith that we might come to Christ at first; only the like grace can
bring us to Jesus now. We wanted a word from the Most High, a word
from the lip of the loving One, to end our fears then; we shall soon
discover, when under a sense of present sin, that we need it now. No man
can be renewed without as real and true a manifestation of the Holy
Spirit's energy as he felt at first, because the work is as great, and flesh and
blood are as much in the way now as ever they were.
Let thy personal
weakness, O Christian, be an argument to make thee pray earnestly to thy
God for help. Remember, David when he felt himself to be powerless, did
not fold his arms or close his lips, but he hastened to the mercy-seat with
"renew a right spirit within me." Let not the doctrine that you, unaided,
can do nothing, make you sleep; but let it be a goad in your side to drive
you with an awful earnestness to Israel's strong Helper. O that you may
have grace to plead with God, as though you pleaded for your very life —
"Lord, renew a right spirit within me."
He who sincerely prays to God to
do this, will prove his honesty by using the means through which God
works. Be much in prayer; live much upon the Word of God; kill the lusts
which have driven your Lord from you; be careful to watch over the future
uprisings of sin. The Lord has His own appointed ways; sit by the
wayside and you will be ready when He passes by. Continue in all those
blessed ordinances which will foster and nourish your dying graces; and,
knowing that all the power must proceed from Him, cease not to cry,
"Renew a right spirit within me." October 31 - Evening"I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought." — Hosea 13:5
Yes, Lord, Thou didst indeed know me in my fallen state, and Thou didst
even then choose me for Thyself. When I was loathsome and
self-abhorred, Thou didst receive me as Thy child, and Thou didst satisfy
my craving wants. Blessed for ever be Thy name for this free, rich,
abounding mercy. Since then, my inward experience has often been a
wilderness; but Thou hast owned me still as Thy beloved, and poured
streams of love and grace into me to gladden me, and make me fruitful.
Yea, when my outward circumstances have been at the worst, and I have
wandered in a land of drought, Thy sweet presence has solaced me. Men
have not known me when scorn has awaited me, but Thou hast known my
soul in adversities, for no affliction dims the lustre of Thy love. Most
gracious Lord, I magnify Thee for all Thy faithfulness to me in trying
circumstances, and I deplore that I should at any time have forgotten Thee
and been exalted in heart, when I have owed all to Thy gentleness and love.
Have mercy upon Thy servant in this thing!
My soul, if Jesus thus acknowledged thee in thy low estate, be sure that
thou own both Himself and His cause now that thou art in thy prosperity.
Be not lifted up by thy worldly successes so as to be ashamed of the truth
or of the poor church with which thou hast been associated. Follow Jesus
into the wilderness: bear the cross with Him when the heat of persecution
grows hot. He owned thee, O my soul, in thy poverty and shame — never
be so treacherous as to be ashamed of Him. O for more shame at the
thought of being ashamed of my best Beloved! Jesus, my soul cleaveth to
Thee.
"I'll turn to Thee in days of light, October 31 |