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daily devotional
"I will meditate in thy precepts."
- Psalm 119:15
There are times when solitude is better than society, and
silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more
alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on his Word spiritual
strength for labour in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God,
because we thus get the real nutriment out of them.
Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would
have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times.
The bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice
will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the
precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters
of truth, if we would get the wine of consolation therefrom.
Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the
mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the
sinew, and the bone, is the process of dige stion. It is by digestion that the
outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not
nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the
other part of divine truth.
Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly
digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth
lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians,
although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life?
Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's
Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn,
but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon
the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they
will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our
resolve this morning, "I will meditate in thy precepts. "
Evening Devotion
"The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost."
- John 14:26
This age is peculiarly the dispensation of the Holy Spirit,
in which Jesus cheers us, not by his personal presence, as he shall do
by-and-by, but by the indwelling and constant abiding of the Holy Ghost, who is
evermore the Comforter of the church. It is his office to console the hearts of
God's people. He convinces of sin; he illuminates and instructs; but still the
main part of his work lies in making glad the hearts of the renewed, in
confirming the weak, and lifting up all those that be bowed down.
He does this by revealing Jesus to them. The Holy Spirit
consoles, but Christ is the consolation. If we may use the figure, the Holy
Spirit is the Physician, but Jesus is the medicine.
He heals the wound, but it is by applying the holy ointment
of Christ's name and grace. He takes not of his own things, but of the things
of Christ. So if we give to the Holy Spirit the Greek name of Paraclete, as we
sometimes do, then our heart confers on our ble ssed Lord Jesus the title of
Paraclesis.
If the one be the Comforter, the other is the Comfort. Now,
with such rich provision for his need, why should the Christian be sad and
desponding? The Holy Spirit has graciously engaged to be thy Comforter: dost
thou imagine, O thou weak and trembling believer, that he will be negligent of
his sacred trust? Canst thou suppose that he has undertaken what he cannot or
will not perform? If it be his especial work to strengthen thee, and to comfort
thee, dost thou suppose he has forgotten his business, or that he will fail in
the loving office which he sustains towards thee? Nay, think not so hardly of
the tender and blessed Spirit whose name is "the Comforter. " He delights to
give the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness. Trust thou in him, and he will surely comfort thee till the house of
mourning is closed for ever, and the marriage feast has begun.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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