Proverbs 15:23 A man hath joy by the answerof his mouth: and a word spokenin due season, how good is it! King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 173
Proverbs 15:23 A man hath joy by the answerof his mouth: and a word spokenin due season, how good is it! King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 173
“I will love them freely.”~ Hosea 14:4 ~ This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. He who understands its meaning is a theologian, and he who can dive into its fulness is a true master in Israel. It is a condensation of the glorious message of salvation which was delivered to us in Christ Jesus our Redeemer. The… (more…)
Plead His Own Promise “Thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.” ~ 2 Samuel 7:29 ~ This is a promise pleaded, and so it yields double instruction to us. Anything which the Lord God has spoken we should receive as surely true and then plead it… (more…)
“Why are ye troubled?and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?”~ Luke 24:38 ~ Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?” The Lord cares for all things, and the meanest creatures share in His universal providence, but His particular providence is over… (more…)
God’s Multiplication Table “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.”~ Isaiah 60:22 ~ Works for the Lord often begin on a small scale, and they are none the worse for this. Feebleness educates faith, brings God near, and wins glory for His name. Prize… (more…)
Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will,O my God: yea, thy lawis within my heart. King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 202
“The love of Christ constraineth us.”~ 2 Corinthians 5:14 ~ How much owest thou unto my Lord? Has He ever done anything for thee? Has He forgiven thy sins? Has He covered thee with a robe of righteousness? Has He set thy feet upon a rock? Has He established thy goings? Has He prepared heaven for thee? Has He prepared… (more…)
“Keep not back.”~Isaiah 43:6 ~ Although this message was sent to the south, and referred to the seed of Israel, it may profitably be a summons to ourselves. Backward we are naturally to all good things, and it is a lesson of grace to learn to go forward in the ways of God. Reader, are you unconverted, but do you… (more…)
From Every Sin “He shall save his people from their sins.”~ Matthew 1:21 ~ Lord, save me from my sins. By the name of Jesus I am encouraged thus to pray. Save me from my past sins, that the habit of them may not hold me captive. Save me from my constitutional sins, that I may not be the slave… (more…)
Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joyof thy salvation; and upholdme with thy free spirit. King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 132
“Grow up into Him in all things.”~ Ephesians 4:15 ~ Many Christians remain stunted and dwarfed in spiritual things, so as to present the same appearance year after year. No up-springing of advanced and refined feeling is manifest in them. They exist but do not “grow up into Him in all things.” But should we rest content with being in… (more…)
“God, my Maker, who giveth songs in the night.”~ Job 35:10 ~ Any man can sing in the day. When the cup is full, man draws inspiration from it. When wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plenteous harvest or sends home a loaded argosy. It is easy enough for an Aeolian… (more…)
Regulated Chastisement “I will correct thee in measure.”~ Jeremiah 30:11 ~ To be left uncorrected would be a fatal sign: it would prove that the Lord had said, “He is given unto idols, let him alone.” God grant that such may never be our portion! Uninterrupted prosperity is a thing to cause fear and trembling. As many as God tenderly… (more…)
Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord:and he shall give thee the desiresof thine heart. King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 197
“Babes in Christ.”~ 1 Corinthians 3:1 ~ Are you mourning, believer, because you are so weak in the divine life: because your faith is so little, your love so feeble? Cheer up, for you have cause for gratitude. Remember that in some things you are equal to the greatest and most full-grown Christian. You are as much bought with blood… (more…)
“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”~ 1 Samuel 15:22 ~ Saul had been commanded to slay utterly all the Amalekites and their cattle. Instead of doing so, he preserved the king, and suffered his people to take the best of the oxen and of the sheep. When called to account for this, he declared that he did it with… (more…)
Tears, Then Joyful Harvest “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”~ Psalm 126:5 ~ Weeping times are suitable for sowing: we do not want the ground to be too dry. Seed steeped in the tears of earnest anxiety will come up all the sooner. The salt of prayerful tears will give the good seed a flavor which will… (more…)
Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord:be of good courage,and he shall strengthenthine heart: wait,I say, on the Lord. King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 167
“Thy paths drop fatness.”~ Psalm 65:11 ~ Many are “the paths of the Lord” which “drop fatness,” but an especial one is the path of prayer. No believer, who is much in the closet, will have need to cry, “My leanness, my leanness; woe unto me.” Starving souls live at a distance from the mercy-seat, and become like the parched… (more…)
“He shall gather the lambs with His arm.”~ Isaiah 40:11 ~ Our good Shepherd has in His flock a variety of experiences, some are strong in the Lord, and others are weak in faith, but He is impartial in His care for all His sheep, and the weakest lamb is as dear to Him as the most advanced of the… (more…)
Holy Fear “He that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”~ Proverbs 13:13 ~ Holy awe of God’s Word is at a great discount. Men think themselves wiser than the Word of the Lord and sit in judgment upon it. “So did not I, because of the fear of God.” We accept the inspired Book as infallible and prove our esteem… (more…)
Psalm 25:14-15 The secret of the Lord is withthem that fear him; and he willshew them his covenant.Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord;for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 188
“And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.”~ 1 Samuel 27:1 ~ The thought of David’s heart at this time was a false thought, because he certainly had no ground for thinking that God’s anointing him by Samuel was intended to be left as an empty unmeaning act. On no one… (more…)
“He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.”~ John 16:15 ~ There are times when all the promises and a doctrines of the Bible are of no avail, unless a gracious hand shall apply them to us. We are thirsty, but too faint to crawl to the water-brook. When a soldier is wounded in battle it is… (more…)
“With Thee is the fountain of life.”~ Psalm 36:9 ~ There are times in our spiritual experience when human counsel or sympathy, or religious ordinances, fail to comfort or help us. Why does our gracious God permit this? Perhaps it is because we have been living too much without Him, and He therefore takes away everything upon which we have… (more…)
One with Christ Jesus “Because I live, ye shall live also.”~ John 14:19 ~ Jesus has made the life of believers in Him as certain as His own. As sure as the Head lives the members live also. If Jesus has not risen from the dead, then are we dead in our sins; but since He has risen, all… (more…)
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth,and the meditation of my heart,be acceptable in thy sight,O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 214
“Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine.”~ John 21:12 ~ In these words the believer is invited to a holy nearness to Jesus. “Come and dine,” implies the same table, the same meat; ay, and sometimes it means to sit side by side, and lean our head upon the Saviour’s bosom. It is being brought into the banqueting-house, where waves… (more…)
“But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.”~ Exodus 34:20 ~ Every firstborn creature must be the Lord’s, but since the ass was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law?… (more…)
Sustained by Feeding “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.”~ John 6:57 ~ We live by virtue of our union with the Son of God. As God-man Mediator, the Lord Jesus lives by the self-existent Father who has sent Him, and in… (more…)
2 Samuel 7:22 Wherefore thou art great,O Lord God: for there is none like thee,neither is there any God beside thee,according to all that we haveheard with our ears. King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 145
“But who may abide the day of his coming?”~ Malachi 3:2 ~ His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth. Those who supposed themselves to be waiting for Him,… (more…)
“And be not conformed to this world.”~ Romans 12:2 ~ If a Christian can by possibility be saved while he conforms to this world, at any rate it must be so as by fire. Such a bare salvation is almost as much to be dreaded as desired. Reader, would you wish to leave this world in the darkness of a… (more…)
Never Ashamed “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”~ Matthew 10:32 ~ Gracious promise! It is a great joy to me to confess my Lord. Whatever my faults may be, I am not ashamed of Jesus, nor do I fear to declare the doctrines of His cross. O… (more…)
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world:but be ye transformed by the renewingof your mind, that ye may prove whatis that good, and acceptable,and perfect, will of God. King James Version by Public Domain Thank You For Visiting 167