TDR: 14 March (Psalm 144:3)

‘Lord, what is man that you care for him?’ (Psalm 144:3)

 

By nature we are enemies to God, in open rebellion against Him, and justly condemned by Him. We are in love with sin, slaves to lust, servants of Satan. We are blind to our best interests, deaf to the calls of God, and dead in trespasses and sin. We are an open sepulchre, a mass of wretchedness and disease, abominable and filthy beyond description.

Can such creatures be the object of the Lord God’s love, the purchase of the Saviour’s blood, and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit? Yes! For such were chosen to salvation; for such, Jesus was sent into the world to redeem them; for such, the Holy Spirit came to quicken, cleanse, justify, and save them!

O amazing grace! Astonishing mercy! And will God actually live among such as us upon the earth? Yes! “To this person I will look, and with him I will dwell, the one who is humble, and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word” [Isaiah 66:2]. Well may the patriarch exclaim, “O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?”

Oh, what is feeble, dying man,
Or any of his race,
That God should make it his concern
To visit him with grace!
That God, who darts His lightnings down,
Who shakes the worlds above,
And mountains tremble at His frown,
How wondrous is His love.

THE DAILY REMEMBRANCER by James Smith (1802-1862)

Journal Jottings

‘The thoughts of my bereavement [the death of James Smith’s young child] are very painful, may I be enabled to improve it. It demands a thankful acknowledgement, as it is a proof of the goodness of God. It was an answer to many petitions, put up from an aching heart. It was for my darling’s good. It was for the Lord’s glory. Let me look at it which way I will, it calls for grateful praise. But my heart is very backward, to pay this just and equitable debt !’ [continued tomorrow]