‘Uphold me, and I shall be delivered’ (Psalm 119:117)

This should be the Christian’s daily prayer: when the road is rough, the dangers are many; their foes are powerful; they are liable to fall. If we present this prayer from the heart, it proves that we have a sense of our own weakness; a knowledge of the Lord as our strength and guide; genuine humility working within; and also a desire to honour God ruling within our conscience.

We are in the world, and unless the Lord holds us up, we shall bring guilt on the conscience, disgrace on the gospel, and dishonour to God. We are in the church, and unless the Lord holds us up, we shall display roots of bitterness, stumbling blocks, and grieve the godly.

We shall be in affliction (if we are not already), and unless the Lord holds us up, we shall faint, become angry with God (just like Jonah), or be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

O dear Christian believer, do not lean on earth; don’t trust in a friend; place no dependence on gifts; but let your daily (in fact hourly) prayer to God be, “Uphold me, and I shall be delivered”. The ear of your God is open, the heart of your God is tender, the arm of your God is strong.

Son of God! Thy blessing grant;
Still supply my every want.
Unsustained by Thee, I fall,
Send the strength for which I call,
Weaker than a bruised reed,
Help I every moment need.

THE DAILY REMEMBRANCER by James Smith (1802-1862)

Journal Jottings

‘My new year’s motto is, “The Lord is thy keeper” Psalm 121:5. I wish to leave myself in His hands, and feel safe in his protection. He is my God, or I have no God. He is my hope, or I have no hope’.