“MAY INFINITE WISDOM CURE US OF THE MADNESS OF SELF-CONFIDENCE”

“MY SPEECH SEEMS TO THESE BABYLONIANS AMONG WHOM I DWELL AN OUTLANDISH TONGUE, MY MANNERS ARE SINGULAR, AND MY ACTIONS ARE STRANGE.”

Yes, O Lord, with Thee, but not to Thee. All my natural alienation from Thee, Thy grace has effectually removed; and now, in fellowship with Thyself. I walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. Thou art a stranger in Thine own world. Man forgets Thee, dishonors Thee, sets up new laws and alien customs and knows Thee not!

He, [Jesus Christ] was in the world and the world was made by Him, and the world knew him not. Never was a foreigner so speckled a bird among the denizens of any land as Thy beloved Son among His mother’s brethren. It is no marvel then, if I, who try to live the life of Christ, should be unknown and a stranger here below.

Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien. His pierced hand has loosened the cords which once bound my soul to the earth, and now I find myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these Babylonians among whom I dwell an outlandish tongue, and my manners are singular, and my actions are stranger. A Tartar would be more at home in Cheapside than I could ever be in the haunts of this world.

But the sweetness of my lot is that I am a stranger with Christ, Thou art my fellow-sufferer, my fellow-pilgrim. Oh what joy to wander in such a blessed society! My heart burns within me by the way when Thou dost speak to me, and though I be a sojourner, I am far more blest than those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who dwell in their ceiled houses!

“Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sin.” Psalm 19:13. Such was the prayer of the “man after God’s own heart.” Did David need to pray thus? How needful, then must such a prayer be for us babes in grace! It is as if he said, “Keep me back, or I shall rush headlong over the precipice of sin.” Our evil nature, like an ill-tempered horse, is apt to run away. May the grace of God put the bridle upon it, and hold it in, that it rush not into mischief.

What might not the best of us do if it were not for the checks which the Lord sets upon us both in providence and in grace? The Psalmist prayer is directed against the worst form of sin – that which is done with deliberation and willfulness. Even the holiest needs to be “kept back” from the vilest transgressions. It is a solemn thing to find the Apostle Paul warning us against the most loathsome sins. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

The whitest robes, unless their purity be preserved by divine grace, will be defiled by the blackest spots. Experienced child of God, boast not in your experience, you will trip yet if you look away from Him who is able to keep you from falling. Ye whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose hopes are bright, say not, “We shall never sin,” but rather cry, “Lead us not into temptation.”

There is enough tinder in the heart of the best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell, unless God shall quench the sparks as they fall. Who would have dreamed that righteous Lot could be found drunken and committing uncleanness? Hazael said, “Is Thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?” and we are very apt to use the same self righteousness. May infinite wisdom cure us of the madness of self-confidence!

“SOMETIMES GOD ALLOWS US TO SUFFER WANT, HE ALLOWS US TO PINE IN PENURY AND OBSCURITY. WHY IS THIS?”

There are many reasons: one is, to give us, who are favored with enough, an opportunity of showing our love to Jesus. We show our love to Christ when we sing of Him and when we pray to Him; but if there were no sons of need in the world we should lose the sweet privilege of evidencing our love, by ministering in alms-giving to His poorer brethren; He has ordained that thus we should prove that our love standeth not in word only, but in deed and in truth.

If we truly love Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by Him. Those who are dear to Him and will be dear to us. Let us then look upon it not as a duty but as a privilege to relieve the poor of the Lord’s flock – remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, “Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Surely this assurance is sweet enough and this motive strong enough to lead us to help others with a willing hand and a loving heart – recollecting that all we do for His people is graciously accepted by Christ as done to Himself!

Sheriff G Ali