“Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery;
upon the harp with a solemn sound.”
(Psalm 92:3)
"One string there is of sweetest tone, reserved for sinners saved by grace;
’Tis sacred to one class alone, and touched by one peculiar race.”
But God wants us to have others. He want us to praise Him with an instrument of ten strings.
At the end of Romans 4 and beginning of chapter 5 we see how we are brought to God.
The past is all settled; we have peace. As to the present, we stand in the highest
favour with God. As to the future, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Then the apostle says, “Not only so but we glory in tribulations also.” Here is a wonderful thing, to be able to glory in tribulations! To glory, or boast, in the very thing we most dislike.
Well, it is these very tribulations that produce some of the finest music from the saints of God.
If you have learnt to glory in tribulations, you have got another string or two to your instrument,
perhaps several, because tribulations are so varied. Look at Paul and Silas in prison,
their backs laid open with stripes, their feet fast in the stocks, their dungeon
dark and unwholesome; yet at midnight they prayed
and sang praises unto God, and
the prisoners heard them.
What sounds to fill such a place, and at such a time!
(Angels in White - Russell Elliott)
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December 22
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee:
because he trusted in Thee.”
(Isaiah 26:3)
Keep my life that it may be, Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Many a heart has echoed the little song:
Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee!
And yet those echoes have not been, in every case and at all times, so clear,
and full, and firm, so continuously glad as we would wish, and perhaps expected.
Some of us have said: I launch forth upon a sea of boundless love and tenderness.
And after a little we have found, or fancied, that there is a hidden leak in our boat,
and though we are doubtless still afloat, yet we are not sailing with the
same free, exultant confidence as at first.
What is it that has dulled and weakened the echo of our consecration song?
What is the little leak that hinders the swift and buoyant course of our consecrated life?
While many a sorrowfully varied answer to these questions may, and probably will, arise from touched and sensitives consciences, each being shown by God’s faithful Spirit the special sin, the special yielding to temptation which has hindered and spoiled the blessed life which they sought to enter and enjoy, it seems that one or other of two things has lain at the outset of the failure and disappointment.
First, it may have arisen from want of the simplest belief in the simplest fact, as well as want of trust in one of the simplest and plainest words our gracious Master ever uttered! The unbelieved fact being simply that He hears us; the untrusted word being one of those plain, broad foundation-stones on which we rested our whole weight, it may be many years ago, and which we had no idea we ever doubted, or were in any danger of doubting now—
“Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37).
(Kept for the Master’s Use - F.R.H.)
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December 23
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
(Matthew 16:24)
In the light of eternity, who are those who shall stand before the throne arrayed in white robes? Are they those who have come out of ease and pleasure, out of untroubled calm and and unbroken human relationships? Nay, rather they are these who have come out of great tribulation.
Had Milton not been blind, neither he nor we could have seen so clearly, and he could never have written, “My vision Thou hast dimmed, that I may see Thyself, Thyself alone.”
Out of blindness he learned the lesson so needed today by those cut off from an active life, that
“They also serve who only stand and wait.”
If Tennyson had not lost his friend Hallam, we should never have had his “In Memoriam.”
One cannot have a victory without a battle! Character without conflict! Perfect love without suffering!
As we visit the pearl fisheries, we find that life without pain leaves no pearl; that the life lived in sluggish ease, unwounded, without suffering or long-continued friction, forms no jewel. As we pass the dwellings of men we find that without suffering the pearl of great price, the highest human character, is not formed.
Suffering is linked with joy for those who take it aright. If you suffer without succeeding,
it is that someone else may succeed. If you succeed without suffering,
it is because someone else has suffered.
Is there no other way, O God, except through sorrow, pain and loss,
To stamp Christ’s image on my soul? No other way except the Cross?”
And then a voice stills all my soul, as stilled the waves on Galilee:
"Canst Thou not bear the furnace heat, if ‘mid the flames I walk with Thee?
"I bore the Cross, I know its weight, I drank the cup I hold for thee;
Canst thou not follow where I lead? I’ll give the strength—lean thou on Me.”
(Springs in the Valley)
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December 24
The Song of Moses
“Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake,
saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously:
the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.”
(Exodus 15:1)
I will sing unto the Lord, He hath triumphed gloriously.
Horse and rider, spear and sword, He hath cast into the sea;
Hosts and chariots overthrown, His the glory, His alone.
He my strength and He my song, He my sure salvation is.
Let Him dwell His saints among, let the praise be ever His.
Sing, O Israel, thou art free, He hath triumphed gloriously.
Glorious is Thy hand in might, fierce Thy wrath, Thy mercy kind,
Thou Thy ransomed lead’st aright, guide and guard in Thee they find.
Feared and honoured who should be, wonder-working God, like Thee?
To Thy holy dwelling place Thou Thy people safe wilt bring.
They rejoicing in Thy grace, Thou enthroned, eternal King.
Well their anthem then may be, “He hath triumphed gloriously.”
(James M. S. Tate - Bells & Pomegranates)
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December 25
“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.”
(John 17:17)
Faith makes all things possible. Love makes all things easy.
Hope makes all things joyful.
(Adapted from D. L. Moody)
Worldliness or any allowance of what is not of God, by a godly man,
gives the weight of his godliness to the thing which he allows.
(J. N. Darby)
The more I know of Him, the less I think of myself.
The mediocre teacher tells, the better teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates,
the great teacher inspires. (Adapted from W. A. Ward)
(With thanks - John Kaiser - BTP)
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December 26
“Fear not: for they that be with us are more
than they that be with them.”
(2 Kings 6:16)
The great question is not so much what the enemy may think of
God’s people, or what they may think about themselves,
or what they may think of one another.
The real, the all-important question is, What does God
think about them?
God knows us perfectly; and it is with Him we have to do, and
we can say, in the triumphant language of the apostle,
“If God be for us, who can be against us?”
(Romans 8:31)
God sees us, thinks of us, speaks about us, acts toward us,
according to what He Himself has made us,
and wrought for us.
(Food For The Desert)
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December 27
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And
the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that
doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
(1 John 2:16-17)
The world is bidding for these fine young Christians. The world and its allurements are all about them, and the devil would do a great deal to trip up earnest Christians like these.
There are some Christians the devil scarcely bothers about, but there are others out and out for God, and Satan is near with his snares and allurements, tripping them on this hand and that, and if they flee from one thing he has another temptation for them; and so the the exhortation comes —
1 John 2:16-17, Quoted above.
(H. A. Ironside)
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December 28
“ . . . shepherd’s abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8). “Jesus said: I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
It was Christmas Eve, 1875. Ira D. Sankey was traveling by steamboat up the Delaware River. It was a calm, starlight evening, and there were many passengers gathered on deck. Mr. Sankey was asked to sing. He stood leaning against one of the great funnels of the boat, and his eyes were raised to the starry heavens in quiet prayer. It was his intention to sing a Christmas song, but he was driven almost against his will to sing
"SAVIOUR LIKE A SHEPHERD LEAD US".
There was a deep stillness. Words and melody, welling forth from the singer’s soul, floated out over the deck and the quiet river. Every heart was touched. After the song was ended, a man with a rough weather beaten face came up to Mr. Sankey and said, “Did you ever serve in the Union army?” “Yes,” answered Mr. Sankey, “in the spring of 1860.”
“Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright, moonlight night in 1862?” “Yes,“ answered Mr Sankey, very much surprised. “So did I,” said the stranger, “but I was serving in the Confederate army. When I saw you standing at your post I said to myself, that fellow will never get away from here alive - I raised my musket and took aim.
I was standing in the shadow, completely concealed, while the full light of the moon was falling upon you. At that instant, just as a moment ago, you raised your eyes to Heaven and began to sing. Music, especially song, has always had a wonderful power over me, and I took my finger off the trigger."
"Let him sing his song to the end," I said to myself. “I can shoot him afterwards. He’s my victim at all events, and my bullet cannot miss him.” But the song you sang then was the song you sang just now. I heard the words perfectly:
We are Thine, do Thou befriend us, be the guardian of our way.
“When you had finished your song it was impossible for me to take aim at you again." I thought, “the Lord, who is able to save that man from certain death, must surely be great and mighty,” and my arm of its own accord dropped limp at my side.
"Since that time I have wandered about, far and wide, but when I just now saw you standing there praying as on that other occasion, I recognized you. Then my heart was wounded by your song. Now I ask that you help me find a cure for my sin sick soul.”
Deeply moved, Mr. Sankey threw his arms about the man who in the days of the war had been his enemy. And that night the stranger found the Good Shepherd as His Saviour.
(From - It Happened on Christmas Eve)
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December 29
“. . . His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
(Isaiah 9:6)
Christ is and shall be Prince of Peace. He stands alone, exalted and supreme,
the object of reverence and worship from angels and from men.
He is not next to God; He is God Himself.
There is nothing of God that is not comprehended in this marvellous name given to the child born and to the Son given. And He is given “unto us”. The grace is as mighty as the Person Himself. Had this majestic fact of incarnation been only for our knowledge and observation, it would have been wonderful indeed.
But it was “unto us” wholly. It was for our redemption and eternal blessing that this One with His great name came to be born and to be the Prince of Peace.
He was born for us. He was given for us. He is what He is for us! He is God for us, to be the mighty Saviour. He is Man for us, to have a heart of loving sympathy.
There is a tenderness from the heart of God, as well as power from the throne of God, in the message of Isaiah 9:6. Thank God it was “unto us” the child was born, and "unto us” the Son was given.
Thank God the angels’ message at Bethlehem was:
“Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
Thank God that “unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time” (Hebrews 9:28).
Maranatha! (Our Lord cometh)
(A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake)
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December 30
“I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)
Christ had a reason for coming that starlit night more than 2,000 years ago.
He came to usher you into a life abundant.
Will you come to Him as He comes to you? Allow Him to work a miracle in your life.
Then embrace the mission and purpose that He has for your life.
Pick up your cross daily, and look to Him for strength, and remember, He is coming back again,
“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
(Jason Bechtel)
Come to the Saviour, make no delay; here in His Word He’s shown us the way;
Here in our midst He’s standing today, tenderly saying come.
(G. F. Root)
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December 31
“I ascend unto My Father, and your Father, and to My God and your God.”
(John 20:17)
Real true worship is the overflow of the heart to God: and this is exactly what we see in this lovely little verse.That overflow of heart cannot be taught, and cannot be learned: it is spontaneous:
it bursts forth from a full heart, just as we see here.
There are many such bursts of praise in the Scriptures: and they are all different: they are not planned, they are not of men, but come from the Holy Spirit within us. What can we say to such a promise as the one we have just been considering?
What could a penniless beggar say to a Royal giver who freely gave him a blank Cheque,
good for an unlimited amount: a cheque that only needs endorsement—only needs
to be appropriated—only needs to be taken as my own: and I have untold
riches: what can I say to such an offer, when that offer
is made by the Lord God Almighty, My Father?
In Revelation 5:14, who dare to say where the burst of praise begins, and where it ends?
"The elders fell down and worshipped!” is the last we see in that glorious
scene; and shall not we say,—as we fall down and worship,—
“Now unto God and our Father be glory
for ever and ever. Amen."
(Philippians 4:20)
(G Christopher Willis)
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"Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”
(Psalm 100:3)
I know a Person who years ago took clay and formed a man.
With great skill this Sculptor made a skeletal system held together by 650 muscles,
and a circulatory system with a heart that would pump 658,000 gallons
of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels yearly.
He wove together other critical systems: digestive, respiratory, urinary, reproductive,
endocrine, and the nervous system with its master controller, the brain.
Then He covered it all with twenty square feet of skin.
No wonder we say "How great Thou art.”
Lord, we worship Thee our Maker, Mediator, and Master.
(Les Rainey)
O Lord, Thy works are all divine; in wisdom hast Thou made them all;
Earth’s teeming multitudes are Thine; Thine—peopled ocean’s great and small.
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