Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: January 31st

But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. - 2 Chronicles 35:21.

THERE are three things concerning which God “commands us to make haste.” The first is, to secure the salvation of the soul. This is to be our principal concern. Our first question is not to be, “What shall I eat, and what shall I drink, and wherewithal shall I be clothed?” But, says the Saviour, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” Why, what is our condition? We are ready to perish. And what is it to perish! We are required therefore to “flee from the wrath to come,” like Lot and his family when the fiery deluge was coming down. God says to us, as he said to them, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.” We are to flee to Jesus, “as the doves fly to their windows” when they see the gathering storm coming. We are to “flee for refuge to the hope set before us;” as the manslayer, under the law, fled in order to escape the avenger of blood. A man may be considered in a state of salvation when he is pardoned, and when he is renewed in the spirit of. his mind. But this is not all which is to engage our attention and zeal.

This haste may be applied, Secondly, to a course of godliness. “As we have received Christ Jesus the Lord,” says the apostle, “so walk in him.” “The grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present world.” Zeal is to appear in every thing here. Our faith is to be active as well as real; for unless it produce good works it is “dead, being alone.” Our hope is not only to be living, but lively. “We are to love one another.” But is this all? “We are to love one another with a pure heart, fervently.” “We are to pray.” But is this all? “We are to pray and not to faint.” “Then shall they find me,” says God, “when they seek me with all their heart.” The apostle, in addressing the Romans, says, “Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” The Greek word is “boiling hot,” in opposition not to coldness only, but to lukewarmness. And we should remember the address of our Saviour to the professors of Laodicea:-“Because thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” We are engaged in running a race, and surely a race requires haste; and thus it is-that we are enjoined “so to run that ye may obtain.” But we are not to be concerned only to grow in grace ourselves, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, but this haste will apply,

Thirdly, to our efforts in seeking the welfare of others. This also has devolved upon us. We are required to “look every man, not on his own things, but on the things of others.” We are not only required to be diligent in gaining good, but in doing good. “As we have opportunity,” we are to “do good unto all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith.” There are a thousand ways in which we may be useful, if we are so disposed; “and be not weary,” says the apostle, “in well-doing, for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not.” We should be concerned to obtain the Saviour’s approbation, who said of one of the churches, “Thou hast laboured and hast not fainted; and I know thy works, and the last to be more than the first.” And there should be no delay here- no indolence here. Solomon says, “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.” We are commanded, therefore, to make haste to be useful.

The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble. - Nahum 1:7.

OR, as it is in the margin, “He is their strength in the day of trouble.” He does not keep his people from trouble, but he is their refuge and relief in it. From whence does this “day of trouble” arise? Does it arise from danger? Why, he is our strength for protection. However persuasive or powerful our foes may be, we may say with David, “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” and with Paul, “In all these things we are more than conquerors.” Or does the day of trouble arise from duty? Then he is our strength for assistance. How often have we been oppressed by a sense of our inability to perform the work required of us. While thinking of plucking out a right eye, or cutting off a right hand, of walking by faith instead of walking by sight, living while on earth with our conversation in heaven, and looking at the things which are unseen and eternal, well may we exclaim, “Who is sufficient for these things?“ The work looks fitter for an angel’s strength than for a man’s. And it is so; but we have more than the ability of an angel for the performance of it; “our sufficiency is of God.”

By this Abraham was enabled to offer up his son Isaac, and thus strengthened Daniel entered the lion’s den, and the three Hebrew children the fiery furnace. Or is the day of trouble the result of affliction? Why, then he is our strength to support and deliver us. He does not always release his people from their afflictions, but he can sustain us under them, and comfort us in all our tribulations. Instead of releasing Paul from the thorn in the flesh, though he was very importunate in praying for its removal, he said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” And Paul was perfectly satisfied that the trial should remain, since the “strength” to sustain it was insured to him. Most gladly, therefore, says he, “will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” And now the promise is, “Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy days so shall thy strength be.”

Whatever the nature and degree of our affliction may be, we shall always find God to be a “very present help in the day of trouble.”