Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: August 28th

Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable. - 1 Peter 1:8.

SOME suppose the apostle means to intimate that there is such a peculiarity in this joy that it is so inexplicable that it cannot be communicated to others so as to be properly understood. And this is very true; therefore the apostle says, in another place, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

There are many expectations that are very unreasonable, and there are persons who look for evidence which it is not in our power to communicate, nor in their competency at present to receive. They witness our rejoicing, wish to know what we have that makes us so happy, and when we make as fair and full a report as we can, they are unable to understand either the nature or the sources of our joy. They must know and feel these for themselves. “He that believeth hath the witness in himself,” and it is only by experience that it can be known. They must taste and see that the Lord is good. But there is nothing peculiar in this: we know that we cannot communicate the pleasures of learning to the illiterate, or the pleasures of melody and harmony to a man who has no ear for music.

Hence it is that the Christian talks so little of his hidden life, and the deeper, richer parts of his experience, to the people of the world; it would be only “casting pearls before swine.” They say, with David, “Come unto me, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul.” But when the apostle says that this joy is “unspeakable,” he means to intimate the greatness of it, so that words are very inadequate properly and fully to express it. Worldly joy is easily expressed and described; much more is always said of it than it deserves, and it never, in any instance, realizes the expectations which it excites; we therefore often find that the successful votary of the world, even when he has seized his prey, sighs over it; I thought I should be happier when I had obtained such a possession, when I had reached such an elevation, and when I had acquired such a position. And when most successful, are they happy now? Is it not still their cry, “Who will show me any good?” But oh, how different is it with the Christian!

This joy is always worthy the name, and above every other joy, however highly it may be recommended and prized. If we had the tongue of angels as well as men, we should only beggar the subject by speaking of it. It is “unspeakable,” says the apostle. Who can describe it? Who can describe properly the efficiency of it,-how it will bear up the poor mind under every pressure, and enable its possessor to rejoice-under every deprivation? It can tranquillize the soul in the midst of tribulation, and fill it with holy confidence amidst the most alarming changes and revolutions, so as to enable it to say, with the church, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swellings thereof.”

The good will of him that dwelt in the bush. - Deuteronomy 33:16.

A VERY touching and striking incident occurred in connection with these words being spoken. Moses, the servant of the Lord, had received an order to ascend up unto Mount Nebo, and die there. He readily obeyed, but before he left the people whom he had brought up out of Egypt, he was determined to leave a blessing behind him, and so he blessed all the tribes of Israel. But when he came to Joseph, he said, “Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things brought forth by the moon, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth, and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.”

We here see how he was impressed with the scene which happened forty years before. How vividly he called to remembrance the place whence he had seen the burning bush, and had heard the voice of God out of the midst of the bush. How many things are impressive in remembrance. Distressing things are the most impressive, and the most adapted to enter into our feelings. But there are also many pleasing scenes which will be remembered, if we have possession of our faculties and the exercise of our reason, even when we come to die.

Thus David says, “My soul is cast down within me, therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites from the hill Mizar,”-the little hill where probably he had received some signal tokens of the divine favour which he could never forget. And thus it was with Jacob, when he was returning after a very improper journey: “Let us arise and go to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.” And when Moses was looking back to this period, he said, “The Lord was with Jacob.” It was as much as if he had said, There is nothing like it for a nation, or a tribe, or an individual, or the dearest connection- nothing like “the good will of him that dwelt in the bush.”

Oh! what sacrifices some persons make, and what pains they take, what meanness they submit to, in order to gain the goodwill of some fellow-creature, who is elevated above them, and able to serve them, but who can do little for them in their principal exigency. Oh! let us seek the Lord, who is infinite in all his resources. Our fathers tried, and trusted him, and all the multitudes before the throne speak well of his name. If we had all the world we should be miserable, unless we had his good will. “The good will of him that dwelt in the bush” will be sufficient for us, and nothing else. He will thus remove the curse of affliction, and the sting of death, and thus enable us to “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”