Daily Devotionals

The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions

Devotional: March 15th

March 15—Morning—2 Samuel 7:18-19

"Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD. And he said, Who am I, O LORD GOD! and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And is this the manner of man, O LORD GOD?”—2 Samuel 7:18-19.

The language of David, under the overwhelming views he had of divine goodness, as it concerned himself, is suited to the case of every child of God, as he may trace that goodness in his own history. Surely, every awakened soul may cry out, under the same impression, - "Who am I, O Lord God! and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? "My soul! ponder over the sweet subject, as it concerns thyself. Behold what manner of love the love of God is from the manner of man. View it in each Person of the Godhead. What is the highest possible conception any man can have of the love of God our Father to us? Was it not, when, as an evidence of the love he had to our nature, he put a robe of that nature, in its pure and holy state, upon the Person of his dear Son, when he gave him a body in all points such as ours, sin only excepted, that he might not only in that body perfect salvation both by his obedience and death, but also, that he might be our everlasting Mediator for drawing nigh to the Godhead, first in grace, and then in glory? Tell me, my soul, what method, in all the stores of Omnipotency, could God thy Father have adopted to convince thee of his love, as in this sweet method of his wisdom. God intimates, by this tender process, that he loveth the human nature which he hath created. And though, to answer the wise measures of his plan of redemption, he hath not as yet taken all the persons of his redeemed up to his heavenly court, yet he will have their glorious Head, their representative there, that he may behold Him, and accept the whole church in Him, and love them, and bless them in Him, now, and for ever. Oh! my soul, if this view of thy Father’s love was but always uppermost in thine heart, what a ground of encouragement would it for ever give thee, to come to thy God and Father in him, and his mediation; who, while he is one in the divine nature, is one also with thee in the human, on purpose to bid thee come. And as for thee, thou blessed Jesus, thy love and thy delights were always with thy people. From everlasting, thy tendencies of favour have been towards them; thine whole heart is ours. All thy grace, in being set up as the covenant-head for us, and all the after-actings of the same grace in time; all that thou didst then, and all that thou art doing now, - all, all testify the love of our Jesus. And may I not say to thee, thou dear Redeemer, as David did, "Is this the manner of man, O Lord God? "Yes, it is: but it is of the Glory-man, of the God-man, Christ Jesus. And no less, thou Holy Spirit, whose great work is love and consolation; what a thought is it to warm my soul into the most awakened contemplation and delight in the view of thy love, that though thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, yet dost thou make the very bodies of the redeemed thy temples, for thine indwelling residence. My soul, do as David did: go in before the Divine Presence; fall down and adore in the solemn thought - "Who am I, O Lord God! and what is my Father’s house?"

March 15—Evening—2 Corinthians 12:2

"A man in Christ."—2 Corinthians 12:2.

My soul! thy last evening’s meditation was sweet, (was it not?) in contemplating thy Jesus, as glorious in his own person, and as glorified in his people. Wilt thou add to that subject, for it is part of the same, for thy present thoughts, what is suggested in this motto, "a man in Christ?" Dost thou fully enter into the pleasing apprehension of what the phrase implies? Now, who shall fully describe it; or who is competent fully to conceive the whole extent of it? "A man in Christ," must imply every thing connected with a oneness, an union, a part of himself; yea, "a life hid with Christ in God." "A man in Christ" is as much a part in Christ’s mystical body, as the head, or hand, or foot, is a part of that body to which those members belong. Hence, (which is indeed a sweet part of the subject) every one who is "a man in Christ," is, to all intents and purposes, interested in all that belongs to Christ, as the Christ of God. Hence also, it must as undeniably follow, that every member of Christ’s body, the least, as well as the greatest, the humblest as well as the highest, becomes a part in him, is equally united to him, and participates in what belongs to him. The life of grace here, and the life of glory hereafter, being both derived from Christ, and enjoyed wholly from an union with him, are therefore equally enjoyed; just as the smallest leaf or branch united to a tree becomes a part of that tree, as much as the largest branches. Dost thou enter, my soul, into an apprehension of these outlines of the subject? Art thou "a man in Christ," by regeneration, adoption, justification, and grace? Oh! then, turn over the transporting thought, with holy and unceasing delight, in thy constant meditation. Calculate, if thou art able, the blessed inheritance, to which thou art begotten by it, of grace here, and glory to all eternity. "A man in Christ," is accepted in Christ, justified in Christ, sanctified in Christ, and must assuredly be glorified in Christ. Oh! who that thinks of these things, and through the Holy Ghost is conscious of an interest in them, can suffer the exercises of a dying world to bring affliction into the soul? What a life of dignity, is" a man in Christ" brought into! He is brought nigh unto God, through the blood of the cross. What a state of security is "a man in Christ" placed in! "Because I live," (saith Jesus) "ye shall live also." And what an endless prospect of glory, hath "a man in Christ" opening before him; when Christ hath said, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold the glory which thou hast given me!" O the unspeakable blessedness of "a man in Christ!"