Daily Devotionals

The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions

Devotional: July 21st

July 21—Morning—Psalms 92:12

"The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree."—Psalms 92:12.

It forms a beautiful illustration, which the Holy Ghost condescends to give of a true believer’s state, as it stands before God, in the allusion not unfrequently made in scripture to that of the palm-tree. The direct tendency of the palm-tree is upward: it lifts its head, in defiance of all impediments, towards the clouds. Now a true believer in Jesus is always looking upward, and directing all his pursuits after Jesus. His person, blood and righteousness are the objects of his desire. And as the palm-tree is said to flourish the more when trodden upon and attempted to be crushed; so the believer most oppressed for Jesus’s sake, will flourish in the graces of the Spirit more abundantly. How fruitful also is the palm-tree: and how much the people of God bring forth fruit in their old age, when, after long experience, they have found that in Jesus alone their fruit is found. How much the palm-tree likes sunny places! How precious the Sun of Righteousness is to his people! And as the branches of palm-trees are worn in tokens of victory, so the church above are beheld with palms in their hands: and the church below carry the palm of rejoicing, when, from the atoning blood and righteousness of Jesus, they are made more than conquerors through him that loved them. My soul, art thou flourishing like the palm-tree? Yes; if so be thou art planted in Jesus, and watered from the streams of that river which maketh glad the city of God. Yes, if directing all thy views, all thy hopes, all thy desires to Jesus, thou art living in him, acting faith upon him, making him the alpha and omega of hope here, and happiness hereafter. Blessed Sun of Righteousness, shine with such warm, life-giving, fruit-imparting beams of thy rich grace upon my soul, that I may flourish indeed under thy divine influence, and shew that" the Lord, who is my rock, is upright, and that there is no unrighteousness in him."

July 21—Evening—Job 19:25-27

"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another."—Job 19:25-27.

What sublimity is in these words! and what blessed glorious truths do they contain! Here is Job’s creed. My soul, see if it be thine. Job did not say, that he had heard of a Redeemer, and that he hoped it was true, and he gave credit to it; but he saith, he knoweth it. And observe who this Redeemer is. Job calls him his Goel, his Kinsman-Redeemer. For the light of redemption belonged to the nearest of kin, and he might redeem; Leviticus 25:25. We have lost our inheritance, forfeited our possession, and are poor indeed, both in person and in substance. Now as Christ, by virtue of his being our nearest of kin, is the one, the blessed one, the only one to whom the right of redemption belongs, and ma)’ redeem both our persons and our mortgaged inheritance; so we find Christ hath done both. Job therefore exults: "I know, (saith he) that my Kinsman, my Redeemer liveth." Oh, how blessed the thought! how precious the assurance! But we must not stop here. This Kinsman-Redeemer" will stand at the latter day upon the earth." Yes, saith the scripture, Jehovah hath given assurance to all men of this, "in that he hath raised him from the dead," Acts 17:31. Neither is this all. Job’s creed goes on. "Though (saith he) this body of mine be destroyed by worms, yet in this flesh shah I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold for myself, and not another for me." Sweet thought! Jesus hath secured the resurrection of his people, and, by his own, hath confirmed theirs. As sure as he arose, so sure must they; for he is the first fruits, and, by their union with him, they are the after harvest. As Jesus arose perfectly and substantially the very same body that died on the cross, so must their redeemed bodies arise the very same. The hand that now writes, and the eye that now reads, if a part of Christ’s mystical body by regeneration, must be interested in his resurrection also, and must arise not only precisely the same identical body, but every member of that body must be the same; for this is essential to identity. Were God to raise another body, it would make another person. This might indeed be done by God’s power; but then it would be a new creation, and not a resurrection of the old body. I must be the who I am now, and the same as I am now, as to identity, in order to constitute a resurrection. "This corruptible (saith Paul) must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Pause, my soul, over these sweet, but solemn truths, and say, are they blessed to thy meditation? Dost thou feel a joy, an interest in them? Oh! the unspeakable felicity of knowing that we have a Kinsman-Redeemer, and that he liveth, and that we live in him? Precious, precious Jesus! though all nations die, Jesus liveth; and because he liveth, I shall live also! Lie down, my soul, this night, with this blessed assurance, saying, hallelujah! Amen.