I will lift my eyes

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—

the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

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Alone with Jesus

Alone with Jesus! (from Octavius Winslow’s, “Morning Thoughts”) “Suddenly they looked around, and Moses and Elijah were gone, and only Jesus was with them.” Mark 9:8 It is possible, my dear reader, that this page may be read by you at a period of painful and entire separation from all public engagements, ordinances, and privileges. The way which it has pleased God to take thus to set you aside may be painful and humbling. The inmate of a sick chamber, or curtained within the house of mourning, or removed far remote from the sanctuary of God and the fellowship of the saints, you are, perhaps, led to inquire, “Lord, why this?” He replies, “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Oh the thoughtfulness, the discrimination, the tenderness of Jesus towards His people! He has set you apart from public, for private duties; from communion with others, for communion with Himself. Ministers, friends, privileges are withdrawn, and you are; oh enviable state! alone with Jesus! And now expect the richest and holiest blessing of your life! Is it sickness? Jesus will make all your bed in your sickness, and your experience shall be, “His left hand is under my head, and His right hand embraces me.” Is it bereavement? Jesus will soothe your sorrow and sweeten your loneliness; for He loves to visit the house of mourning, and to accompany us to the grave, to weep with us there. Is it exile from Christian fellowship? Still it is Jesus who speaks, “I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile.” The very circumstances, new and peculiar as they are, in which you are placed, God can convert into new and peculiar mercies; yes, into the richest means of grace with which your soul was ever fed. The very void you feel, the very need you deplore, may be God’s way of satiating you with His goodness. Ah! does not God see your grace in your very desire for grace? Does He not mark your sanctification in your very thirsting for holiness? And can He not turn that desire, and convert that thirst, into the very blessing itself? Truly He can, and often does. He can now more than supply the absence of others by the presence of Himself. Oh, who can compute the blessings which now may flow into your soul from this season of exile and of solitude? Solitude? No, it is not solitude! Never were you less alone than now. You are alone with Jesus, and He is infinitely better than health, wealth, friends, ministers, or sanctuary, for He is the substance and the sweetness of all. And oh, if while thus alone with Jesus you are led more deeply to search out the plague of your own heart, and the love of His; to gather up the trailing garment; to burnish the rusted armor; to trim the glimmering lamp; and to cultivate a closer fellowship with your Father, how much soever you may mourn the necessity and the cause, you yet will not regret that the Lord has set you apart from others, that you might rest awhile in His blest embrace; alone with Jesus!

The Beloved!

James Smith, 1856
“He has made us accepted in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:6

Paul was speaking of the great and glorious privileges of the Lord’s people, and praising His holy name for them. He traces all up to the rich grace and sovereign pleasure of the Most High God. He rejoices in eternal and personal election to everlasting life, in the bestowment of all spiritual blessings, in predestination to adoption, and acceptance in the Beloved.

In Jesus, His people are pleasant in the sight of God, approved at His throne, and the objects of His highest love. But we are not going to speak of the saints — but the Savior; not the members — but the Head; not the twinkling stars — but the glorious and magnificent Sun.

Jesus is set before us as “The Beloved.” There is no need to mention His name if we speak of “The Beloved;” for though there are other objects of love, there is but one whom we emphatically call “the Beloved.” Oh, that the Holy Spirit would enable us to speak of Him so as to honor His dear name!

Jesus is “the Beloved” of His FATHER. At His baptism, and at His transfiguration, a voice came from the excellent glory saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And the evangelist John bears testimony, “The Father loves the Son, and gives all things into His hand.” Oh, the infinite, the eternal, the ineffable delight, which the Father has in His Son! The whole ocean of the Father’s love flows into the heart of Jesus! He is the highest object of His delight; He loves Him equally with Himself; He glories in Jesus, as the word plainly testifies.

Yet, such is His love to His people, poor, sinful, and despised as they are — that Jesus speaks as if the Father had a special love for Him, because of His love to them. Hence he says, “Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life.”

In HEAVEN Jesus is the Beloved object. From the Father on his blazing throne, to the least inhabitant of that glorious country — all love and delight in Jesus. Every eye sparkles with love to Him, and every song expresses love to Him!

Jesus is “the Beloved” of MEN. Not of all men, for they do not know Him. But all who know Him — surely love Him. However believers may differ in other things, they all agree in this, that Jesus is “The Beloved.” No one can extol Him too highly, or praise Him too much. He is the object all His people delight to honor. With, one heart and one voice they exclaim,

“Let Him be crowned with majesty,
Who bowed His head to death;
And be His honors sounded high,
By all things that have breath!”

We love Jesus — on account of what He has DONE for us. Whatever turn our love may take afterwards, it is this which kindles it: “We love Him, because He first loved us.” And we learn the love that was in His heart — by what appeared in His life. When we discover that he stood up for us in the eternal council, pledged Himself in the everlasting covenant, and engaged to become our Savior — our hearts warm with love to Him. But when we see Him coming into our world, taking our place, laboring, suffering, and dying in our stead — then our love begins to blaze, and flash, and glow. And to perceive that He is gone into heaven, to appear in the presence of God for us, that he is pleading our cause with His Father, interceding on our behalf, and preparing our mansion for us — our love is strengthened and increased yet more. He is our Beloved.

We love Jesus on account of what He has GIVEN us. He has given us . . .
His Spirit to quicken us,
His word to instruct us,
His providence to take care of us, and
His name to be pleaded for all good things by us!

For “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich — yet for our sakes, became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich.” He conferred all upon us. He gave himself, and with himself — His unsearchable riches. So that having Jesus, we have all things — we are rich beyond expression, thought, or conception. Apart from Jesus, we are wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; but with Jesus, all things are ours, present or future, in this world or another. Well, then, may Jesus be our Beloved!

We love Jesus for WHAT HE IS. True love is sure to rise and fix on the person. At first, we are more taken up with what Jesus has done for us, and bestowed upon us; but afterwards we are more delighted with what Jesus is in himself. Advanced believers always dwell much on the person of Christ. They love to think of His Divinity — it expands their hearts, elevates their affections, and mixes adoration with their love. They equally love to think of his humanity — and to see him bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. Jesus as the man, possessing human passions, and exercising human sympathies — seems to soften our affections, and they flow forth with gentleness and joy.

But it is the complex person of Christ as God-man, that is the especial object of our love. As God, He is so much above us; as man, He is so nearly on a level with us; but as God and man in one Christ — He is peculiarly adapted to us. So that if we speak of our Beloved, we do not refer to one merely human, or to one only Divine — but to one who is both Divine and human.

The personal glory of Christ attracts our attention, excites our admiration, and draws forth our love. When the eye of the mind is first fixed on this glorious Jesus, the soul sighs out, “Oh, if this blessed Jesus could be mine!” But when the Holy Spirit reveals the fact that He is ours — we are almost in an ecstasy! The joy is so deep, so powerful, that it bears us away; and if it were not restrained, would unfit us for the duties of life.

We love Jesus on account of our enjoyment of Him. Oh, the happiness we have found in Jesus! When we first felt His blood applied to our conscience to remove our guilt, and realized our saving interest in His glorious person and finished work — our enjoyments were Divinely sweet. We can never forget the pleasure we felt then. And how often since, when hearing His Gospel, meditating on His word, or worshipping at His throne, have we found our joy unspeakable and full of glory. We feel that we are indebted to Jesus for all those sweet glimpses of glory, those foretastes of heaven, those spiritual pleasures, which we have often realized.

The presence of Jesus is our heaven. We love to hear of Him, to read of Him, to praise Him; but to enjoy His presence — is our highest bliss. We feel that we could be satisfied with the presence of Jesus anywhere; but without the presence of Jesus we could be satisfied nowhere. How can we help loving Him, who is “the glory of our brightest days, and comfort of our darkest nights.” The enjoyment of Jesus naturally fills us with love to Him, and leads us to exclaim, “This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!”

We love Jesus on account of what we EXPECT from Him. He will soon send for us — to be where He is; or He will come again and receive us to himself. He has given us grace — He will give us glory.

We expect great things from Him when He comes. He will exactly conform us to Himself, and we shall be like Him! He will confer on us a crown of righteousness that will never fade, or tarnish. He will robe us in light and glory. He will place us beside Him on His throne. He will beat down our foes before our face, and our enemies under our feet. He will present us faultless before His glorious presence; and He will present us unto his Father without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.

Indeed, we can conceive of nothing that will dignify the body, gratify the spirit, or delight the heart — but we may expect Jesus to bestow it upon us when He comes! And when we call to mind all that our eyes have seen, or our ears have heard, or our hearts conceived, which is great, grand, and glorious — the whole is not to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us! For “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man — what God has prepared for them that love Him.”

Is it any wonder, then, that Jesus is “The Beloved” to us? The only wonder is, that we do not love Him ten times more — if we were what we ought to be, we should be daily, yes, hourly, speaking of the glorious honor of His majesty, and telling of His wondrous works. Our thoughts would be full of Jesus; our conversation would be always of Jesus; our writings would be of Jesus. My heart at this moment exclaims, “Oh, that I could love Jesus as I ought! Oh that I could honor Jesus as I ought!”

Reader, do you love Jesus? If you do not — you know nothing of what real happiness, or what refined pleasure is. Is Jesus your Beloved? If not, you have never seen His glory as it is revealed in the Gospel, nor have you experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart, as the glorifier of Jesus. You cannot be truly happy on earth, nor are you prepared to go to heaven. Jesus is the great object of love, adoration, and praise in heaven! All there admire Him, glow with love to Him, and ascribe their whole salvation to His blood!

In heaven, “Christ is all in all!”

In the Church below, “Christ is all in all!”

And in every sanctified heart, “Christ is all in all!”

Reader, is this your case? Is It?

The God of the Broken Hearted.

As “fair flowers bloom upon rough stalks,” so many of the fairest flowers of human life, grow upon the rough stalks of suffering.

I found myself this morning having a bit of a “pity party”.

It seems like the past year has been one health problem after another for me. I am the kind of person who has a tendency to put a “happy face” on all my problems and focus on anything else. I put off going to Doctor’s until it’s too late, I don’t ask for help unless it’s urgent and I eventually bottom out somewhere. It’s not a healthy pattern and God usually has to do something to get my attention.

I recently wrote a little bit about my testimony for another blog.  I have never written it down because it’s one of those situations where God made good out of a really bad thing and it’s hard to revisit without having to think about those hard times. Looking back over my life was bittersweet to me, and this morning driving to Church it all came crashing down. I spent most of my morning crying out to God in my office and then in my car. I know God can handle it, it perplexes me why I always wait to unload on Him when he promises to never leave or forsake me. I know there is a reason for everything we go through on our journey home to Heaven, and that God is using those very things to refine us for His glory, but sometimes I guess I need to just pour out my heart to Him and let Him carry the burdens of life for me.

I rarely turn on the radio in the car anymore. I like to talk to God while I am driving, but for some reason I flipped to a local Christian station on my way to Church this morning.  This song came on and it ministered to my fragile heart this morning. I hope it blesses you dear friend. I also included a wonderful article from Grace Gems my J.R. Miller. If for some reason today you are sad, or weary please remember that God has special grace for you today. Lean on Him, trust Him. He has this all under control, He cares for His children.

The God of the broken-hearted

(J. R. Miller, “The Beatitude for the Unsuccessful” 1892)

“The Lord is near the broken-hearted.” Psalm 34:18

The God of the Bible, is the God of the broken-hearted. The world cares little for the broken hearts. Indeed, people oftentimes break hearts by their cruelty, their falseness, their injustice, their coldness–and then move on as heedlessly as if they had trodden only on a worm! But God cares. Broken-heartedness attracts Him. The plaint of grief on earth–draws Him down from heaven.

Physicians in their rounds, do not stop at the homes of the well–but of the sick. So it is with God in His movements through this world. It is not to the whole and the well–but to the wounded and stricken, that He comes with sweetest tenderness! Jesus said of His mission: “He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted.” Isaiah 61:1

We look upon trouble as misfortune. We say that the life is being destroyed, which is passing through adversity. But the truth which we find in the Bible, does not so represent suffering. God is a repairer and restorer of the hurt and ruined life. He takes the bruised reed–and by His gentle skill makes it whole again, until it grows into fairest beauty. The love, pity, and grace of God, minister sweet blessing of comfort and healing–to restore the broken and wounded hearts of His people.

Much of the most beautiful life in this world, comes out of sorrow. As “fair flowers bloom upon rough stalks,” so many of the fairest flowers of human life, grow upon the rough stalks of suffering. We see that those who in heaven wear the whitest robes, and sing the loudest songs of victory–are those who have come out of great tribulation. Heaven’s highest places are filling, not from earth’s homes of glad festivity and tearless joy–but from its chambers of pain; its valleys of struggle where the battle is hard; and its scenes of sorrow, where pale cheeks are wet with tears, and where hearts are broken. The God of the Bible–is the God of the bowed down–whom He lifts up into His strength.

God is the God of those who fail. Not that He loves those who stumble and fall, better than those who walk erect without stumbling; but He helps them more. The weak believers get more of His grace–than those who are strong believers. There is a special divine promise, which says, “My divine power is made perfect in weakness.” When we are conscious of our own insufficiency, then we are ready to receive of the divine sufficiency. Thus our very weakness is an element of strength. Our weakness is an empty cup–which God fills with His own strength.

You may think that your weakness unfits you for noble, strong, beautiful living–or for sweet, gentle, helpful serving. You wish you could get clear of it. It seems to burden you–an ugly spiritual deformity. But really it is something which–if you give it to Christ–He can transform into a blessing, a source of His power. The friend by your side, whom you envy because he seems so much stronger than you are–does not get so much of Christ’s strength as you do. You are weaker than him–but your weakness draws to you divine power, and makes you strong.

“He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

The Lord of the Dance

by RC Sproul Jr.

I was reminded this afternoon of a liturgy within a liturgy that I practice. My two youngest daughters, Erin Claire and Maili had their first dance recital. They are a part of a small ballet group made up of homeschooled little girls in our broader community. They danced beautifully, received their applause, smiled as only little girls can, and came and sat beside me, giving and receiving hugs. The entire rest of the family was there to cheer them on. The second dance troupe was a little older, and they danced to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. As they danced I glanced over at my eleven year old daughter Shannon, smiling joyfully as she took in both the music and dancing. She sat there in her wheelchair and rejoiced.

Each Lord’s Day at Saint Peter Presbyterian Church we confess our faith together. Usually we sing together either the Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed. That is the liturgy I was reminded of. The liturgy within the liturgy is this–when we get to that part in either creed where we affirm our belief in the resurrection of the body, I look to my little girl Shannon. For her, and therefore for me, the resurrection of the body isn’t merely a theological affirmation. It isn’t merely a careful add-on to the really important thing, getting our souls saved. It is instead a promise to long for, to cling to, to rejoice in.

Our Lord came not just as a soul saver, but as a redeemer. The good news is not merely that our spirits do not end up in hell, but is instead that we will be saved to the uttermost, that our resurrected Lord has secured us completely. The effect of sin in the life of my precious little girl, the illness that leaves her so unsteady on her feet that she spends most of her days either in bed or in that wheelchair, this too will be beaten. Jesus, our hero, has promised to rescue my precious little maiden.

It was, however, in the context of that music and that dance that this became so much clearer. I once heard that Pachelbel wrote his Canon in D in a fit of ecstasy, believing he was hearing the very music of heaven. I heard he was so moved by what he heard that he never wrote another piece of music. And so I too think of heaven when I hear those strains. And there up front these little girls are dancing. I remembered as I watched Shannon watch, that Jesus would not only heal her body, that He would not only make her mind whole, but that He will on that great day dance with her. He will hold her close, and twirl about His throne room to the music of the spheres, and together they will laugh at the joy of it. As Aslan roared “Ohhh Children!!!” as he frolicked with Lucy and Susan after he was raised, so will Jesus roar “Ohhhh Shannon!!!” I will watch, and I will give thanks. This is the good news of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Dance.