Milo

August 9

“Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee … who passing through the valley of weeping, make it a well.” (Psalm 84:5, 6.)

COMFORT does not come to the light-hearted and merry. We must go down into “depths” if we would experience this most precious of God’s gifts—comfort, and thus be prepared to be co-workers together with Him.
When night—needful night—gathers over the garden of our souls, when the leaves close up, and the flowers no longer hold any sunlight within their folded petals, there shall never be wanting, even in the thickest darkness, drops of heavenly dew—dew which falls only when the sun has gone.

“I have been through the valley of weeping,
The valley of sorrow and pain;
But the ‘God of all comfort’ was with me,
At hand to uphold and sustain.

“As the earth needs the clouds and sunshine,
Our souls need both sorrow and joy;
So He places us oft in the furnace,
The dross from the gold to destroy.

“When he leads thro’ some valley of trouble,
His omnipotent hand we trace;
For the trials and sorrows He sends us,
Are part of His lessons in grace.

“Oft we shrink from the purging and pruning,
Forgetting the Husbandman knows
That the deeper the cutting and paring,
The richer the cluster that grows.

“Well He knows that affliction is needed;
He has a wise purpose in view,
And in the dark valley He whispers,
‘Hereafter Thou’lt know what I do.’

“As we travel thro’ life’s shadow’d valley,
Fresh springs of His love ever rise;
And we learn that our sorrows and losses,
Are blessings just sent in disguise.

“So we’ll follow wherever He leadeth,
Let the path be dreary or bright;
For we’ve proved that our God can give comfort;
Our God can give songs in the night.”

9 AUGUST

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

‘And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?’ Genesis 15:2
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 103:1–22

These words sound very strange from the father of the faithful. Was this a suitable answer to the promise he had just received? If we take them in their first and immediate sense, they answer to what many believers have felt and what I suppose Abraham himself was not wholly free from: a spirit of impatience and unbelief, which makes it well for us that the grace of God is free and his love unchangeable, or we might expect to be cast off for our perversity. The psalmist charges his soul, forget not all his benefits [Psalm 103:2]. There are seasons when we are liable to forget not only one or a few, but to forget them all, as:
(i) in a time of sharp affliction. Then too often a believer is like other men. The Lord has saved him from hell and appointed him to glory, but the trouble so fixes the attention that everything else seems forgot.
(ii) when the heart is keenly set upon creature good. O then a depraved nature shows itself. If we cannot have what we want, all that we have seems useless and tasteless and the sun shines upon us in vain.
From hence we may observe that a constant meditation upon the mercies of God to us, especially to our souls, is an excellent means to keep our hearts in a right frame, to make trouble sit easy and to teach us how to seek or to use the good things of this world as becomes Christians

FOR MEDITATION:
His love in time past
Forbids me to think
He’ll leave me at last
In trouble to sink;
Each sweet Ebenezer
I have in review,
Confirms his good pleasure
To help me quite through.

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 30 [1/2], GENESIS 15:2

August 8th

Prayer in the Father’s honour

That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35.

If the Son of God is born into my mortal flesh, is His holy innocence and simplicity and oneness with the Father getting a chance to manifest itself in me? What was true of the Virgin Mary in the historic introduction of God’s Son into this earth is true in every saint. The Son of God is born into me by the direct act of God; then I as a child of God have to exercise the right of a child, the right of being always face to face with my Father. Am I continually saying with amazement to my commonsense life—‘Why do you want to turn me off here? Don’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?’ Whatever the circumstances may be, that Holy, Innocent, Eternal Child must be in contact with His Father.
Am I simple enough to identify myself with my Lord in this way? Is He getting His wonderful way in me? Is God realizing that His Son is formed in me, or have I carefully put Him on one side? Oh the clamour of these days! Everyone is clamouring—for what? For the Son of God to be put to death. There is no room here for the Son of God just now, no room for quiet holy communion with the Father.
Is the Son of God praying in me or am I dictating to Him? Is He ministering in me as He did in the days of His flesh? Is the Son of God in me going through His passion for His own purposes? The more one knows of the inner life of God’s ripest saints, the more one sees what God’s purpose is—“filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ.” There is always something to be done in the sense of “filling up.”

August 8

“Thou art my king, O God: Command deliverance (victories, margin) for Jacob.” (Psalm 44:4, R. V.)

THERE is no foe to your growth in grace, no enemy in your Christian work, which was not included in your Savior’s conquests.
You need not be afraid of them. When you touch them, they will flee before you. God has promised to deliver them up before you. Only be strong and very courageous! Fear not, nor be dismayed! The Lord is with you, O mighty men of valor—mighty because one with the Mightiest. Claim victory!
Whenever your enemies close in upon you, claim victory! Whenever heart and flesh fail, look up and claim VICTORY!
Be sure that you have a share in that triumph which Jesus won, not for Himself alone, but for us all; remember that you were in Him when He won it, and claim victory!
Reckon that it is yours, and gather spoil. Neither the Anakim nor fenced cities need daunt or abash you. You are one of the conquering legion. Claim your share in the Savior’s victory.—Joshua, by Meyer.
We are children of the King. In which way do we most honor our Divine Sovereign, by failing to claim our rights and even doubting whether they belong to us, or by asserting our privilege as children of the Royal Family and demanding the rights which belong to our heirship?

8 AUGUST

An exceeding great reward

‘After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.’ Genesis 15:1
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Habakkuk 3:17–19

The promise expresses the believer’s happiness: thy exceeding great reward. On this ground faith rejoices and says, The Lord is my portion [Lamentations 3:24].
Thy reward: this does not import any desert on our parts. The smallest mercy is of undeserved grace—much more when he gives us himself. But it is a reward, a full amends:
(i) for all we leave for him. To be the Lord’s will cost us something. Some sacrifices must be made. But O how are those overpaid who have him. They are all of St Paul’s mind and count everything loss and dung that they may win Christ [Philippians 3:7–8].
(ii) for all we can suffer for him. The world may hate and despise. It may cost a man his life for his attachment to Jesus. But to lose our life in this cause is to save it.
Exceeding great. What words can express it? Happy soul who hast the Lord for thy portion. You may rejoice with Habakkuk in the God of your salvation, though everything else is blasted and comfortless around you [Habakkuk 3:17–18]. Rejoice in your privileges. He will guide you while here with his counsel, refresh you with his presence, support you with his arm. Hereafter, he shall receive you to his glory, wipe away all your tears, exceed all your desires, seat you near himself, and so you shall be with him for ever. Was Thomas filled with rapture and love when he saw him return from the grave? What then will you say when you shall see him as he is, when he shall own your worthless name before assembled worlds and say, Come ye blessed [Matthew 25:34]?

FOR MEDITATION: You that see your need of an Almighty Shield, that be happy with nothing less than the Lord himself: fear not—he that has begun the good work will increase it. Pray him to bless the means which he has appointed to strengthen your weak faith. By and by you shall be enabled to say, My beloved is mine and I am his [Song of Solomon 2:16].

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 29 [5/5], GENESIS 15:1