M’Cheyne: Num 26 (text | audio, 7:40 min)
& Ps 69 (text | audio, 3:46 min)
Highlighted: Ps 69:5
Lord,
How great is our dilemma! For silence best becomes us in your presence, but love inflames our hearts and causes us to speak. Were we to stay quiet, the stones would cry out; yet if we speak, what shall we say? For the nearer we approach the throne, the less sure our words become. Teach us to know what we cannot know, for no one – apart from the Spirit – knows the things of God. Yet we yearn to know the unknowable, to comprehend the incomprehensible, to touch and taste the unapproachable. Deep calls to deep, and we long to return to you. Let faith support us where reason fails. [1]
There is an infinitely high wall that separates us from you. Our sin is a great obstacle to knowing and enjoying you. Therefore, have mercy on us this morning. For our iniquity is vast. You are a great God and we are great sinners. We confess the words of David, “O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you” [2]. We cannot hide from you. Our sins are laid bare before your eyes.
In our unworthiness, however, there is opportunity. For there is a fitness in us for the display of your grace. The greatness of our sin makes us the perfect platforms for the greatness of your mercy to be displayed. Let the greatness of your love be seen in us. The power with which you restrain yourself is great indeed. So we creep down at the foot of your throne, crouching low and crying, “O God, do not break us. We are bruised reeds. Oh! Do not tread on our little lives. They are but as the withering grass. Will you hunt us? Will you come out? Will you watch us? Because we are so little and because the greatness of your mercy can be shown in us even though we are so insignificant, we plead that you would have mercy on us.” [3]
In Jesus, in whose name we plead, we have the final answer to our dilemma. We come to you through his blood and mediation. In him, your steadfast love is good. Turn to us, according to your abundant mercy. Save us and build up your people so that your name will dwell among us.
Amen.
M’Cheyne Weekend Texts (our reading plan)
Saturday, May 18: Num 27 (text, audio, 3:11 min) & Ps 70 (text | audio, 0:39 min) & Ps 71 (text | audio, 2:47 min)
Sunday, May 19: Num 28 (text | audio, 3:54 min) & Ps 72 (text | audio, 2:14 min)
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Footnotes
[1] This paragraph is filled with paraphrased references to A.W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy. | [2] Psalm 69:5 ESV | [3] See Charles Spurgeon. “Effective Prayer.” From Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 12, No. 700. (for more examples of prayer like this).