Month: May 2017

Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.

―C.S. Lewis

Scripture: Psalm 45.1

My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

I address my verses to the king;

my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

Reflection: The Good of Christ
By Christopher Fowler (1610–1678)

O the amazing stupidity of the world called Christian, that we can smile, and laugh, and hug ourselves in deceiving comforts upon the brink of hell! There can be nothing comfortable to us, without the God of all comfort; and no comfort can be to us from God, but by the Lord Jesus; and no Jesus to us without faith.

Christianity is a glorious thing. Religion is not a little formality in duties, joined with some morality in life; but it consists in the new creature, or faith working by love. It consists in the exercise of repentance, self-loathing, hatred of sin as such, faith in Jesus: love to him, obedience before him, communion with God by him, peace and comfort from him, and well-grounded hope of eternal life through him.

If we would live in true comfort, we must be true Christians. A man may be a Protestant, yet not a Christian indeed; a man may be blameless and Christ-less, and by consequence Godless. The smell of his garments, the savor of his ointment, the taste of his preciousness, makes a believer think he can never do enough for Jesus.

Remember the parable of the foolish virgins: they were not harlots or profane, but “virgins.” They were not persecutors, blasphemers, or malicious, but “foolish”—supine, careless, negligent: they had lamps in their hands, but no oil in their hearts.

Let us look to ourselves; the oil of faith and comfort go together, the oil of holiness and the oil of gladness; true Christians are anointed with both. Consider, the man that wanted the wedding-robe was not discerned by any at the table; the Lord espied him quickly. Who would have thought such a professor should go to hell? “Bind him hand and foot.” He did pretend to Christ, and it was but a pretense.

I may preach of Christ’s righteousness, active and passive—and the imputation thereof—and yet I may go about to establish mine own [apart from Christ]. If I lift-up Christ to you, I must pull him down in mine own heart. The sum is this: No good without the Supreme Good.

*Abridged from How A Christian May Get Such A Faith That Is Not Only Saving, But Comfortable And Joyful At Present by Christopher Fowler.

Prayer: The Request for Presence

May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and come to us.

Let your ways be known upon earth,* your saving health among all nations. —Psalm 67.1–2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 9 (Listen – 3:20)
Psalm 45 (Listen – 2:17)

 

Religion will cost us the tears of repentance and the blood of persecution.

― Thomas Watson

Scripture: Psalm 44.6-8

For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever.

Reflection: Complaint in Persecution
The Park Forum

As a nonconformist, Isaac Watts had been banned from Oxford and Cambridge, which were exclusively Anglican at the time. Even though he was an accomplished poet, hymnodist, teacher, educational theorist, logistician, pastor, and author, Watts faced enormous pressure from the Church of England.

Yet in the face of trial and loss Watts clung to his savior. He articulated his faith with thoughtful precision in every field he practiced and dedicated himself to the church throughout his life. No better is this seen than in Watts’ interpretation of Psalm 44 in The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament:

Lord, we have heard thy works of old,
  Thy works of power and grace,
When to our ears our fathers told
  The wonders of their days.

How thou didst build thy churches here,
  And make thy gospel known;
Amongst them did thine arm appear,
  Thy light and glory shone.

In God they boasted all the day,
  And in a cheerful throng
Did thousands meet to praise and pray,
  And grace was all their song.

But now our souls are seized with shame,
  Confusion fills our face,
To hear the enemy blaspheme,
  And fools reproach thy grace.

Yet have we not forgot our God,
  Nor falsely dealt with heav’n,
Nor have our steps declined the road
  Of duty thou hast giv’n;

Though dragons all around us roar
  With their destructive breath,
And thine own hand has bruised us sore
  Hard by the gates of death.

     PAUSE.

We are exposed all day to die
  As martyrs for thy cause,
As sheep for slaughter bound we lie
  By sharp and bloody laws.

Awake, arise, Almighty Lord,
  Why sleeps thy wonted grace?
Why should we look like men abhorred
  Or banished from thy face?

Wilt thou for ever cast us off,
  And still neglect our cries?
For ever hide thine heav’nly love
  From our afflicted eyes?

Down to the dust our soul is bowed,
  And dies upon the ground;
Rise for our help, rebuke the proud,
  And all their powers confound.

Redeem us from perpetual shame,
  Our Savior and our God;
We plead the honors of thy name,
  The merits of thy blood.

Prayer: The Request for Presence

May God be merciful to us and bless us,* show us the light of his countenance and come to us. —Psalm 67.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 8 (Listen – 3:27)
Psalm 44 (Listen – 2:44)