JEHOVAH-JIREH. The Lord will provide,—The Tower of Trust By John MacDuff It is always desirable for a conquering army either to be near its supplies, or to keep up its line of communication. That broken, all is lost. The Christian has his promise of assured help—My God shall supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). The Lord will provide. Ah, that future! that unknown, sometimes dark and chequered future, how many a thought it costs! Who can forecast the varying scenes of changeful life? It is like walking up some sequestered dell; every turn in the path presents something new. A cluster of flowers here, a rotten branch or decaying tree there—now a flowing stream, now a quiet pool, now a sprawling cascade; now a gleam of sunlight, now the driving rain or muttering thunder. But each apparently capricious turn in lifes way, all its accidents and incidents, are the appointments of Infinite Wisdom and those who know Your Name shall put their trust in You. Trust—trust in the goodness, and mercy, and faithfulness of God, is surely one at least of the great lessons which a Communion Season inculcates. Looking to these symbols and pledges of unutterable love, you can confidently make the challenge—He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32). A child in the midst of the storm can muffle its head in its fathers arms and fall asleep. God is your Father! Walk up and down in the strength of that Gospel Name. Every earthly father does in a small scale to his family what the Great Parent does on a large scale to all His people. From that glorious Tower on the Hill of Ordinances you can look through the embrasures behind, as well as before. Survey the landmarks of the bygone pilgrimage! Count up your Ebenezers—the providential interpositions of the past, and then say—taking these as pledges and guarantees for the time to come, You have been my help—leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. The future, as we have already said, with all its vicissitudes, is in His keeping and ordering. You may work the loom—the shuttle may be in your hands but the pattern is all His—the intermingling threads of varied hue, even what are dark and somber. Talk not of a tangled web, when it is that of the Great Craftsman. Confide in that heart of Infinite Love. Shall we dream of being wiser than God? Shall we dream of correcting His Book of Sovereign decrees? of altering the building-plans of the Divine Architect? No! trust His loving heart, where sense cannot trace His hand. Trust is a staff not for level plains and smooth highways. It is the alpenstock, the pilgrim prop for the mountaineer, for the rugged ascent, the slippery path, the glacier crevasse. As the El-Shaddai—the All-sufficient, God has said, I will never leave you, I will (in the redundant emphasis and energy of the original) never, never, never forsake you. He is a Rich Provider, a Sure Provider, a Willing Provider, a Wise Provider. JEHOVAH-JIREH! We will walk in this name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 18:09:32 +0000
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