"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

"Saul answered, I am sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me . " -I Samuel 28:15 [KJV] A more awful speech is scarce to be found in the Bible. A more dreadful state a soul cannot be in, on this side of hell. To have potent enemies in battle array: to have the guilt of abominable sins staring one in the face: and to be sensible that the Lord is departed from one, how horrid to think of! O come here, and see the terrible effects of trifling with God, and disobeying His commands!  For we read that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul—that God gave him another heart— that he was turned into another man—and that he prophesied (I Samuel 10:6.) And yet, such was his dreadful conduct, as to bring upon himself such sore distress. How does he act under it? Does he humble himself, as heretofore before the Lord? No.  But he adds this evil to all his abominations. He seeks to the witch of Endor: desires her to raise up Samuel to...

"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the LORD alone did lead them." -Deuteronomy 32:11-12 [KJV] Here learn a lesson, to form some faint idea how the Lord is unceasingly engaged in taking care of His people. If thy God condescends to represent it by such a similitude, is it not both thy privilege and thy duty to mark the several particulars of such grace and tenderness? The eagle not only possesseth in common with other creatures, the greatest affection for her young, but manifests a vast superiority over every other of the winged tribe in her management of her brood.  She provides for them and protects them, as other birds of the air do; but in educating them, and the method by which she shelters them from danger, here is displayed such superior wisdom and power, as far exceeds whatever we meet with in other creatures. "She stirreth up her nest:" by which ...

"But mine eyes are unto Thee, O GOD the Lord: in Thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute."   -Psalm 141:8 [KJV] The very cry is a pledge that the Lord will not leave the soul destitute. Strange though it be to us; it is the light that shews darkness; it is life that makes us feel deadness; nay, more, it is fertility and fruitfulness that make us feel barrenness; it is riches that make us feel poverty; it is God's teaching and presence that make us feel destitution.  This very mourning over our barrenness; this very feeling of our inability to do good, is a proof of the life of God in the soul, an evidence of the work of grace in the heart .  "Leave not my soul destitute." This is something genuine; this is heart-work; these are the footsteps of the flock; these are the leadings and teachings of God the Spirit in the hearts of the redeemed. These things are saving; these things will lead the soul to eternal glory. And he that knows any of thes...