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

"Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees." -Hebrews 12:12 [KJV] Are you saying, My troubles are many, my burden is great, and hope deferred makes my heart sick? True, a faint heart makes weak hands and feeble knees. Then afflictions become intolerable, duty tiresome, prayer irksome, the ordinances like dry breasts, the lamp of spiritual life is expiring, the poor sinner grows dejected and dispirited, is ready to give up hope, and give way to despondency.  The Comforter inspires a work for such, “Lift up your hands,” etc. Do you say, the advice is good, but the practice hard? St. Paul supposes it: for he introduces it with wherefore. O, I dearly love these Scripture adverbs! Much courage and comfort are gained by attending to them. Wherefore or for which reason, lift up your weak hands, or the weak hands of others. Consider, why, or wherefore we should do this.  (1st.) We have Jesus to look unto for patience. He is the Author and Finish...

"And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." -Deuteronomy 6:9 [KJV] See, my soul, what a gracious provision the Lord made for the glory and honour of His Israel, that every traveller passing by might say, 'Here dwelleth an Israelite indeed; he hath the name of the LORD of Hosts upon his house.' And did it please the Lord God of Israel so to have His people known, and shall it be not my desire to have Thy name, Lord, upon the gates of my house. Shall any pass by my door, ignorant that a lover of the Lord Jesus dwelleth there?  Nay, shall I not esteem it my highest honour to have it known whose I am, and whom I serve, in the gospel of' His dear Son? Shall I be ashamed of that name before which every knee bows in heaven and in earth? Oh Lord Jesus, not only write Thy name upon the gates of my house, but engrave it in the centre of my heart, my affections, my first, and last, and earliest, and latest thoughts! Let it be my r...

"...and Enoch walked with God." -Genesis 5:24 [KJV] The chief way whereby we walk with God is by faith, and not by sight . Abraham walked in this way. Unbelief severs the soul from God. There is no communion between God and an infidel. An unbelieving heart has no fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ; but a believing heart has communion with Him. It is by faith that we have fellowship with God and His dear Son; and you will find that just in proportion to the strength or weakness of your faith is your walking with God.  If you have faith in blessed exercise, as you look to the atoning blood, you find that you can walk with God; you can pour out your heart before Him, tell Him all your concerns, spread before Him the inmost movements of your mind, and look to Him for peace and consolation. But when your faith is weak, when it gives way under trial, and cannot take hold of the promises, then communion is interrupted; there is no longer a walking with God.  But in ...