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

"All my springs are in Thee."   -Psalm 87:7 [KJV]   Philosophers, ignorant of the true God, who doth all things by His power, talk of an occult quality in nature; a certain some thing, which they can neither explain nor account for, but which doth wonders. Just as darkly do many speak of a light within, which, if they are obedient to, and do not resist, will guide and sanctify them. But they manifest that it is not a divine light; for it teaches them to slight and reject divine revelation. This is Deism. But the heavenly-taught soul speaks as the oracles of God. He confesses, Christ dwells in his heart by faith; and says, O Jesus, “All my springs are in Thee.”     Thou art that spring, which put and keeps my soul in spiritual motion. We see the vibration of the balance of a watch: we know its motion is from the main spring, and the union it has with it. Stop, say the sons of pride; compare not man to a machine. Truly, he is worse than a good machine, in ...

"Lo, I come." -Psalm 40:7 [KJV]   What a longing had old testament saints for the Lord Jesus' coming! And what an earnest wish and prayer it is among new testament believers, for Jesus' coming by the visits of His grace, and the sweet influences of His Holy Spirit, from day to day!    My soul, methinks I would realize by faith this day, even this very day, these words of thy Redeemer, as if He were now standing at the door of thine heart, and asking for admission. And shall I not say, under this sweet impression, "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, wherefore standest thou without?"   Oh blessed Jesus, when I consider the many precious instances of Thy coming, set up from everlasting in Thy goings forth for the salvation of Thy chosen, Thy anticipation, in Thy visits before the season of Thy tabernacling in our flesh; Thy visits to the patriarchs and prophets; Thy manifestation openly to the people; Thy secret, sweet, and inexpressibly gracious vis...

"And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."   - Psalm 90:17 [KJV] What is this beauty? "The beauty of the LORD our God." It is, therefore, the beauty of the God-man; the comeliness, the holiness, the perfection, and glory that ever dwell in the Son of God.   Now "days of affliction, and years of evil" have marred all creature comeliness. There was a time, perhaps, when we could take some pleasure and delight in what we were, or what we vainly fancied we should be. Our own righteousness had a beauty and comeliness to us; and our religion was amiable and pleasing in our own sight. But what has become of it? Marred, marred; effectually marred. By what? "Days of affliction, and years of evil."    These have effectually ruined, defaced, and polluted all creature comeliness. In a word, we were once deeply in love with self; but self ...