From Darkness to Light

"He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness." -Deuteronomy 32:10 [KJV]

My soul, behold in this view of Israel thy case and circumstances. Where did Jesus find thee, when He passed by and bade thee live, but cast out, loathsome in thy person, and perishing in nature? Remember then, it was Jesus found thee, and not thou Him. And where wast thou born, and new-born, and nursed, and educated, and trained? Was it not in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness? Can any thing be better suited to represent thy state by nature? Is not the heart of man like the heath upon the desert, that knoweth not when good cometh? Is it not like the ground, dry, parched, and barren? And as a wilderness is a land not inhabited, full of perplexed paths and intricate ways, without food, without sustenance, and no springs of water; can any thing more strikingly resemble' the whole of thy spiritual circumstances, when Jesus called thee from darkness to light, and from the power of sin and Satan, to Himself, the living God?  

And as a wilderness is a barren state, so is it dangerous also, by reason of the prowling beasts of prey which inhabit it. And hath Jesus called thee out of it, brought thee to a city of habitation, and made Himself known unto thee as thy Redeemer? Oh how sweet is it to trace all our spiritual circumstances, in the mercy, grace, and favour Jesus manifested to Israel, thus beautifully illustrated and explained, and to see, and know, and truly rejoice in our unspeakable mercies in Jesus. My soul, never forget then that it was in the wilderness of nature Jesus found thee. And hath He indeed brought thee out of it? See then that thou art now coming up from it, leaning upon thy Beloved; hanging wholly upon Him, cleaving wholly to Him, and determining for thyself, in every remaining period of time, and to all eternity, to make Jesus thy all, thy life, thy portion, thy shield, and thine exceeding great reward! 


-preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.) 

May 21st, THE POOR MAN'S MORNING PORTION

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