Tears of Joy and Gratitude unto God Most High

"And he sought where to weep." -Genesis 43:30 [KJV]

To weep! What! when he saw his beloved brother Benjamin, and heard that his affectionate aged father was alive and well! Yes: the sight of the one, and the news of the other, created such an ecstasy of joy in his heart, as was too great to bear. He sought where to vent it by tears. O, had one followed good Joseph to his chamber, and heard what passed there between his God and his soul! Methinks I see the dear man fall prostrate, crying out in a flood of grateful, joyful tears, O, what a God do I serve! 

What amazing scenes of His providence have opened to my view! How has the Lord appeared graciously in my behalf! how strangely has He exalted me in life! and now, to crown all, and complete my happiness, I see my beloved brother, and hear of the welfare of my honoured father. Doubtless he wept, he prayed; he praised, he rejoiced, he loved, he adored his God, his kind preserver, his bountiful benefactor, his dear Saviour. Methinks, one cannot meditate on Joseph’s conduct, without calling to mind some sweet, weeping seasons of spiritual joy, our souls have been favoured with. 

When, in some highly favoured moments, the blessed Spirit has brought some joyful tidings of, and some love-tokens from our once crucified, but ever living Brother in flesh, Jesus; O then, what joy has sprung up in our souls! Too big for utterance! When He has assured us of His love to us; that we shall soon see Him as He is, be with Him where He is, and eternally enjoy Him, and His Father, and our Father, in glory: O the rapture of this faith! Thus, we are ready to fly from the world, and all its concerns, and leave even our brethren in Christ too. 

We seek to be alone, to pour out our souls; to give vent to our joy, in a flood of joyful, loving, grateful tears. Then, like the disciples on the mount, we cry out, It is good to be here. This is sweet. Methinks, my soul is drowned in tears of love! Now, are we not ready to wish, O that it were always thus with me! But neither Joseph, you, nor I, could live under such melting frames—such ecstasy, and in such rapture. The body could not support them: my weak body could not. Neither are they always good for the soul to be in. 

If so, we should be always favoured with them. This we are fully assured of: for, “no good thing will the Lord withhold from them who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11.) But these, God withholds. You never read of one saint in the Bible, always in an ecstasy of joy. “He Who freely gave us His Son, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” -Romans 8:32. 

 

Dear Saviour, when we feel Thy love, 

Our hearts oft weep for joy: 

We long to be with Thee above, 

Where passions never cloy.

 

-preacher Wm. Mason (1724-1797 A.D.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more