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

"The L ORD make His face shine upon thee." -Numbers 6:25 [KJV] The allusion here seems, to my mind, to be to the sun. Sometimes the natural sun has not risen; and the world must needs be dark if the sun be still beneath the horizon. So with many gracious souls; it is darkness with them, midnight darkness, Egyptian darkness, darkness to be felt, because at present neither the Day-star has appeared nor the Sun of righteousness risen upon them with healing in His wings . It will and must be dark with them till the Sun rise. But sometimes after the sun has risen we see not his face; clouds, deep, dark clouds, may obscure the face of that bright luminary throughout the whole day, and we may not get a single ray from him through the whole period that he is above the visible horizon. So, many of the Lord’s family, after the Sun has risen upon them in the morning of their spiritual life, may pass, perhaps, much of their subsequent time in the dark shadow, till perhaps ...

" Love as brethren." —I Peter 3:8 [KJV] Love without reason is a mad passion. Profession without love, is but "a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal;" unmeaning noise to others; unprofiting to him that makes it. Love is of God. It is that precious ointment that is poured forth from the Father of love upon the Head of our spiritual Aaron, and runs down to the skirts of His garment, even upon all His brethren, the children of love. Love descends from God, through Jesus, to us, spreads itself among the brethren, and ascends in grateful odours to the God of love. The prophet asks, "Have we not all one Father?" —Malachi 2:10  Yes, saith our elder Brother, "I ascend unto My Father, and your Father." —John 20:17 Hence the Holy Spirit draws the image of Jesus, "the first born of the many brethren," upon each of their souls; and possesses them with the faith of Jesus. "And whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is ...

"And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me." -I Kings 10:6, 7 [KJV] If the queen of the South (- Ethiopia ) was so astonished in the view of [- king ] Solomon's wisdom, what ought to be thy surprize, my soul, in the contemplation of Jesus, in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! When thou didst first hear of Jesus, and when constrained by necessity to come to Him, a poor blind ignorant sinner, how little didst thou conceive either of thyself or Him. He told thee indeed, all that was in thine heart, and made thy very spirit, like her's, to faint within thee, when He shewed thee thy, sin and His Salvation.  Surely then, and often since, even now, hast thou been constrained to say, as she did, the half was not told thee by others, of what sweet discoveries He h...

"The L ORD keep thee." -Numbers 6:24 [KJV] How we need the Lord to keep us! We stand upon slippery places. Snares and traps are laid for us in every direction. Every employment, every profession in life, from the highest to the lowest, has its special temptations. Snares are spread for the feet of the most illiterate as well as the most highly cultivated minds; nor is there any one, whatever his position in life may be, who has not a snare laid for him, and such a snare as will surely prove his downfall if God keep him not.   When Elisha sat upon the mountain and his servant was distressed lest his master should be taken away by violence, the prophet prayed the Lord to open his servant’s eyes. What then saw he? Chariots and horses of fire all round about the mountain guarding the prophet. Perhaps if the Lord were to open our eyes as he opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant, we might see devils where he saw angels, see ourselves surrounded by Beelzebub and his le...