Lead Us in the Way of Salvation, O LORD JESUS!

"Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind, and the lame, the woman with child, and her that travaileth with child together, a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My first-born."  -Jeremiah 31:8-9 [KJV]


It is blessed at all times to be refreshed with God's promises concerning the latter-day glory; but more especially at a time when things are most unpromising. The present hour is eminently so. Therefore, my soul, see what a cluster of mercies are folded up on this one branch of them; and let thine evening meditations be sweet of Jesus and His sure work, in whom, "All the promises are yea and amen, to the glory of God the Father, by us."


Observe, in this blessed scripture, the certainty of the divine promises being all fulfilled, from the foundation on which they rest. If God be the God of all the families of Israel, and if Israel be His son, and Ephraim His first-born, how can the right of inheritance fail? Surely God is engaged by this covenant and relationship, and He will fulfil His promises. And what are they? Why, that He will bring them not only from Babylon, but from all their places of captivity. Jesus, the Son of His love, is commissioned as the covenant of Jehovah, "to bring the prisoners out of the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house." There shall be a day when a nation shall be born at once. They shall be gathered to Shiloh, and shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south.

Pause, my soul, over these blessed promises. Thou art frequently put to it for thyself; and art frequently exercised with fears and apprehensions for the welfare of Zion. But what saith this blessed scripture? "Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth." Do not overlook that it is God who undertakes for them, and not themselves: and what God undertakes, He will surely perform. Well, but they are much scattered. Yes! but God will gather them. But they are diminishing. No! a great company shall return.


But they are blind, and do not know the way: they are lame, and when they know, have no power to walk in it. Yes but, saith He that made the eye, and He that giveth strength to the lame, both "the blind and the lame," yea, even the woman in pregnancy, and her that is in travail, all shall come. "I will be eyes," saith God, "to the blind, and feet to the lame; I will lead them in a way they know not; I will undertake for them." And the sole reason is, God's free grace and covenant mercy in Christ. God is a father in this relationship, to all the families in Israel; and in Him all the families of the earth are blessed.


Pause, my soul, again and again, over this sweet and precious scripture; and see that these covenant marks and impressions be upon thee, as a sure unerring token of thy being in Christ, and gathered from the coasts of the earth; that thou art following Jesus, as Mary Magdalene did, with tears and supplications. Prayers are quickened by tears; and tears flowing from the view of a crucified Saviour, must give energy to prayers.

The eye that is looking unto Jesus, will affect the heart; and the heart that is wounded with the view of Jesus dying for our sins, will cause tears to fall from the eye; and both will follow Christ by the waters of ordinances, under the Spirit's teaching and gracious influences. Lord! give to my soul these tokens for good; and lead me in the way of salvation for Thy name's sake.


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

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