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

“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.”   -Psalm 115:1 [KJV]    Let me just whisper a word in the ear of anyone who has scarcely learned to pray.  Poor sinner, laden with guilt and full of fears,— you say, “How can I plead with God for mercy?  I have rejected it for years; I have been often rebuked, and I have hardened my neck; I fear I have no plea with which to urge my suit in craving God’ mercy.    Here is a plea for you to use; say to Him, "For   Y our mercy and your truth’s sake, have pity on me, the least deserving of all your creatures; for, surely, if You will only save me, it will be an eternal wonder to men and to angels.  If You will save me, then I will sing,— All Thy mercy’s depths I prove, all its heights are seen in me.”   I remember one, who said, “Oh, if the Lord Jesus Christ will only pardon me, He shall never hear the end of it!”  And this is what ...

How blest are they whose sin and guilt Are fully washed away; They need not fear the wrath of God, When comes the Judgment Day.   Offended justice fell on Christ, Who for the guilty died; And by His bloody sacrifice, Poor souls are justified.   ‘Tis with the death of Christ the Lord, That God is satisfied; He magnified the holy law, When on the cross He died.   Since Jesus bore their load of guilt, Upon the rugged tree; The ransomed of the Lord are safe For all eternity.   How can we know that Jesus died, And suffered in our place? ‘Tis in this way, if we by faith, The Son of God embrace.      Tune:  “How Sweet the Name” CM Words by J. Byrd                       “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me:  for my soul trusteth in Thee:  yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.  I will cry...

"Is any thing too hard for the LORD?"   -Genesis 18:14 [KJV]   A clergyman went to read prayers on a working-day. There was but one person in the church, beside himself and the clerk. On which he said to the clerk, As there is nobody else here, what signifies my reading prayers? Sir, said the clerk, Is not God present? O , said the priest, I forgot God . Do not we too often the same? Is it not hence, that our minds are exercised with doubts, fears, and distress? This question the Lord put to Sarah, when an unbecoming laugh of incredulity appeared, and this unbelieving speech dropped from her lips, “Shall I, of a surety, bear a child, who am old?”     O the long-suffering kindness, the condescending goodness of our Lord! He is Jesus the Saviour, for instead of striking her dead at His feet, for her contempt of His word, He mildly reasons with her. As though He had said, Sarah, look not at yourself. Consult not flesh and blood. Judge not according to nature, reason, ...

"Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king." -Hosea 3:5 [KJV] What a sweet scripture is this, and what abundant gospel contained in the bosom of it? "Afterward shall the children of Israel return." After having been long scattered on every high mountain, wandering over the face of the whole earth, the Lord will bring them back; "He that hath scattered Israel will gather him." There shall be abounding grace, for abounding transgression; and what sin hath ruined, grace shall restore. But to whom shall they return? To seek the LORD their God! Yes! This may be done, and this will be done, if the Lord incline their hearts; the same that gives the grace to seek, will give the mercy to find. "He hath never said to the praying seed of Jacob, seek ye My face in vain!"     But it is said also, that they shall return to "David their king." Alas! David king of Israel, bad been dead many a y...

"O wretched man that I am!" -Romans 7:24 [KJV]   Now, these feelings which the apostle groaned under are experienced by all the quickened family. Blessed then be the name of God most High, that He inspired him to trace out and leave upon record his experience, that we might derive comfort and relief from it. What should we otherwise have thought? We should have reasoned thus: 'Here is an apostle perfectly holy, perpetually heavenly-minded, having nothing but the image of Christ in him, continually living to the Lord's glory, and unceasingly enjoying communion with Him!' We should have viewed him as a perfect saint, if he had not told us what he was; and then, having viewed him as a perfect saint, we should have turned our desponding eyes into our own bosom, and seen such an awful contrast, that we should despair of ever being saved at all!    But seeing the soul conflict which the apostle passed through, and feeling a measure of the same in our own bosom, it enc...