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

"Return, return, O Shulamite, return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies." -Song of Solomon 6:13 [KJV] It is the church that is here called upon to return, and most likely by the daughters of Jerusalem. Some have thought the church is so called, as being of Salem, or Shulem, the shortened word for Jeru-salem. And some have thought that Salem is the same with Solomon, as the feminine of Solomon, the wife. And others have supposed, that as Jerusalem means peace, the church is called so, on account of her loveliness. And no doubt, in each sense, the church may well be called so, being married to Christ; being of the "Jerusalem that is above, which is the mother of us all;" and being beautiful, peaceful, and lovely in Jesus, as Jerusalem is the praise of the whole earth, Psalm 48:9 . But wherefore is the Shulamite called upon to return, to be looked upon, and with such earnestness, as to cause th...

"As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy ."   -I Peter 1:14-16 [KJV] Grace lays us under the greatest of all obligations to its free and bountiful Giver, and especially to render a believing obedience to His revealed will and word. It is His free, sovereign, and distinguishing grace alone which makes and manifests us to be His children, and therefore it demands of us, as a feeble and most insufficient tribute of grateful praise, that we should walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, and glorify Him in our body and spirit which are His. He that has never known and felt this knows nothing of the riches of God's grace in the manifestation of mercy and love to his soul.  Such a one knows, that do what he can, he can never do enough to show forth the praises of Him who hath c...

"Thus saith the L ORD , the Holy One of Israel, and His Maker, ask M e of things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me." -Isaiah 45:11 [KJV] Nothing can give a higher proof of the love of God, than what the scriptures reveal concerning Him. He opened a way of access to Himself, when man by sin had lost the way; and in His dear Son He has made every provision for bringing us nigh by His blood . The throne of grace He hath opened for their approach; the assurance He hath given of accepting them in the Beloved [ JESUS CHRIST the LORD ]; the very tender and kind expressions which issue from the throne; and the answers which have been given to thousands, and are continually given to thousands who come there; yea, the promises with which they are surrounded, that "before they call, He will answer, and while they are speaking, He will hear:" all these are full of endearments, to shew forth the love of God in Jesus Christ to all His...

"He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." - Psalm 107:20 [KJV]  What an effect a word from God can produce! Be it in reading; in hearing; on the knees; or in secret meditation; when a word drops from the Lord's mouth with any divine power into the soul, what a change it produces! And nothing but this divine power can ever bring a poor sinner out of his miserable condition. When this comes, it does the work in a moment; it heals all the wounds which sin has made, and repairs all the breaches in the conscience that folly has produced. One word from God heals them all. The Lord does not come as it were with plasters to heal first one sore and then another. He heals now as in the days of His flesh. When He healed then, He healed fully, at once, completely.   The earthly doctor heals by degrees; he puts a plaster on one sore, and a liniment on another; and heals one by one. But when the Lord heals, it is all done in a moment. The balm of ...

"The word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me."   -John 14:24 [KJV] My soul, hast thou ever fully and thoroughly considered that sweet and precious teaching of thy Lord, which, as Mediator, when upon earth, in all His discourses and conversations with His disciples, He was perpetually shewing them? I mean, that all He was, and all He had; and all He dispensed, were the blessings and gifts of His Father, in Him, to His people. If thou hast been meditating upon this most blessed point of the gospel ever so fully and closely, it will still afford new glories for every renewed attention to it; and therefore, sit down this delightful summer's evening, and take another view of it.   Jesus comes to His people in His Father's name, and He saith in this charming scripture, that His very words are not His, but the Father's; so much of the heart of the Father is in Christ, and in all of Christ, in all He saith, and in all He hath done. So that what ...

"And stablish you in every good word and work. " -II Thessalonians 2:17 [KJV] The living family of God need to be established in the truth, so as not ever to be "children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine." It is not sufficient for a building to be reared: it must be established before we can know whether it will stand. The most anxious moment of the builder is to see how it will settle; how the walls will bear the roof, and every part stand firm and good without bulging or slipping. When the centering is taken away from a newly-built arch, how the architect looks to see whether it will settle well and the extent of the drop, if there be any.   So in grace. It is not merely making a profession that will serve. Many a building stands well as long as the scaffolding remains; many an arch looks firm whilst the centering supports it. So many seem to stand well in early days, when upheld by zeal and earnestness, or strengthened by the support of others. But...

"The desire of our soul is to Thy Name, and to the remembrance of Thee." - Isaiah 26:8 [KJV]  How sweet and expressive is the phrase,  "The desire of our soul!"   How it seems to carry our feelings with it! How it seems to describe the longings and utterings of a soul into which God has breathed the spirit of grace and mercy! "The desire of our soul," —the breathing of our heart, the longing of our inmost being; the cry, the sigh, the panting of our new nature; the heavings, gaspings, lookings, longings, pantings, hungerings, thirstings, and ventings forth of the new man of grace— all  are expressed in those sweet and blessed words, "The desire of our soul!" And what a mercy it is, that there should ever be in us " the desire " of a living soul; that though the righteous dealings of God are painful and severe, running contrary to everything nature loves; yet that with all these, there should be dropped into the heart that mercy, love,...