I pray for them.

 

MAY 5.
 
I pray for them.
John 17:9

 

THE Saviour’s interest in his people is special and peculiar.
 
They were given him by his Father to be
  in his care, charge, and reward.
 
He benefits others, but he rejoices over them
  to do them good with his whole heart,
  and with his whole soul.
He was now pleading with his Father
  as the great Intercessor, and
  he points to them and distinguishes them
  from the world, and says,
    “I pray for them, I pray not for the world.”
 
He was their great High Priest, and
  their names were on his breastplate.
He was their substitute, and
  their salvation was entrusted to his hands.
He was their surety, and
  he was pledged to bring them home, and
  set them before his Father's face for ever.
He was their shepherd, and
  they were the sheep of his pasture.
 
Beloved, Jesus has prayed for us,
  he has begged his Father to keep us
    from the evil of the world,
  to sanctify us through the truth, and
  to bring us into the closest possible union
   with each other and with himself.
 
His prayers are prevalent,
  they are on record,
  they wait for us, and
  they will be answered in our blessed experience.
 
Whoever forgets us,
  Jesus still loves and pleads for us.
 

The Father in his love will hear,

And grant our Lord’s request;

The souls for whom he pray’d, shall be

With full salvation blest.

 

James Smith 1849