THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MINE HEART .

 

EVENING DEVOTIONS by James Smith

JANUARY 29
 
Psalm 119:9
Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee.

 

The tables of the old covenant were laid up in the ark, and hidden in the holy place; the contents of the new covenant should be laid up in the believer’s heart.

 

By close, daily, prayerful meditation, we should seek to understand, enjoy, and lay up God’s holy word.

 

It is the manna we are to gather for our daily food, the light in which we are to walk, and the rule by which we are to work.

 

Let us lay up the gracious doctrines,

      which are the ground of our confidence;

            the exceeding great and precious promises,

                  which are inexhaustible sources of comfort; and

                        the kind and holy precepts, which are unerring guides.

 

If hidden in the heart, no one can deprive us of this precious treasure;

       nor shall we have it to seek, when we want it to enjoy.

 

But in order to do this, we must know its value,

      prize its contents,

            search its pages,

                   ponder it in our minds, and

                          feed upon it as our daily food.

 

Except we hide it in our hearts, we shall not be sanctified by it,

       nor will it be written out in our lives;

              from the heart it flows into the life.

 

May it be our daily prayer, that God would put his law into our minds, and write them upon our hearts.

 
Its promises rejoice the heart,
Its doctrines are divinely true;
Knowledge and pleasure it imparts
It comforts and instructs us too.
 

James Smith

 

HE EVER LIVETH TO MAKE INTERCESSION.

 EVENING DEVOTIONS by James Smith

JANUARY 28
 
Hebrews 7:25
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
 he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

 

He died for our sins once; but he lives to plead for us daily, hourly, moment by moment.

 

He possesses an endless life, an unchangeable priesthood; he appears in heaven as the great High Priest of our profession, our names are in his breastplate, he is intimately acquainted with our affairs, and he lives above on purpose to intercede for us.

 

He presents his precious blood, his perfect righteousness; and he pleads them for our pardon, preservation, and glorification.

 

He has the Father’s ear, the Father’s heart; and he improves all he has for our welfare.

 

How wonderful his love, he first left heaven for us, and on earth he laboured, suffered, died, in our stead; he then returned to heaven for us, and there he lives, pleads, and secures our best interests.

 

He witnesses all our changes, but he changes not;

   he is often grieved by our inconsistencies, but still pleads in our behalf;

       he undertook our cause, when there was nothing in us to move or induce him to do so,            

            and he still feels the deepest interest in us,

                  pleads for us, and rejoices to do us good.

 

What a source of comfort, what a ground of confidence is this.

 
There, as our great High Priest, he stands.
And pleads before the mercy-seat;
Our cause is in his faithful hands,
Our enemies beneath his feet.
 
James Smith
 

HE WILL NOT FAIL THEE.

 

EVENING DEVOTIONS by James Smith

JANUARY 27

 

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage, fear no, nor be afraid

of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go

with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

 
The expectations raised by his word shall never be disappointed, the promises he has made shall never be broken, the trust reposed on his faithfulness shall never be dishonoured. He will not forget his word, or neglect our interest.
 
He never did fail his people, he never will.
 
Your faith may be weak, your fears may be strong, your doubts may be painful, your weakness may be distressing, and your wants may be numerous and alarming, but thy God will not fail thee.
 
Why should he?
 
He foresaw all thy wants, thy woes, and thy unworthiness before he called thee by his grace; thy present circumstances are not new to him, he had then in his eye when he made his promises, and he will get honour to himself by bringing thee through them.
 
Fail not to trust him.
 
Fail not to apply to him by prayer.
 
Fail not to believe his faithful word.
 
He will not fail to support thee under thy burdens, to listen to thy requests, to provide for thy necessities, or to honour thy faith. 

However singular your experience, or strange the path may appear to you, his word is true.
 
“He will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able”
 

Why should’st thou fear when God is thine,

When all he is, he is for thee!

If thou are weak, his strength divine

To perfect in infirmity.

 
James Smith

FOR I HAVE LEARNED BY EXPERIENCE.

 

EVENING DEVOTIONS by James Smith

JANUARY 26

 

 Genesis 30:27

And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found

favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience

that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. -

 
So said Laban in reference to the benefit he derived from Jacob’s services, and so may the Christian say in reference to the effects of divine teaching.
 
Experience is knowledge derived from trial, and this we learn the truth and value of real religion; 

the importance and dignity of the holy Scriptures; 

the true state and condition of human nature; 

the character and suitableness of the Saviour; 

the need and nature of the operations of the Holy Spirit;

 the malice and cunning of Satan; 

and the power and efficacy of believing prayer;

 the beneficial tendency of afflictive dispensations; 

the emptiness and vanity of the present world; 

and the love and faithfulness of a covenant God.
 
No knowledge is like that which is gained by experience; it is far preferable to what we gain from report, or reading, or mere opinion; it is above every other kind of knowledge in point of certainty,-in its tendency to usefulness,-and in its power to establish the mind.
 
Young people should be modest, they know but little from experience yet.
 
Established Christians should communicate the results of their experience to others, nothing is more likely to be useful.
 
 

Teacher divine! instruct me still

To know, to love, to do thy will;

And let me by experience prove

Thy sanctifying power and love.

 
 
James Smith
 

Is this thy kindness to thy friend?

 EVENING DEVOTIONS by James Smith

JANUARY 25

 

2 Samuel 16:17

And Absalom said to Hushai, 

Is this thy kindness to thy friend? 

why wentest thou not with thy friend?

 
The conduct of Jesus towards us, is the perfection of kindness; but our conduct toward him is often just the reverse.
 
How often we treat him with neglect, and instead of prayer being a delightful privilege, it is an irksome task.
 
How often we violate his positive precepts, or omit to perform known and acknowledged duties.
 
How often we doubt his love, distrust his word, and complain of his dealings.
 
How often we encourage the flesh, which he has directed us to mortify; prefer the world, which he has commanded us to forsake; and yield to Satan, whom he has exhorted us to resist.
 
And have we not sometimes been afraid or shamed to confess him before the world; or at least to bear a plain, honest, decided testimony for him?
 
Well may our cheeks burn with shame, and our bosoms fill with confusion, if the question be put to us, in reference to much of our conduct toward our kind and gracious Redeemer.
 
Let us seek afresh the tokens of his forgiving love, and in future when about to yield to temptation, or give way to any sin, put the question to our consciences, “Is this thy kindness to thy friend?”
 
 

Sure, were I not most vile and abase,

I could not thus my friend requite!

And were not he the God of grace,

He’d frown and spurn me from his sight.

 
 
James Smith
 

CHRIST DIED FOR US .

 

EVENING DEVOTIONS by James Smith

JANUARY 24

  

Romans 5:1

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace

with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

 
What an unspeakable blessing is this!
 
Let us very seriously consider to-night.
 
Christ died,
   Jehovah’s only begotten Son,
       the fountain of being and blessedness,
           the centre and source of all excellence and glory.
 
Jesus, who united the divine and human natures in himself, he died:
   died as our great friend,
      who stood up for us in covenant,
           who stooped for us from heaven to earth,
                  whose love was stronger than death.
 
He died for us the objects of his love and his Father’s choice; died for us though we were base, the ungodly—weak, without strength—rebellious, his enemies.
 
He died for us, as the Head for his body,
—as the Surety for the debts he had undertaken to set free,
—as the Redeemer for captives he was pledges to deliver,
—as the Husband for his beloved, but fallen, bride,
—as the Shepherd to the flock entrusted for his care,
—as the Servant of the Father, who came to do his will and maintain his honour.
 
He died for us to redeem us from death, to raise us to eternal life, to restore us to friendship with God, to fit us for his holy service, and that we might be crowned with glory at last.
 
Let us therefore live looking to Jesus.
 

Christ bore our sins upon the tree,

To seek and save the lost he came;

There was he doomed to set us free

From death and everlasting shame;

The captive flock from hell was freed

And ransom’d when their Shepherd bled.

 
 
James Smith

FEAR NOT, THOU WORM JACOB.

 

EVENING DEVOTIONS by James Smith

JANUARY 23

 

Isaiah 41:14

Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel;

I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer,

 the Holy One is Israel.

 
However mean and despicable we may appear in the eyes of others, however weak and feeble we may feel in ourselves, still our God says, “Fear not.”
 
Though but a worm, yet if a praying Jacob, we need not fear, we should not fear; our God forbids it because it injures our souls, encourages our enemies, dispirits our friends, and dishonours his glorious name.
 
How precious, unspeakably precious these “Fear nots” are!
 
How thickly they are strewed through the divine word!
 
But why should we fear?
 
The Lord expressly tells us that “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the string, neither bread to the wise, not yet riches to me on understanding, not yet favour to men of skills; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”
 
Are we believers in Jesus?
 
Then we should not fear, for our God is our friend, and his care extends over all time—embraces every event—supplies every want—anticipates every emergency—comprehends every believer from the beginning to the end of time—and shall everlastingly secure the safety and happiness of every worm that trusts in him.
 
“Fear not, thou worm of Jacob.”
 

On God thy constant Helper trust,

Thou abject worm despised by all;

No one shall crush thee in the dust,

Since he has raised thee from the fall.

 
James Smith