Morning   “Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.”   1 Timothy 6:17

Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his

hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil

shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; he is manna always falling round

the camp; he is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from his

smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty

is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing. As

the King can never die, so his grace can never fail. Daily we pluck his fruit,

and daily his branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy. There

are seven feast-days in his weeks, and as many as are the days,

so many are the banquets in his years. Who has ever returned from his door

unblessed? Who has ever risen from his table unsatisfied, or from his bosom

un-emparadised? His mercies are new every morning and fresh every evening. Who

can know the number of his benefits, or recount the list of his bounties? Every

sand which drops from the glass of time is but the tardy follower of a myriad of

mercies. The wings of our hours are covered with the silver of his kindness, and

with the yellow gold of his affection. The river of time bears from the

mountains of eternity the golden sands of his favour. The countless stars are

but as the standard bearers of a more innumerable host of blessings. Who can

count the dust of the benefits which he bestows on Jacob, or tell the number of

the fourth part of his mercies towards Israel? How shall my soul extol him who

daily loadeth us with benefits, and who crowneth us with loving-kindness? O that

my praise could be as ceaseless as his bounty! O miserable tongue, how canst

thou be silent? Wake up, I pray thee, lest I call thee no more my glory, but my

shame. “Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake right early.”

 

Evening   “And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus

saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that

valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye and your cattle,

and your beasts.”    2 Kings 3:16-17

The armies of the three kings were famishing for want of water: God was about to

send it, and in these words the prophet announced the coming blessing. Here was

a case of human helplessness: not a drop of water could all the valiant men

procure from the skies or find in the wells of earth. Thus often the people of

the Lord are at their wits’ end; they see the vanity of the creature, and learn

experimentally where their help is to be found. Still the people were to make a

believing preparation for the divine blessing; they were to dig the trenches in

which the precious liquid would be held. The church must by her varied agencies,

efforts, and prayers, make herself ready to be blessed; she

must make the pools, and the Lord will fill them. This must be done in faith,

in the full assurance that the blessing is about to descend. By-and-by there was

a singular bestowal of the needed boon. Not as in Elijah’s case did the shower

pour from the clouds, but in a silent and mysterious manner the pools were

filled. The Lord has his own sovereign modes of action: he is not tied to manner

and time as we are, but doeth as he pleases among the sons of men. It is ours

thankfully to receive from him, and not to dictate to him. We must also notice

the remarkable abundance of the supply–there was enough for the need of all.

And so it is in the gospel blessing; all the wants of the

congregation and of the entire church shall be met by the divine power in

answer to prayer; and above all this, victory shall be speedily given to the

armies of the Lord.

What am I doing for Jesus? What trenches am I digging? O Lord, make me ready to receive the blessing which thou art so willing to bestow.