Morning “How long will it be ere they believe me?” / Numbers 14:11

Strive with all diligence to keep out that monster unbelief. It so dishonours
Christ, that he will withdraw his visible presence if we insult him by
indulging it. It is true it is a weed, the seeds of which we can never
entirely extract from the soil, but we must aim at its root with zeal and
perseverance. Among hateful things it is the most to be abhorred. Its
injurious nature is so venomous that he that exerciseth it and he upon whom it
is exercised are both hurt thereby. In thy case, O believer! it is most
wicked, for the mercies of thy Lord in the past, increase thy guilt in
doubting him now. When thou dost distrust the Lord Jesus, he may well cry out,
“Behold I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.”
This is crowning his head with thorns of the sharpest kind. It is very cruel
for a well-beloved wife to mistrust a kind and faithful husband. The sin is
needless, foolish, and unwarranted. Jesus has never given the slightest ground
for suspicion, and it is hard to be doubted by those to whom our conduct is
uniformly affectionate and true. Jesus is the Son of the Highest, and has
unbounded wealth; it is shameful to doubt Omnipotence and distrust
all-sufficiency. The cattle on a thousand hills will suffice for our most
hungry feeding, and the granaries of heaven are not likely to be emptied by
our eating. If Christ were only a cistern, we might soon exhaust his fulness,
but who can drain a fountain? Myriads of spirits have drawn their supplies
from him, and not one of them has murmured at the scantiness of his resources.
Away, then, with this lying traitor unbelief, for his only errand is to cut
the bonds of communion and make us mourn an absent Saviour. Bunyan tells us
that unbelief has “as many lives as a cat:” if so, let us kill one life now,
and continue the work till the whole nine are gone. Down with thee, thou
traitor, my heart abhors thee.

Evening “Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of
truth.” / Psalm 31:5

These words have been frequently used by holy men in their hour of departure.
We may profitably consider them this evening. The object of the faithful man’s
solicitude in life and death is not his body or his estate, but his spirit;
this is his choice treasure–if this be safe, all is well. What is this mortal
state compared with the soul? The believer commits his soul to the hand of his
God; it came from him, it is his own, he has aforetime sustained it, he is
able to keep it, and it is most fit that he should receive it. All things are
safe in Jehovah’s hands; what we entrust to the Lord will be secure, both now
and in that day of days towards which we are hastening. It is peaceful living,
and glorious dying, to repose in the care of heaven. At all times we should
commit our all to Jesus’ faithful hand; then, though life may hang on a
thread, and adversities may multiply as the sands of the sea, our soul shall
dwell at ease, and delight itself in quiet resting places.

“Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.” Redemption is a solid basis for
confidence. David had not known Calvary as we have done, but temporal
redemption cheered him; and shall not eternal redemption yet more sweetly
console us? Past deliverances are strong pleas for present assistance. What
the Lord has done he will do again, for he changes not. He is faithful to his
promises, and gracious to his saints; he will not turn away from his people.

“Though thou slay me I will trust,

Praise thee even from the dust,

Prove, and tell it as I prove,

Thine unutterable love.

Thou mayst chasten and correct,

But thou never canst neglect;

Since the ransom price is paid,

On thy love my hope is stay’d.”