Morning “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.” / Psalm 91:3

God delivers his people from the snare of the fowler in two senses. From, and  out of. First, he delivers them from the snare–does not let them enter it;  and secondly, if they should be caught therein, he delivers them out of it.

The first promise is the most precious to some; the second is the best to  others.    “He shall deliver thee from the snare.” How? Trouble is often the means  whereby God delivers us. God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our  destruction, and he in mercy sends the rod. We say, “Lord, why is this?” not  knowing that our trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater  evil. Many have been thus saved from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses;  these have frightened the birds from the net. At other times, God keeps his  people from the snare of the fowler by giving them great spiritual strength,  so that when they are tempted to do evil they say, “How can I do this great  wickedness, and sin against God?” But what a blessed thing it is that if the  believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net, yet God will bring him out  of it! O backslider, be cast down, but do not despair. Wanderer though thou  hast been, hear what thy Redeemer saith–“Return, O backsliding children; I  will have mercy upon you.” But you say you cannot return, for you are a  captive. Then listen to the promise–“Surely he shall deliver thee out of the  snare of the fowler.” Thou shalt yet be brought out of all evil into which  thou hast fallen, and though thou shalt never cease to repent of thy ways, yet  he that hath loved thee will not cast thee away; he will receive thee, and  give thee joy and gladness, that the bones which he has broken may rejoice. No  bird of paradise shall die in the fowler’s net.

Evening “Martha was cumbered about much serving.” / Luke 10:40

Her fault was not that she served: the condition of a servant well becomes  every Christian. “I serve,” should be the motto of all the princes of the  royal family of heaven. Nor was it her fault that she had “much serving.” We  cannot do too much. Let us do all that we possibly can; let head, and heart,  and hands, be engaged in the Master’s service. It was no fault of hers that  she was busy preparing a feast for the Master. Happy Martha, to have an  opportunity of entertaining so blessed a guest; and happy, too, to have the  spirit to throw her whole soul so heartily into the engagement. Her fault was  that she grew “cumbered with much serving,” so that she forgot him, and only  remembered the service. She allowed service to override communion, and so  presented one duty stained with the blood of another. We ought to be Martha  and Mary in one: we should do much service, and have much communion at the  same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to  commune. Joshua never grew weary in fighting with the Amalekites; but Moses,  on the top of the mountain in prayer, needed two helpers to sustain his hands.  The more spiritual the exercise, the sooner we tire in it. The choicest fruits  are the hardest to rear: the most heavenly graces are the most difficult to  cultivate. Beloved, while we do not neglect external things, which are good  enough in themselves, we ought also to see to it that we enjoy living,  personal fellowship with Jesus. See to it that sitting at the Saviour’s feet  is not neglected, even though it be under the specious pretext of doing him  service. The first thing for our soul’s health, the first thing for his glory,  and the first thing for our own usefulness, is to keep ourselves in perpetual  communion with the Lord Jesus, and to see that the vital spirituality of our  religion is maintained over and above everything else in the world.