SHIELDED WARRIOR

We have seen these archers shoot their flights of arrows of Envy, Temptation, and False Accusation at Joseph ; now we will go up the hill a little, behind the rock, to look at the SHIELDED WARRIOR and see how his courage is while the archers have sorely grieved him. 

What is he doing? "His bow abideth in strength." 

Let us picture God's favorite. The archers are down below. There is a parapet of rock before him; now and then he looks over it to see what the archers are about, but generally he keeps behind. 

In heavenly security he is set upon a rock, careless of all below. Let us follow the track of the wild goat and behold the warrior in his fastness.  

First, we notice that he has a bow himself, for we read that "his bow abode in strength." 

He could have retaliated if he pleased, but he was very quiet and would not combat with them. 

Had he pleased, he might have drawn his bow with all his strength, and sent his weapon to their hearts with far greater precision that they had ever done to him. 

But mark the warrior's quietness. There he rests, stretching his mighty limbs; his bow abode in strength; 

He seemed to say, "Rage on, aye, let you arrows spend themselves, empty your quivers on me, let your bow-strings be worn out, and let the wood be broken with its constant bending; here am I, stretching myself in safe repose; my bow abides in strength; I have other work to do besides shooting at you; 

My arrows are against yon foes of God, the enemies of the Most High; I cannot waste an arrow on such pitiful sparrows as you are; ye are birds beneath my noble shot; I would not waste an arrow on you." Thus he remains behind the rock and despises them all. "His bow abideth in strength."  

Mark well his quietness. His bow "abideth." It is not rattling, it is not always moving, but it abides, it is quite still; he takes no notice of the attack. 

The archers sorely grieved Joseph, but his bow was not turned against them, it abode in strength. He turned not his bow on them. He rested while they raged. 

Doth the moon stay herself to lecture every dog that bayeth at her? Doth the lion turn aside to rend each cur that barketh at him? Do the stars cease to shine because the nightingales reprove them for their dimness? Doth the sun stop in its course because of the officious cloud which veils it: Or doth the river stay because the willow dippeth its leaves into its waters? 

Ah! no; God's universe moves on, and if men will oppose it, it heeds them not. 

It is as God hath made it; it is working together for good, and it shall not be stayed by the censure nor moved on by the praise of man. 

Let your bows, my brethren, abide. Do not be in a hurry to set yourselves right. God will take care of you. 

Leave yourselves alone; only be very valiant for the Lord God of Israel; be steadfast in the truth of Jesus and your bow shall abide.

~Charles Spurgeon~

ARCHERS OF ENVY

Joseph had to endure the archers of ENVY. When he was a boy, his father loved him. The youth was fair and beautiful; in person he was to be admired; moreover, he had a mind that was gigantic, and an intellect that was lofty; but, best of all, in him dwelt the Spirit of the living God.

He was one who talked with God; a youth of piety and prayerfulness; beloved of God, even more than he was by his earthly father. O! how his father loved him! for in his fond affection, he made him a princely coat of many colors, and treated him better than the others—a natural but foolish way of showing his fondness.

Therefore his brethren hated him. Full often did they jeer at the youthful Joseph, when he retired to his prayers; when he was with them at a distance from his father's house, he was their drudge, their slave; the taunt, the jeer, did often wound his heart, and the young child endured much secret sorrow. 

On an ill day, as it happened, he was with them at a distance from home, and they thought to slay him; but upon the entreaty of Reuben, they put him into a pit, until, as Providence would have it, the Ishmaelites did pass that way. 

They then sold him for the price of a slave, stripped him of his coat, and sent him naked, they knew not, and they cared not, whither, so long as he might be out of their way, and no longer provoke their envy and their anger.

Oh! the agonies he felt—parted from his father, losing his brethren, without a friend, dragged away by cruel man-sellers, chained upon a camel it may be, with fetters on his hands.

Those who have borne the gyves and fetters, those who have felt that they were not free men, that they had not liberty, might tell how sorely the archers grieved him when they shot at him the arrows of their envy. 

He became a slave, sold from his country, dragged from all he loved. Farewell to home and all its pleasures—farewell to a father's smiles and tender cares. He must be a slave, and toil where the slave's task-master makes him; he must be stripped in the streets, he must be beaten, he must be scourged, he must be reduced from the man to the animal, from the free man to the slave. Truly the archers sorely shot at him.

And, my brethren, do you hope, if you are the Lord's Josephs, that you shall escape envy? I tell you, nay; that green-eyed monster, envy, lives in London as well as elsewhere, and he creeps into God's church, moreover. 

Oh! it is hardest of all, to be envied by one's brethren. If the devil hates us, we can bear it; if the foes of God's truth speak ill of us, we buckle up our harness, and say, "Away, away, to the conflict." 

But when the friends within the house slander us; when brethren who should uphold us, turn our foes; and when they try to tread down their brethren; then, sirs, there is some meaning in the passage, "The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him."

But, blessed be God's name, it is sweet to be informed that "his bow abode in strength." None of you can be the people of God without provoking envy; and the better you are, the more you will be hated. 

The ripest fruit is most pecked by the birds, and the blossoms that have been longest on the tree, are the most easily blown down by the wind.

But fear not; you have naught to do with what man shall say of you. If God loves you, man will hate you; if God honors you, man will dishonor you. 

But recollect, could ye wear chains of iron for Christ's sake, ye should wear chains of gold in heaven; could ye have rings of burning iron round your waists, ye should have your brow rimmed with gold in glory; for blessed are ye when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for Christ's name's sake; for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. 

The first archers were the archers of envy.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Do You Want Me To Leave You Alone?

John 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 

A child of God was once overwhelmed by the number of afflictions that seemed to target her.

As she walked past a vineyard during the rich glow of autumn, she noticed its untrimmed appearance and the abundance of leaves still on the vines.

The ground had been overtaken by a tangle of weeds and grass, and the entire place appeared totally unkept.

While she pondered the sight, the heavenly Gardener whispered such a precious message to her that she could not help but share it.
 
The message was this: “My dear child, are you questioning the number of trials in your life? 

Remember the vineyard and learn from it. The gardener stops pruning and trimming the vine or weeding the soil only when he expects nothing more from the vine during that season.

He leaves it alone, because its fruitfulness is gone and further effort now would yield no profit.
 
In the same way, freedom from suffering leads to uselessness. 

Do you now want me to stop pruning your life? Shall I leave you
alone?”
 
Then her comforted heart cried,“No!”

~Homera Homer-Dixon`

Burdens Cast on Him

Psa 55:22  Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
It is a heavy burden; roll it on Omnipotence.

It is thy burden now, and it crushes thee; but when the LORD takes it, He will make nothing of it. 

If thou art called still to bear, "he will sustain thee." It will be on Him and not on thee. Thou wilt be so upheld under it that the burden will be a blessing. Bring the LORD into the matter, and thou wilt stand upright under that which in itself would bow thee down.

Our worst fear is lest our trial should drive us from the path of duty; but this the LORD will never suffer.

If we are righteous before Him, He will not endure that our affliction should move us from our standing. 

In Jesus He accepts us as righteous, and in Jesus He will keep us so.

What about the present moment? Art thou going forth to this day's trial alone?

Are thy poor shoulders again to be galled with the oppressive load?

Be not so foolish. Tell the LORD all about thy grief and leave it with Him. 

Don't cast your burden down and then take it up again; but roll it on the LORD and leave it there.

Then shalt thou walk at large, a joyful and unburdened believer, singing the praises of thy great Burden-bearer. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

THE LORD MY PROVIDER

The anxious care of yesterday has expanded into the pressing need of today.

The trouble that was near has come, and the need you anticipated is urgent.

Be it so. The life God intends His people should live is not one of sight but of faith, not one for tomorrow but for today. 

For the most part, He will allow them to have nothing in hand, lest it should mar the simplicity, and so interfere with the operation of their faith.

Like the poor widow whose little oil God increased by Elisha, we are often led to exclaim--"Your handmaid has nothing in the house but a jar of oil."

Our dear Lord recognized our daily life of faith, by teaching us to offer the daily prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread."

The apostle wrote these words in grateful acknowledgment of a gift of love he had just received from the Philippian saints.

He had ministered to them of his spiritual things, and they, in return, ministered unto him of their temporal things, "an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing to God."

And now, as if conscious of his inability to make them any adequate return in kind, he instructs them in a truth, and breathes for them a prayer, most precious--"And my God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Let your soul anchor itself on this truth, "God is my God," and though the winds may blow, and the billows surge, and the sky darken, you shall not be moved.

Needs may be great and urgent, claimants harsh and pressing, resources clean gone, yet, if the believing soul can take hold of God, and claim its interest and proprietorship in Him, none of these things shall move it.

And God is your God, O my soul! Your God in an everlasting covenant, your God in Christ Jesus, your God in a thousand troubles past, your God and your Guide even unto death.

God is as pledged as He is able to supply all our temporal need. 

He would have us recognize and deal with Him as the God of providence equally as the God of grace.

The divine promise is, "Your bread and your water shall be sure."

Has He ever failed you? He may have brought you to an extremity--the barrel of meal and the cruise of oil well-near exhausted--"not anything in the house but a jar of oil"--yet He knows your need, and at the last will appear and supply it. 

Faith may be sharply tried, but it shall surely triumph in the end. 

"Gad, a troop shall overcome him--but he shall overcome at the last." 

There may be a present and a temporary defeat of faith in its battle with trying and afflictive circumstances, but, like the tribe of Gad, it "shall overcome at the last."

God shall supply all your temporal needs according to His covenant engagement and inexhaustible resources. Only trust Him.

Above all, is the Lord our spiritual Provider.

If He provides for the body, most assuredly, and yet more richly and amply, will He provide for the soul.

There is grain in Egypt. There is the raining manna and the gushing rock in the desert. All the supplies of the covenant of grace, all the fullness that is in Christ Jesus, all the boundless resources of the Triune Jehovah, are for the needs of the believing soul.

You need more faith--Jesus is its Author, and He will increase it. 

You need more grace--out of His fullness you may draw 'grace for grace,' or, as it is in the Greek--wave on wave.

You need more love--feed its waning flame at the altar of His, and while you are musing on His wondrous love, the fire of yours shall burn. 

Thus take all you need to your Heavenly Provider, and He will supply it--not according to your stinted desires, or unbelieving expectations, or personal deserts--but, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

What need shall not our God supply From His abundant store;

What streams of mercy from on high An arm Almighty pour?

From Christ, the ever-living spring, Those ample blessings flow;

Prepare, my lips, His name to sing Whose heart has loved you so."

~Octavius Winslow, 1872~

THE PRUNING KNIFE

John 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
 
What is the pruning knife of this heavenly Husbandman?

It is often said to be affliction. By no means in the first place. How would it then fare with many who have long seasons free from adversity; or with some on whom God appears to shower down kindness all their life long?

No; it is the Word of God that is the knife, sharper than any two-edged sword, that pierces even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and is quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.

It is only when affliction leads to this discipline of the Word that it becomes a blessing; the lack of this heart-cleansing through the Word is the reason why affliction is so often unsanctified.

Not even Paul's thorn in the flesh could become a blessing until Christ's Word--"My strength is made perfect in weakness"--had made him see the danger of self-exaltation, and made him willing to rejoice in infirmities.

The Word of God's pruning knife. Jesus says: "Ye are already clean, because of the word I have spoken unto you." How searchingly that word had been spoken by Him, out of whose mouth there went a sharp two-edged sword

As he had taught them! "Except a man deny himself, lose his life, forsake all, hate father and mother, he cannot be My disciple, he is not worthy of Me"; or as He humbled their pride, or reproved their lack of love, or foretold their all forsaking Him.

From the opening of His ministry in the Sermon on the Mount to His words of warning in the last night, His Word had tried and cleansed them. He had discovered and condemned all there was of self; they were now emptied and cleansed, ready for the incoming of the Holy Spirit.

It is as the soul gives up its own thoughts, and men's thoughts of what is religion, and yields itself heartily, humbly, patiently, to the teaching of the Word by the Spirit, that the Father will do His blessed work of pruning and cleansing away all of nature and self that mixes with our work and hinders His Spirit.

Let those who would know all the Husbandman can do for them, all the Vine can bring forth through them, seek earnestly to yield themselves heartily to the blessed cleansing through the Word.

Let them, in their study of the Word, receive it as a hammer that breaks and opens up, as a fire that melts and refines, as a sword that lays bare and slays all that is of the flesh.

The word of conviction will prepare for the word of comfort and of hope, and the Father will cleanse them through the Word.

All ye who are branches of the true Vine, each time you read or hear the Word, wait first of all on Him to use it for His cleansing of the branch. Set your heart upon His desire for more fruit. Trust Him as Husbandman to work it.

Yield yourselves in simple childlike surrender to the cleansing work of His Word and Spirit, and you may count upon it that His purpose will be fulfilled in you.

Father, I pray Thee, cleanse me through Thy Word. Let it search out and bring to light all that is of self and the flesh in my religion. Let it cut away every root of self-confidence, that the Vine may find me wholly free to receive His life and Spirit.

O my holy Husbandman, I trust Thee to care for the branch as much as for the Vine. Thou only art my hope.

~Andrew Murray~ 

The Comforting Assurance

Act 20:35  I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Though spoken originally by Jesus regarding temporal things, this may be taken as a motto for the child of God amid all the changing vicissitudes of his changing history.

How it should lull all misgivings; silence all murmurings; lead to lowly, unquestioning submissiveness, "My Heavenly Father knows that I have need of all these things!"

Where can a child be safer or better than in a father's hand?
 
Where can the believer be better than in the hands of his God?
 
We are poor judges of what is best for us.

We are under safe guidance with infallible wisdom.

If we are tempted in a moment of rash presumption to say, "All these things are against me!" let this "word" rebuke the hasty and unworthy surmise.Unerring wisdom and Fatherly love, have pronounced all to be "needful."

My soul, is there anything that is disturbing your peace?

Are providences dark, or crosses heavy? Are spiritual props removed, creature comforts curtailed, gourds smitten and withered like grass?

Write on each,"Your Father knows that you have need of all these things!"

It was He who increased your burden. Why? "It was needed."

It was He who crossed your worldly schemes, marred your cherished hopes. Why? "It was needed."

A pleasant flower in the coveted path — it was supplanting Himself — He had to remove it! There was some higher spiritual blessing in communion with God.

Seek to cherish a spirit of more childlike confidence in your Heavenly Father's will.

You are not left unfriended and alone to buffet the storms of the wilderness.

Your Marahs as well as your Elims are appointed by Him.

A gracious pillar-cloud is before you. Follow it through sunshine and storm. He may "lead you about," but He will not lead you wrong.

Unutterable tenderness is the characteristic of all His dealings.
 
Blessed be His name, says a tried believer, "He makes my feet like hinds' feet" (literally, "equals" them), "He equals them for every precipice, every ascent, every leap."

And who is it that speaks this quieting word? It is He who Himself felt the preciousness of the assurance during His own awful sufferings, that all were needed, and all appointed;  

That from Bethlehem's cradle to Calvary's Cross there was not an unnecessary thorn in the crown of sorrow which He, the Man of Sorrows, bore.

Every drop in His bitter cup was mingled by His Father: "This cup which You give Me to drink, shall I not drink it?"

Oh, if He could extract comfort in this hour of inconceivable agony, in the thought that a Father's hand lighted the fearful furnace-fires — what strong consolation is there is the same truth to all His suffering people!

What! one superfluous drop! one unessential pang! one unneeded cross!

Hush the secret atheism! He gave His Son for you! He calls Himself "your Father!"

Whatever be the trial under which you are now smarting, let the word of a gracious Savior be "like oil thrown on the fretful sea;" let it dry every rebellious tear-drop.

He, your unerring Parent, knows that you have need of this as well as all these things.

~John Macduff~

Implicit Trust

Jer 39:18  For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.
 
Behold the protecting power of trust in God.  

The great men of Jerusalem fell by the sword, but poor Ebed-melech was secure, for his confidence was in Jehovah. 

Where else should a man trust but in his Maker?

We are foolish when we prefer the creature to the Creator. Oh, that we could in all things live by faith, then should we be delivered in all time of danger! 

No one ever did trust in the LORD in vain, and no one ever shall.

The LORD saith, "I will surely deliver thee," Mark the divine "surely."

Whatever else may be uncertain, God's care of believers is sure. God Himself is the guardian of the gracious, Under His sacred wing there is safety even when every danger is abroad.

Can we accept this promise as sure? Then in our present emergency we shall find that it stands fast. 

We hope to be delivered because we have friends, or because we are prudent, or because we can see hopeful signs; but none of these things are one-half so good as God's simple "because thou hast put thy trust in me." 

Dear reader, try this way, and, trying it, you will keep to it all your life. It is as sweet as it is sure. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Light And Lightning

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.

And the spirit is one of light! All the doors and windows are open. His correspondences are perfect and unbroken. He is of “quick understanding,” keen-scented to discern the essences of things, alert to perceive the reality behind the semblance, to “see things as they are.” All the great primary senses are awake, and He has knowledge of every “secret place.”

He shall smite with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay. 

The spirit of light follows a crusade of holiness. The light becomes lightning! 

The “breathing,” which cools the fever-stricken, can also become a hot breath, which wastes and destroys every plant of evil desire. 

It is an awful thing, and yet a gracious thing, that “our God is a consuming fire.”

It was foretold of our Lord that He should baptize “with fire.”
And this crusade of holiness is in the ministry of peace. 

He will burn away all that defileth, in order that He may create a profound and permanent fellowship.  

When His work is done, there will be a mingling of apparent opposites, and antagonisms will melt into a gracious union. “The sucking child will play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.”

~John Henry Jowett~

---

UNSELFISHNESS

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. 

For even Christ pleased not Himself, but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 
Romans 15:3

Too legibly are the characters written on the fallen heart and a fallen world---"All seek their own!"

Selfishness is the great law of our degenerated nature. 

When the love of God was dethroned from the soul, SELF vaulted into the vacant seat, and there, in some one of its ever-changing shapes, continues to reign.

Jesus stands out for our imitation, as a grand solitary exception in the midst of a world of selfishness.

His entire life was one abnegation of self; a beautiful living embodiment of that love which "seeks not her own." 

He who for others turned water into wine, and provided a miraculous supply for the fainting thousands in the wilderness---exerted no such miraculous power for His own necessities. 

During His forty days' temptation, no table did He spread for Himself, no booth did He rear for His unpillowed bead. 

Twice do we read of Him shedding tears---on neither occasion were they for Himself.

The approach of His cross and passion, instead of absorbing Him in His own approaching sufferings, seemed only to elicit new and more gracious promises to His people.

When His enemies came to apprehend Him, His only stipulation was for His disciples' release "Let these go their way."

In the very act of departure, with all the boundless glories of eternity in sight---they were still all His care.

Ah, how different is the spirit of the world!

With how many is day after day only a new oblation to that idol SELF pampering their own wishes; envying and grieving at the good of a neighbor; unable to brook the praise of a rival; establishing their own reputation on the ruins of another; thus engendering jealousy, discontent, peevishness, and every kindred unholy passion. 

But you have not so learned Christ! 

Reader! have you been sitting at the feet of Him who "pleased not Himself?

Are you "dying daily;" dying to self as well as to sin?

Are you animated with this as the high end and aim of existence?

To lay out your time, and talents, and opportunities for God's glory and the good of your fellow-men?

Not seeking your own interests but rather relinquishing these, if, by doing so, another will be made holier, and your Savior honored?

You may not have it in your power to manifest this "mind of Jesus" on a great scale, by enduring great sacrifices; nor is this required. 

His denial of self had about it no repulsive austerity; but you can SEE its holy influence and sway, by innumerable little offices of kindness and goodwill; taking a generous interest in the welfare of others, or engaging in schemes for the mitigation of human misery.

Avoid ostentation which is only another repulsive form of self.

Be eager to be in the shadows; sound no trumpet before you.

The evangelist Matthew held a great banquet for Jesus at his house; but in his Gospel, he says not one word about it!

Seek to live more constantly and habitually under the constraining influence of the love of Jesus.

Selfishness withers and dies beneath Calvary!

Ah, believer! if Christ had "pleased Himself," where would you have been this day?

~John Macduff~

The LORD Has Appointed The Path Of Sorrow

2Co 1:7  And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.  
The Lord has appointed the path of sorrow for the redeemed to walk in. Why?

One purpose is to wean them from the world; another purpose is to show them the weakness of the creature; a third purpose is to make them feel the liberty and vitality of genuine godliness made manifest in their soul's experience. 

What am I, and what are you when we have no trials? Light, frothy, worldly-minded, carnal, frivolous. 

We may talk of the things of God, but they are at a distance; there are no solemn feelings, no melting sensations, no real brokenness, no genuine contrition, no weeping at the divine feet, no embracing of Christ in the arms of affection.

But when affliction, be it in providence or be it in grace, brings a man down; when it empties him of all his high thoughts, lays him low in his own eyes, brings trouble into his heart, I assure you he needs something more than mere external religion. 

He needs power; he needs to experience in his soul the operations of the blessed Spirit; he wants to have a precious Jesus manifesting himself to his soul in love and blood.

He needs to see his lovely countenance beaming upon him in ravishing smiles; he needs to hear the sweet whispers of dying love speaking inward peace; he needs to have the blessed Lord come into his soul, manifesting himself to him as he does not manifest himself to the world.

What brings a man here? A few dry notions floating to and fro in his brain, like a few drops of oil in a pail of water? That will never bring the life and power of vital godliness into a man's heart.

It must be by being experimentally acquainted with trouble. 

When he is led into the path of tribulation, he then begins to long after, and, in God's own time and way, he begins to drink into, the sweetness of vital godliness, made manifest in his heart by the power of God.

~J. C. Philpot~

The Secret Strength Of Faith

Where lies the secret strength of faith? It lies in the food it feeds on; for faith studies what the promise is—an emanation of divine grace, an overflowing of the great heart of God; and faith says, “My God could not have given this promise, except from love and grace; therefore it is quite certain his Word will be fulfilled.” 

Then faith thinketh, “Who gave this promise?” It considereth not so much its greatness, as, “Who is the author of it?” 

She remembers that it is God who cannot lie—God omnipotent, God immutable; and therefore concludeth that the promise must be fulfilled; and forward she advances in this firm conviction.
 
She remembereth,why the promise was given,—namely, for God’s glory, and she feels perfectly sure that God’s glory is safe, that he will never stain his own escutcheon, nor mar the lustre
of his own crown; and therefore the promise must and will stand. 

Then faith also considereth the amazing work of Christ as being a clear proof of the Father’s intention to fulfil his word.

He that spared not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 

Moreover faith looks back upon the past, for her battles have strengthened her, and her victories have given her courage. 

She remembers that God never has failed her; nay, that he never did once fail any of his children. 

She recollecteth times of great peril, when deliverance came; hours of awful need, when as her day her strength was found, and she cries, “No, I never will be led to think that he can change and leave his servant now. Hitherto the Lord hath helped me, and he will help me still.”

Thus faith views each promise in its connection with the promise-giver, and, because she does so, can with assurance say, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life!

~Charles Spurgeon~

My Words Shall Be Fulfilled In Their Season

My words..which shall be fulfilled in their season. (Luke 1:20)

Luk 1:45  And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 

The Lord is sure to accomplish those things A loving heart has waited long to see

Those words will be fulfilled to which she clings, Because her God has promised faithfully

And, knowing Him, she ne’er can doubt His Word; He speaks and it is done. The Mighty LORD!
 
The Lord is sure to accomplish those things, O burdened heart, rest ever in His care; In quietness beneath His shadowing wings
Await the answer to your longing prayer.
 
When you have “cast your cares,” the heart then sings, The Lord is sure to accomplish those things.
 
The Lord is sure to accomplish those things, O tired heart, believe and wait and pray.
 
Peacefully, the evening chime still rings, Though cloud and rain and storm have filled the day.
 
Faith pierces through the mist of doubt that bars The coming night sometimes, and finds the stars.
 
The Lord is sure to accomplish those things, O trusting heart, the Lord to you has told.
 
Let Faith and Hope arise, and lift their wings, To soar toward the sunrise clouds of gold; The doorways of the rosy dawn swing wide, Revealing joys the darkness of night did hide.
 
~Bessie Porter~
 
Matthew Henry said,“We can depend on God to fulfill His
promise, even when all the roads leading to it are closed. 

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. 

And so through him the “Amen” [so be it] is spoken by us to the glory of God’ [2 Cor. 1:20].