Morning By Morning #103

My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.

Psalm 22:14

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Our blessed Lord experienced a horrific sinking and melting feeling deep within His inner being. “A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” (Prov. 18:14). Deep depression of the spirit is the most oppressive and severe of all trials, making every other difficulty appear as nothing. For good reason our suffering Savior cried out to His God, “Do not be far from me” (Ps. 22:11), for the time when a person most senses his need for God is when his heart seems to be melting within him due to the heaviness of his circumstances.

Dear believer, draw near to the cross of Christ this morning. Humbly adore the King of glory who was taken far lower into mental distress and inward anguish than any one of us. Take notice of His qualifications to become our faithful High Priest, one who can truly be touched with, and sympathetic to, the feelings of our human weakness and infirmities. My prayer is that especially those of us whose sadness and depression are arising from a sense that the Father’s love has been withdrawn from us may enter into a close and intimate communion with Jesus. May we never give way to despair, always remembering our Master has passed through this dark way before us.

At times our souls may come to the point of severe longing and anguish. We may thirst nearly to the point of fainting, simply to behold the light of the Lord’s countenance. At these times may we steady ourselves, recalling the sweet fact of the sympathy of our great High Priest. And as our tears of sorrow are swallowed up and forgotten in His vast ocean of grief, how high should our love for Him soar!

Oh, strong and deep love of Jesus, come into me like the seas of a springtime flood. Overwhelm all my desires, drown all my sins, wash away all my cares, and raise my earthbound soul, floating it to the very point of my Lord’s feet. There let me lie as a poor broken shell, washed to glory by Your love and having no virtue or value of my own. Then may I only venture to whisper to You that if You would only put Your ear to me, You will hear within my heart the faint echoes of the vast waves of Your own love—Your own love, which has brought me to the point where it is my delight to lie, even at Your feet, forever!

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

One of the well-known believers of Spurgeon’s day was David Livingstone (1813 – 1873). He was a medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. The first European to see Victoria Falls, he named it after the reigning Queen of England. He took a strong stance against slavery and explored Africa, consistently sharing the gospel. Upon his death his heart was buried in Africa, while his body was returned to London and interred in Westminster Abbey.

Our devotions the last several days have been focused on the cross of Christ, and Livingstone’s life and message were centered on it and Christ’s kingdom. He was once quoted as saying, “I will place no value on anything I have or may possess except in relation to the kingdom of Christ.”

Lord Jesus, may this be true of my life as well—each and every day!