March 26 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"It is good for me to draw near to God." (Psalm 73:28).

Devotional

The more any object is a source of sweet delight and contemplation to us, the more strongly we desire its presence, and the more restless we are in its absence. We want the friend whom we love constantly at our side. The spirit goes out in longings for communion with him. His presence sweetens and his absence embitters every other joy.

Precisely this is true of God. He who knows God, who with faith's eye has discovered some of his glory, and, by the power of the Spirit, has felt something of his love, will not be at a loss to distinguish between the sense of God's presence and absence in the soul.

Alas, some professing people walk so much without fellowship, without daily, filial, and close communion with God ... they are so immersed in the cares and so lost in the fogs and mists of the world ... the fine edge of their spiritual affection is so blunted, and their love so frozen by contact with worldly influences and occupations that the Sun of Righteousness may cease to shine upon their soul without them even knowing it! God may cease to visit them without his absence even being felt! He may cease to speak without the stillness of his voice even awakening any emotion of alarm! It would actually be more strange to them if the Lord were suddenly to break in upon their soul with a visit of love than if he were to leave them for weeks and months without any token of his presence.

Oh reader, are you a professing child of God? Do not be content to live this way. It is a poor, lifeless existence. It is unworthy of your profession. It is unworthy of him whose Name you bear. It is unworthy of the glorious destiny towards which you are looking.

This is how, O believer, you may test the character of your love. If divine affection deepens, increases, and expands in your heart, then you find God an object of increasing delight and desire; you find communion with him the most precious privilege on earth. You cannot live in the neglect of constant, secret, and close fellowship with your God, your best and most faithful friend.

In sweet communion, Lord, with thee
I constantly abide;
my hand thou holdest in thine own
to keep me near thy side.

Thy counsel through my earthly way
shall guide me and control,
and then to glory afterward
thou wilt receive my soul.

Whom have I, Lord, in heav'n but thee,
to whom my thoughts aspire?
And, having thee, on earth is nought
that I can yet desire.

Though flesh and heart should faint and fail,
the Lord will ever be
the strength and portion of my heart,
my God eternally.

To live apart from God is death,
'tis good his face to seek;
my refuge is the living God,
his praise I long to speak.

(Psalm 73:23–28, The Psalter, 1912)

Be sure to read the "Preface" by Octavius Winslow and "A Note from the Editor" by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as "God's Words for Worship" and "Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants") for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.