February 21 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"…provided we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him" (Rom. 8:17).

Devotional

"We suffer with him," but not as he suffered. Oh, no! There is no curse, no wrath, no hell in the cup of sorrow which we drink. All these ingredients composed his bitter cup.

Yet he suffers with us, and he permits our afflictions to be called the "afflictions of Christ" (Col. 1:24). He is with you on that bed of sickness. He is with you on that couch of languishing. He is with you in that darkened room. He kneels with you at that coffin. And he weeps with you by that graveside.

Oh, may it not reconcile us to all the suffering we have ever endured, or may yet be called to endure, to feel the perfect oneness, the presence, the sympathy, the help of such a Savior? Who would wish to shun the shame of his cross, the scorn of his name, the lowliness of his kingdom, the self-denial of his religion, allied in the most tender sympathy at every step with this illustrious Martyr—this Prince of sufferers—this Brother born for adversity?

The sands of time are sinking,
the dawn of heaven breaks,
the summer morn I've sighed for,
the fair sweet morn awakes;
dark, dark, hath been the midnight,
but dayspring is at hand,
and glory, glory dwelleth
in Immanuel's land.

The King there in his beauty
without a veil is seen;
it were a well-spent journey
though seven deaths lay between:
the Lamb with his fair army
doth on Mount Zion stand,
and glory, glory dwelleth
in Immanuel's land.

O Christ, he is the fountain,
the deep sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I've tasted
more deep I'll drink above:
there to an ocean fullness
his mercy doth expand,
and glory, glory dwelleth
in Immanuel's land.

The bride eyes not her garment,
but her dear bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze at glory,
but on my King of grace;
not at the crown he gifteth,
but on his pierced hand:
the Lamb is all the glory
of Immanuel's land.

O I am my Beloved's,
and my Beloved's mine!
He brings this poor vile sinner
into his "house of wine."
I stand upon his merit—
I know no other stand,
not e'en where glory dwelleth
in Immanuel's land.

(Anne R. Cousin, 1857; based upon Samuel Rutherford, 1600–1661)

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 2025.