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Octavius Winslow, 1856 (edited for
today's reader by Larry E. Wilson, 2010)
Bible Verse
"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).
Devotional
God has amply provided for all the needs of the Christian journey. Since the Lord Jesus is the believer's "Way," all nourishment for the pilgrimage of the saints is laid up in him. All wisdom for the perplexing way is in Jesus. All strength for the wearisome way is in Jesus. All grace for the perilous way is in Jesus. All sympathy for the trying way is in Jesus. All is in Jesus. In him the Father has laid up the provision for the wilderness journey.
And what storehouses of nourishment—both testifying of Jesus—are the Word of God and the covenant of grace! How full, how rich, how ample the supply! All the soul-establishing doctrines, all the sanctifying precepts, and all the precious, comforting promises go to make up the nourishment for the wilderness journey.
Sometimes the Lord brings us into the very heart of the wilderness, just to prove to us how easily and how readily he can provide a table for us even there. And when all other resources are exhausted, and all supply is cut off, and every spring of water is dried up, lo! he opens the eye of our faith to see what his heart of love has prepared.
Dear reader, are you sitting down in the wilderness to weep like Hagar, or to die like Elijah—desolate, weary, and exhausted? Oh, look and see what appropriate and ample nourishment your God and Father has provided for you. The Angel of the covenant touches you with his loving right hand . He bids you rise and eat and drink, yes, to "drink abundantly" (Song 5:1 KJV). In the glorious gospel are "all choice fruits, new as well as old" (Song 7:13), which the Lord has laid up for his people. "Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart" (Eccl. 9:7), for all this storehouse of nourishment, this table of provision, is for you. All the love that is in God's heart, all the grace that is in the Savior's nature, all the comfort that is in the Spirit's tenderness, all the sanctifying truths, free invitations, and precious promises which cluster in the gospel of Christ, all are yours—the sacred nourishment provided for your journey to the Mount of God. Listen to the voice of Jesus, saying to you, as of old, "Come and dine" (John 21:12 KJV).
Though troubles assail us, and dangers affright,
though friends should all fail us, and foes all unite,
yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
the promise assures us, "The Lord will provide."
The birds, without garner or storehouse, are fed;
from them let us learn to trust God for our bread:
his saints what is fitting shall ne'er be denied
so long as 'tis written, "The Lord will provide."
When Satan assails us to stop up our path,
and courage all fails us, we triumph by faith.
He cannot take from us, though oft he has tried,
this heart-cheering promise, "The Lord will provide."
No strength of our own, and no goodness we claim;
yet, since we have known of the Savior's great Name,
in this our strong tower for safety we hide:
the Lord is our power, "The Lord will provide."
(John Newton, 1779)
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.
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