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Octavius Winslow, 1856 (edited for
today's reader by Larry E. Wilson, 2010)
Bible Verse
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also" (John 14:3).
Devotional
When heart and flesh are failing fast, and when trembling feet are descending into the dark valley of the shadow of death, to whom shall we then look except to Jesus? The world is now receding, and all creatures are fading from the sight. One Object alone remains, arresting and fixing the believer's eye—it is Jesus, the Savior! It is Emmanuel, the Incarnate and now-present God! It is the Captain of our salvation, the Conqueror of death, and the Spoiler of the grave! It is our Friend, our Brother, our Joseph, our Joshua, loving and faithful, and present to the end. Jesus is there to confront death again, and vanquish him with his own weapons. Jesus is there to remind his departing one that the grave can wear no gloom, and can boast of no victory, since he himself passed through it, rose again, and lives for evermore.
Sick one, in your languishing, look to Jesus! Departing one, in your death-struggles, look to Jesus!
Are you guilty? Jesus is righteous. Are you a sinner? Jesus is a Savior. Are you fearful, and do you tremble? The Shepherd of the flock is with you, and no one is able to snatch his sheep out of his hands. How fully, how suitably, does the gospel now meet your case!
In your bodily weakness and mental confusion, perhaps two truths are all that you can now dwell upon–your sinfulness and Christ's redemption, your emptiness and Christ's sufficiency. Enough! You need no more; God requires no more.
In your felt weakness, in your conscious unworthiness, amid the swelling of the cold waters, raise your eye and fix it upon Jesus, and all will be well. Hear the words of your Savior calling you from the bright world of glory to which he bids you come, "Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away" (Song 2:13).
Believer! Look to him. Lean on him. Cling to him. Labor for him. Suffer for him. And, if need be, die for him. Thus love and trust, live and die for Jesus alone.
Abide with me: fast falls the eventide:
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
when other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need thy presence ev'ry passing hour;
what but thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
Who like thyself my Guide and Stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless:
ills have no weight and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes:
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies:
Heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee:
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
(Henry F. Lyte, 1847)
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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