from Psalm 37

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;"

"The steps of a man are established by the Lord,

when he delights in his way;

though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord upholds his hand."

"Turn away from evil and do good;

so shall you dwell forever.

For the Lord loves justice;

he will not forsake his saints.

They are preserved forever,"

"The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip."

"Wait for the Lord and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

you will look on when the wicked are cut off."

"The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him."

it's me!!

http://vimeo.com/20898358

via brilliant photographer & cinematographer Sam D. Ramsey

sword piercings

"It is better to take refuge in the Lord then to trust in man." ~Psalm 118:8

No doubt the reader has been tempted to rely upon the things that are seen instead of resting alone upon the invisible God. Christians often look to man for help and advice, and so spoil the noble simplicity of their reliance upon God. Does this evening's passage meet the eye of a child to God who is filled with anxiety? Then let us reason with you. You trust in Jesus, and only in Jesus, for your salvation; then why are you troubled? "Because of my great care." Is it not written, "Cast your burden upon the Lord"? "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Can you trust God for your physical needs? "Ah! I wish I could." If you cannot trust God with the physical, how dare you trust Him with the spiritual? Can you trust Him for your soul's redemption, and yet not rely upon Him for a few lesser mercies? Is not God enough for your need, or is His all-sufficiency too narrow for your wants? Do you need another to watch for you when you have Him who sees every secret thing? Is His heart faint? Is His arm weary? If so, seek another God; but if He is infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true, and all-wise, why do you run around seeking another confidence? Why do you scour the earth to find another foundation when this is strong enough to bear all the weight that you can ever build on it? Christian, do not mix your wine with water; do not tarnish the gold of faith with the dross of human confidence. Wait only upon God, and let your expectation be from Him. Do not covet Jonah's gourd but rest in Jonah's God. Let the sandy, shaky foundations be the choice of fools; but you, like one who sees the approaching storm, build for yourself an abiding place upon the Rock of Ages.

"Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God." ~Acts 14:22

God's people have their trials. It was never God's plan, when He chose His people, that they should be untested. They were chosen in the furnace of affliction; they were never chosen for worldly peace and earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised to them; but when their Lord drew up the charter of privileges, He included chastisements among the things to which they should inevitably be heirs. Trials are a part of our experience; they were predestinated for us in Christ's last legacy. As surely as the stars are fashioned by His hands, and their orbits fixed by Him, so surely are our trials allotted to us. He has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us. Good men must never expect to escape troubles; if they do, they will be disappointed, for none of their predecessors have been without them. Consider the patience of Job; remember Abraham, for he had his trials, and facing them with faith, he became the father of the faithful. Review the biographies of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and you will find that each of those whom God made vessels of mercy were made to pass through the fire of affliction. God has ordained that the cross of trouble should be engraved on every vessel of mercy, as the royal insignia distinguishing the King's vessels of honor. But even though tribulation is the path of God's children, they have the comfort of knowing that their Master has walked if before them. They have His presence and sympathy to cheer them, His grace to support them, and His example to teach them how to endure; and when they reach "the kingdom," it will more than make amends for the "many tribulations" through which they passed to enter it.

~Charles H. Spurgeon, "Morning and Evening"

March 7 evening, March 8 morning

(revised & updated version by Alistair Begg)