Evening
Time: 1:00 PM PST
"Whereas the Lord was there." --Ezekiel 35:10
Edom's princes saw the whole country left desolate, and counted upon its easy
conquest; but there was one great difficulty in their way--quite unknown to
them--"The Lord was there"; and in His presence lay the special security
of the chosen land. Whatever may be the machinations and devices of the enemies
of God's people, there is still the same effectual barrier to thwart their
design. The saints are God's heritage, and He is in the midst of them, and will
protect His own. What comfort this assurance yields us in our troubles and
spiritual conflicts! We are constantly opposed, and yet perpetually preserved!
How often Satan shoots his arrows against our faith, but our faith defies
the power of hell's fiery darts; they are not only turned aside, but they are
quenched upon its shield, for "the Lord is there." Our good works are the
subjects of Satan's attacks. A saint never yet had a virtue or a grace which was
not the target for hellish bullets: whether it was hope bright and sparkling, or
love warm and fervent, or patience all-enduring, or zeal flaming like coals of
fire, the old enemy of everything that is good has tried to destroy it. The only
reason why anything virtuous or lovely survives in us is this, "the Lord is
there."
If the Lord be with us through life, we need not fear for our dying
confidence; for when we come to die, we shall find that "the Lord is
there"; where the billows are most tempestuous, and the water is most
chill, we shall feel the bottom, and know that it is good: our feet shall stand
upon the Rock of Ages when time is passing away. Beloved, from the first of a
Christian's life to the last, the only reason why he does not perish is because
"the Lord is there." When the God of everlasting love shall change and
leave His elect to perish, then may the Church of God be destroyed; but not till
then, because it is written, JEHOVAH SHAMMAH, "The Lord is there."