Sin is no light trouble to the man of God.

Posted : 14 May, 2013 02:19 AM

Psalm 119:77 Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; for Your law is my delight.





Sin is no light trouble to the man of God. Mercy, therefore, is

to him no common blessing. Never can he have-never can he

ask, enough. Hence his repeated cries. Mercy brought him out

of sin and misery. Mercy keeps-holds him on-assures him to

the end. Every blessing comes in the way of mercy. The most

careful walker according to the gospel rule, needs mercy. The

elect are "vessels of mercy"-filled up to the brim with mercy.

The crown of glory at last is received at the hands of mercy.

The distinguishing character of God is, that His mercies are

tender mercies-a father's pitying-yearning mercies. When His

returning prodigal expected probably upbraiding looks, if not a

frown of banishment, how did these tender mercies bury, not

only his sins, but also his very confessions in the depths of the

sea, and welcome him without a cloud to his forsaken home!

The same tender considerations put away from His children

all anxiety respecting "what they shall eat, or what they shall

drink, or wherewithal they shall be clothed. As a Father He

also "chastens" them-"he suffers their manners"-He "spares

them, as a man spares his own son that serves him;" and,

finally, He determines respecting each of them by an act of

sovereign power-"You shall call Me, My Father, and shall not depart from Me." In a yet more endearing character He

speaks-"As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort

you. They may forget; yet will I not forget You."

Yet have we no just apprehension of these tender mercies,

unless they come to us. In the midst of the wide distribution,

let me claim my interest. Let them come to me. Praised be

God! the way is open to me. The mere report is unfruitful. I

cannot speak of them with glow and unction. The application

of them is life-not the mere breathing of spiritual existence, but

the life of my life-the living principle of devotedness and

enjoyment-living to and for God in every form and sphere, in

every hour and action of the day; my feebleness becoming

strength in the Lord; "walking up and down in His name." This

truly is "reigning in life;" rising to more of its honor and dignity,

and reaching forth to more of its excellence and happiness.

But let us not lose sight of the abundant overflowing spring,

from which our life is maintained. "In Christ was life;" and He

"came that we might have life, and that we might have it more

abundantly." There can be, therefore, no exercises of life

without a vital union to Christ-the source of life. Shall we then

give up the hope of believing in Christ, until we feel the

influence of this spiritual principle? This would be indeed like

refusing to abide in the vine, until we could bring forth fruit;

whereas the branch, while separated from the vine, must ever

be fruitless and withered. We must receive life from Christ, not

bring it to Him. Faith implants us in Him; and "Christ dwelling

in the heart by faith" becomes the life of the soul, animating it

in the ways of God.

This life, therefore, will manifest itself in delight in God's law.

We shall not be satisfied to live upon the mere surface of the

gospel (which is barren and unproductive, as any other

surface, in spiritual usefulness), but we shall search into its

hidden treasures, and draw forth its real life and consolation. This "delight" will furnish a plea for our use at the throne of

grace. 'If this is the fruit and acting of the life of Your own

implanting, Lord! cherish it. Let me live by the influence of

Your tender mercies. I venture to plead my delight in Your

law, as an evidence of my adoption into Your family. And,

therefore, I would renew my plea and my petition-Let Your

tender mercies come to me, that my life may be not only

existence, but enjoyment-the beginning, the earnest, of the

everlasting life and bliss of heaven.'



by

Charles Bridges

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