Morning By Morning #23

I have exalted a young man from among the people.

Psalm 89:19

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Why was Christ chosen “from among the people”? I will speak from my heart, for its thoughts are best. Wasn’t He chosen “from among the people” in order to be our brother through the blessed bond of kindred blood? What a wonderful family relationship there is between Christ and believers! A believer can actually claim, “I have a Brother in heaven. I may be poor, but I have a Brother who is rich and who is a King. Will He allow me to be in need while He sits on His throne? No! He loves me—He is my Brother!”

Dear believer, wear this blessed thought like a diamond necklace around the neck of your memory. Slide it onto the finger of your remembrance as a golden ring and then use it as the King’s own seal, stamping your petitions of faith with confidence of success. He is your Brother, born for adversity, so treat Him as such.

Also, Christ was chosen “from among the people” so He would know our needs and sympathize with us. “[He] has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Therefore in all of our sorrows we have His sympathy. He knows them all—temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness, poverty—for He has felt them all.

Remember this, dear Christian, and allow it to comfort you. Despite how difficult and painful your path, it is marked with the footprints of your Savior. Even when you “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (Ps. 23:4) or the deepest waters of a flooding Jordan River, you will find His footprints are there.

Wherever we may go, He has gone before us, and every burden we must carry has already been laid upon the shoulders of Immanuel.

His way was much rougher and darker than mine.

Did Christ, my dear Lord, suffer? Should I still whine?

John Newton, 1725-1807

Take courage! Royal feet have left a bloodstained trail upon your road and thereby consecrated the difficult path forever.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Jesus came to earth to identify with us in our humanity so we could identify with Him in His holiness. “He had to be made like his brothers in every way…that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17).

In other words, to “make atonement,” He had to be one of us. “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Gal. 4:4-5).

Jesus Christ humbled Himself to become a man so you could not only become His friend but also a member of His family! And because He became a man, He can indeed sympathize with every struggle you will ever encounter.

Why not go to Him right now in prayer—knowing He cares? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28-29).