Morning By Morning #292

Your paths drip with abundance.

Psalm 65:11 NKJV

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

There are many paths of the Lord that “drip with abundance,” but one of the most special is the path of prayer. No believer who spends a great deal of time in his prayer closet will ever have the occasion to cry out, “I waste away, I waste! Woe to me!” (Isa. 24:16). Thus, souls who are starving live a distance from God’s “mercy seat” (Ex. 25:17 KJV) and become like parched fields in times of drought. Wrestling with God through prevailing prayer is sure to make a believer strong—if not happy. And the closest place to the gate of heaven is the throne of grace. If you spend a great deal of time alone with Jesus through prayer, you have great assurance of faith, but if you spend very little time, your faith will be shallow, polluted with many doubts and fears, and will lack the effervescent joy of the Lord.

Since the soul-enriching path of prayer is open even to the weakest saint, since no high achievements are required, since we are not invited to come because we are some superior saint but are invited simply because we are a saint, then, dear reader, make sure you are often found on that path of prayer. Be on your knees often in the same way Elijah brought rain to the famished fields of Israel with “his face between his knees” (1 Kings 18:42).

Another special path “drip [ping] with abundance” for those who walk upon it is the secret path of communion. Oh, the amazing delights of fellowship with Jesus! Earth has no words to fully express the holy peace of a soul held in His sweet embrace. In fact, very few Christians understand it, for they live in the valley and have seldom “climbed Mount Nebo” (Deut. 34:1). They live in the temple’s outer court and never “enter the Most Holy Place” (Heb. 10:19) to take advantage of their privilege of priesthood. Thus, they only see the sacrifice from afar, never sitting down to enjoy the fat of the burnt offering with their High Priest.

But you, dear reader, determine to sit continually in the shadow of Jesus. Come up to that palm tree and take hold of the branches. Allow your Beloved to be as an apple tree among the forest to you, and your “soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods” (Ps. 63:5).

O Jesus, “visit me with thy salvation” (Ps. 106:4 KJV)!

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

As David’s psalm says in our text today, the paths of the Lord “drip with abundance.” What is even more wonderful is that our heavenly Father is sovereign and graciously guides us to the proper path. Solomon wrote: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps” (Prov. 16:9). Then Isaiah tells us, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,’This is the way; walk in it’“ (Isa. 30:21). And the writer of Hebrews encourages us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1).

What a loving gracious Father we have! He not only marks out the path we are to follow but when darkness seems to surround us, He also gives us the perfect solution for our problem:

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Ps. 119:105).