Is God Our God?
And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.'—Matt. 22:37, 38
What is it for us to make God our God? It is this: to set up God a throne in our hearts; to give him a sovereignty over all things in the world, that we may say in truth of heart, God is our joy, God is our comfort, God is our rock, God is all in all to us. For all to whom he is a God in the covenant of grace, and have hearts to make him so, the Spirit raises up their affections to make him God to themselves. It is said of old, 'what we love most is our god.' What we joy most in is our god, what we rely on and trust in most is our god, as it was said of the 'wedge of gold' (Job 31:24). It is a query of the greatest concern in the world to put to our hearts. What do I make my god? As David put the query to himself: 'Now, Lord, what is my hope? is it not in thee?' (Psa. 39:7).
And so, put this query to ourselves: Lord, what is my joy, what is my hope, what is my trust, what is my comfort? Is it not in you? If our hearts cannot make an answer to this in some sincerity, surely yet we have not made God our God. But until, by the Spirit of God, we be brought to see an emptiness and vanity in the creature, and nothingness in all in comparison of God, that we can say, 'Whom have I in heaven but thee?' We have not comfort, because we do not make him ours. Alas! We may be ashamed of it; those best do often forget themselves. Oh, how do men value the favours of a man; and how does it grieve them to have the frowns of flesh and blood, the frowns of greatness! But when their consciences tell them they are under guilt of many sins, and God is not in good terms with them, how does this affect them? It is of greatest concern that we take God to be our God.
And so, put this query to ourselves: Lord, what is my joy, what is my hope, what is my trust, what is my comfort? Is it not in you? If our hearts cannot make an answer to this in some sincerity, surely yet we have not made God our God. But until, by the Spirit of God, we be brought to see an emptiness and vanity in the creature, and nothingness in all in comparison of God, that we can say, 'Whom have I in heaven but thee?' We have not comfort, because we do not make him ours. Alas! We may be ashamed of it; those best do often forget themselves. Oh, how do men value the favours of a man; and how does it grieve them to have the frowns of flesh and blood, the frowns of greatness! But when their consciences tell them they are under guilt of many sins, and God is not in good terms with them, how does this affect them? It is of greatest concern that we take God to be our God.
Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
A Heavenly Conference, pp. 121-22
Banner of Truth has granted permission for the use of this material.
A Heavenly Conference, pp. 121-22
Banner of Truth has granted permission for the use of this material.
Categories
Recent
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 23
December 23rd, 2024
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 22
December 22nd, 2024
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 21
December 21st, 2024
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 20
December 20th, 2024
'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — December 19
December 19th, 2024
2024
January
One Thing (1)One Thing (2)Our Thoughts and Desires Reveal Who We AreThe Christian's Desire for God's House (1)The Christian's Desire for God's House (2)What the Soul Was Made ForGod Makes the Heart TenderMaintaining a Tender Heart (1)Maintaining a Tender Heart (2)Maintaining a Tender Heart (3)Maintaining a Tender Heart (4)Test to See if Your Heart is TenderHow to Recover a Tender HeartBenefits of a Tender HeartKings Must Humble Themselves Before GodHow to Humble Ourselves (1)How to Humble Ourselves (2)How to Humble Ourselves (3)Proneness to PrideHumilityTrue versus False Humility (1)True versus False Humility (2)True versus False Humility (3)Both Outward Devotion and Inward AffectionWeeping for the ChurchWeeping and Rejoicing Mixed (1)Weeping and Rejoicing Mixed (2)God Hears Our Prayers--His PartWhen It Seems God Doesn't HearThe Privilege of PrayerGod Hears Our Prayers--Our Part
February
Death Is a Gathering (1)Death Is a Gathering (2)The Righteous Preserve their NationGod's Righteous JudgmentThe Importance of Knowing God Loves Me (1)The Importance of Knowing God Loves Me (2)Abundance Is Not an Accurate Sign of God's LoveRun to GodChristian UnityChrist In Us (1)Christ In Us (2)Christ In Us (3)Christ In Us (4)Christ In Us (5)Christ the Servant: the MediatorThe Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax (1)The Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax (2)The Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax (3)The Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax (4)God Knows Our FrameLittle at First (1)Little at First (2)Sometimes Tender, Sometimes Tough (1)Sometimes Tender, Sometimes Tough (2)Avoiding Unnecessary RulesThe Weaker BrotherExtend Grace to One AnotherThe Covenant of GraceThe Light of God Compared to Fire (1)
March
The Light of God Compared to Fire (2)The Light of God Compared to Fire (3)Temptation (1)Temptation (2)The Source of DiscouragementsResponding to Christ's KindnessVictory in Spiritual BattlesHis Power Not OursCourage Until the End (1)Courage Until the End (2)Our Hearts—God's TempleSin in God's PeopleSigns of God's Impending Judgment (1)Signs of God's Impending Judgment (2)Signs of God's Impending Judgment (3)Preventing God's Judgment on Our Nation (1)Preventing God's Judgment on Our Nation (2)The Ugliness of Sin (1)The Ugliness of Sin (2)Far but NearChrist's Dying Words of ComfortThe Wrong of Excessive SorrowSteps to Bring Comfort to our Hearts (1)Steps to Bring Comfort to our Hearts (2)Steps to Bring Comfort to our Hearts (3)When We Feel Our Faith Is Weak (1)When We Feel Our Faith Is Weak (2)When We Feel Our Faith Is Weak (3)Christ and the Holy SpiritChrist Is the Heart and Power of the Scriptures (1)Christ Is the Heart and Power of the Scriptures (2)
No Comments