He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our
iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the
sea. (Micah 7:19)

God never turns from His love, but He soon turns from His wrath. His
love to His chosen is according to His nature; His anger is only
according to His office. He loves because He is love; He frowns because it is
necessary for our good. He will come back to the place in which His
heart rests, namely, His love to His own, and then He will take pity upon
our griefs and end them.

What a choice promise is this--"He will subdue our iniquities!" He will
conquer them. They try to enslave us, but the Lord will give us
victory over them by His own right hand. Like the Canaanites, they shall be
beaten, put under the yoke, and ultimately slain.

As for the guilt of our sins, how gloriously is that removed! "All
their sins"--yes, the whole host of them; "thou wilt cast"--only an
almighty arm could perform such a wonder; "into the depths of the sea"--where
Pharaoh and his chariots went down. Not into the shallows out of which
they might be washed up by the tide, but into the "depths" shall our
sins be hurled. They are all gone. They sank into the bottom like a
stone. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

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I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest
be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall
be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched
forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast
feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if
he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
(Isaiah 51:12-13)

Let the text itself be taken as the portion for today. There is no need
to enlarge upon it. Trembling one, read it, believe it, feed on it,
and plead it before the Lord. He whom you fear is only a man after all;
while He who promises to comfort you is God, your Maker, and the creator
of heaven and earth. Infinite comfort more than covers a very limited
danger.

"Where is the fury of the oppressor?" It is in the Lord's hand. It is
only the fury of a dying creature; fury which will end as soon as the
breath is gone from the nostril. Why, then, should we stand in awe of one
who is as frail as ourselves? Let us not dishonor our God by making a
god of puny man. We can make an idol of a man by rendering to him
excessive fear as well as by paying him inordinate love. Let us treat men as
men, and God as God; and then we shall go calmly on in the path of
duty, fearing the Lord and fearing nobody else.

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He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken. (Psalm 34:20)

This promise by the context is referred to the much afflicted righteous
man: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord
delivereth him out of them all." He may suffer skin wounds and flesh wounds,
but no great harm shall be done; "not a bone of him shall be broken."

This is great comfort to a tried child of God, and comfort which I dare
accept; for up to this hour I have suffered no real damage from my
many afflictions. I have neither lost faith, nor hope, nor love. Nay so
far from losing these bones of character, they have gained in strength
and energy. I have more knowledge, more experience, more patience, more
stability than I had before the trials came. Not even my joy has been
destroyed. Many a bruise have I had by sickness, bereavement, depression,
slander, and opposition; but the bruise has healed, and there has been
no compound fracture of a bone, not even a simple one. The reason is
not far to seek. If we trust in the Lord, He keeps all our bones; and if
He keeps them, we may be sure that not one of them is broken.

Come, my heart, do not sorrow. Thou art smarting, but there are no
bones broken. Endure hardness and bid defiance to fear.

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And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them
as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall
call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and
they shall say, The Lord is my God. (Zechariah 13:9)

Grace transmutes us into precious metal, and then the fire and the
furnace follows as a necessary consequence. Do we start at this? Would we
sooner be accounted worthless, that we might enjoy repose, like the
stones of the field! This would be to choose the viler part--like Esau, to
take the pottage and give up the covenant portion. No, Lord; we will
gladly be cast into the furnace rather than be cast out from Thy
presence!

The fire only refines; it does not destroy. We are to be brought
through the fire, not left in it. The Lord values His people as silver, and
therefore He is at pains to purge away their dross. If we are wise, we
shall rather welcome the refining process than decline it. Our prayer
will be that our alloy may be taken from us rather than that we should be
withdrawn from the crucible.

O Lord, Thou triest us indeed! We are ready to melt under the
fierceness of the flame. Still, this is Thy way, and Thy way is the best.
Sustain us under the trial and complete the process of our purifying, and we
will be Thine forever and ever.

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If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up. (Job 22:23)

Eliphaz, in this utterance, spoke a great truth, which is the summary
of many an inspired Scripture. Reader, has sin pulled you down? Have you
become like a ruin? Has the hand of the Lord gone out against you so
that in estate you are impoverished and in spirit you are broken down?
Was it your own folly which brought upon you all this dilapidation? Then
the first thing to be done is to return to the Lord. With deep
repentance and sincere faith find your way back from your backsliding. It is
you" duty, for you have turned away from Him whom you professed to serve.
It is your wisdom, for you cannot strive against Him and prosper. It is
your immediate necessity, for what He has done is nothing compared to
what He may do in the way of chastisement, since He is Almighty to
punish.

See what a promise invites you! You shall be "built up." None but the
Almighty can set up the fallen pillars and restore the tottering walls
of your condition; but He can and He will do it if you return to Him. Do
not delay. Your crushed mind may quite fail you if you go on to rebel;
but hearty confession will ease you, and humble faith will console you.
Do this, and all will be well.

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