Isaiah 1:31

REFLECTIONS

My soul, suffer not a portion of this blessed chapter to be overlooked, nor fancy the prophet's commission in the delivery of it to have ceased with the men of Judah and Jerusalem; Alas! every age and every period of the church, hath carried with it the same marks, more or less, of corruption, and to everyone, the expostulation of a gracious God is but too applicable: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me!

Blessed Spirit of truth! Do thou, Lord, in grace, and love, and compassion, exercise thy kind office, with my poor soul, as the glorifier of Christ Jesus! By thy word, and by thy grace in my heart, give me to see, and feel, and know, that, like Israel, the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. Let me never seek justification by the deeds of the law, or presume to think myself clean in thy sight! Plead, Lord, in my heart the injured cause of my God, and of his Christ; and by such saving discoveries as thou art making to thy church, by thy blessed word, both of human corruption, and the necessity of divine cleansing; make me to know that in Jesus, and his great salvation alone, it can be accomplished; that my sins, which are as scarlet, shall be white as snow; and though red as crimson, shall be as the wool.

And oh! the praises due to a covenant God in Christ, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the rich discovery! Blessed, forever blessed be Jehovah, in having brought sinners acquainted with the cause of our ruin, and the only source of our relief in Jesus. Lord! help me to seize all the gracious improvements thy mercy hath designed, from the rich salvation by Jesus. And since by his precious blood and righteousness, thou halt opened a way for purely purging away our dross, and taking away all our sin; bring, Lord, the souls of thy redeemed, through this gracious process of thy mercy, and let thy people be again called the city of righteousness, the faithful city!