September 3

"And David said unto him, Fear not; for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake."—2 Samuel 9:7.

BLESS the Lord, O my soul—the Lord thy King, who deals with thee as David dealt with Mephibosheth.

He finds thee fallen from thy high estate. Meant to be a prince, thou art become a beggar. The heir of God, thou art changed into a poor and banished man. Thou art like that child of Louis XVI., once named Dauphin, who was given to Simon the cordwainer, and forgotten and ill-treated, till he lay perishing in his fright and bewilderment and early decrepitude. Moreover, thou art repulsive and uncomely, lame on thy feet, so that thou canst not run thy Father's errands nor do His will. And, to-day, thou art in the far country, on the other side of Jordan, no longer a citizen of the land of promise, but a dweller among the heathen.

But there is One whose name pleads for thee, as the name of Jonathan made intercession for the exiled prince. It is Jesus, the Father's Well-beloved. For His sake, God's thoughts towards thee are thoughts of peace. For His sake, the distance and the disease and the degradation may be ended, and from the misery and solitude thou mayest come home. "It was," Gerhardt Tersteegen said, when the days of his mourning were overpast, "as if a sick child were alone and far away in the dark night, and suddenly the door was opened, and father and mother and all the dear ones came in, and the long lonely hours were finished, and all was love."

So, my soul, God's palace is prepared for thee. God's feast of fat things is the table spread for thy hunger and thirst. Eat, He says, My friend; drink, yea, drink abundantly, My beloved.