daily-devotionals

Reading: “And the Lord shut him in.”—Genesis 7:16

It was a sweet invitation to the patriarch Noah, when the Lord called him to the ark. Jehovah did not say, go thou into the ark; but, “Come.” So also Jesus says to his people: “Come with me, from Lebanon, my spouse; with me, from Lebanon” (Song of Solomon 4:8).

Yes, precious Jesus, to be with thee is heaven; for thou thyself art the heaven of the soul. But observe further, when Noah had entered the ark, what kept him there? “The Lord shut him in.” Yes, neither bolts nor bars were his security; but God himself, in his covenant engagements, kept him. The patriarch could no more get out, than the unbelieving carnal throng (who perhaps hung about the ark when they saw the flood arise, and felt its power) could get in.

And what is it keeps the Lord’s people now? Is it not the Lord Himself? Are not His redeemed eternally secure in the blood and righteousness of Christ, as Noah in the ark? Yes, the Lord has the key of all things, “he that opens, and none shuts; and shuts, and none opens” (Revelation 3:7). My soul is kept secure; for the Lord Jehovah hath shut me in: and I shall ride out all the storms, and floods, of sin and Satan; and, Noah-like, rise above the fountains of the greatest deeps, being shut in the ark—Christ Jesus.

Taken from The Poor Man’s Evening and Morning Portions by Rev. Robert Hawker, Works, Vol. 8; 1830. Edited by Aaron Dunlop for thinkgospel.com ©2013.