Reading: “And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.” —1 Kings 10: 6–7

If the queen of the South was so astonished in the view of Solomon’s wisdom, what ought to be my surprise when I contemplate the beauties of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge!

When you first heard of Jesus, and when constrained by an inward necessity to come to Him, a poor, blind, ignorant sinner, how little did you conceive either of yourself or of Him. He told you, indeed, all that was in your heart, and made your very spirit, like the queen of the South, to faint within you, when He shewed your sin and His salvation.

Surely then, and often since—even now—have you been constrained to say, as she did: “The half was not told me” of what sweet views He has given of Himself.

Think then, Christian, what holy surprise and joy will burst in on you in the day when, at the fountain-head of glory in His courts above, He will unfold all His beauty, love, and wisdom; when we all shall see Him as He is! Lord, give me more visions of your beauty. Every day may I live in the joy of my Saviour.

“Believer! is not this the source—the proper source of your joy—that Jesus lived, and suffered, and died for you—that He paid “all that great debt” you owed to law and justice, and washed away the foul stain of your guilt, in His own most precious blood?”—John MacDuff

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.