Reading: “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.”—Psalm 112:4

Eternal, everlasting God, I bless You for the privilege of access into Your presence. What am I—a guilty, unworthy sinner, deserving only of condemnation—that I should be permitted, with holy boldness, to approach the footstool of Your throne and call You “my Father in heaven!”

I rejoice to know, when “my heart is overwhelmed, and in perplexity,” that I can ever look to You as a “Rock that is higher than I”—that, amid all the ebbings and flowings of my own fitful frames and feelings, You, great Rock of ages, remain fixed and immovable. You have never failed me in the past. When “deep has been calling to deep,” and many “waves and billows have gone over me,” “the Lord has commanded His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song has been with me, and my prayer to the God of my life.” And I will trust You in the future. In the midst of baffling and mysterious providences I will be still—hushing every murmur, and breathing in lowly resignation the prayer, “Your will be done.”

It is my comfort to know that the darkest cloud is fringed with covenant love. I can repose on the blessed assurance that present discipline is needed discipline, and that all which is mystery now will be cleared up hereafter. May it be mine cheerfully to follow the footsteps of the guiding Shepherd through the darkest, loneliest road, and amid thickening sorrows may I have grace to say, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”