James Smith, Troubles, Troubles, Troubles; from The Believer’s Companion in Seasons of Afflictions and Troubles, 1842
Devotional highlights:
- Psalm 50:15 [ESV 2011] and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
- The believer’s present portion: trouble; his constant privilege, prayer; his future prospect, deliverance
- Present: expect trouble; trouble springs up all around us in myriad forms: in mind, circumstances, body…from almost every quarter
- We are poor pilgrims, this world is not our home; nor our country – we are strangers and aliens
- Every day, trouble. Everything declares, “Happiness is not in me!”
- Only in Jesus is solid peace, holy satisfaction, and permanent comfort
- The believer’s constant privilege is prayer
- Troubles furnish us messages to our Father’s throne; quicken us and oblige us to entreat His favor
- He encourages us to call for what we need: if perplexed, call for wisdom; if weak, call for strength; if guilty, pardon; if miserable, comfort; if in darkness, light; if in bondage, freedom and relief
- “Call upon Me for I am always on the throne of grace and glad to see you; I am ready to help you and want to be gracious unto you.”
- “Call on Me before you call upon others, as I have all you could ever need.”
- The promise encourages us to call; the invitation allures us; but trouble impels us to call upon our God
- Our troubles are frequently the instruments that the Holy Spirit uses to carry out His sacred work in our hearts
- By trouble, He empties us of self; weens us from the world; endears us to the Lord Jesus
- Believer, make use of your privilege every time of trouble; fully expect what your God has promised
- Your future prospect is deliverance: “I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me.”
- We can be confident of deliverance; He will deliver in a way that honors your faith; pours confusion on your unbelief; and secures glory to His blessed Self
- The promise, “I will deliver you” is the food, the warrant, and the plea of faith
- Take up the language of this promise and say, “He will deliver me”
- I shall glorify Him in realizing the power of prayer and delivering mercy
- I get all the mercy; He gets all the glory
- Brethren in Jesus! Expect your portion, trouble; prize your privilege, prayer; and look forward to your prospect, deliverance!
Before I posted this, I read Psalm 50 and a couple of commentaries on it, I thought the following comments on 50:14 were noteworthy:
From John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible:
And call upon me in the day of trouble,…. This is another part of spiritual sacrifice or worship, which is much more acceptable to God than legal sacrifices. Invocation of God includes all parts of religious worship, and particularly designs prayer, as it does here, of which God, and he only, is the object; and which should be performed in faith, in sincerity, and with fervency; and though it should be made at all times, in private and in public, yet more especially should be attended to in a time of affliction, whether of soul or body, whether of a personal, family, or public kind, Jas 5:13; and the encouragement to it is,
I will deliver thee: that is, out of trouble: as he is able, so faithful is he that hath promised, and will do it. The obligation follows,
and thou shall glorify me; by offering praise, Ps 50:23; ascribing the glory of the deliverance to God, and serving him in righteousness and true holiness continually.
The devotional in this post is from the YouTube site: Christian Sermons and Audiobooks, the following link is to their devotionals by a dozen or so different great pastors of the past; such as Spurgeon, Thomas Watson, Ryle….
https://www.youtube.com/c/stack45ny/search?query=devotionals