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Joseph Charles Philpot Bevindelijke geschriften & prediking

365 Days with Philpot

November 2

Een hoog vertrek

Vandaag

3 min. read

The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know Thy Name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.
Psalm 9:9-10

The guilt of sin presses heavily and powerfully on many a tender conscience. The children of God often go bowed down under it with sorrow. It fills them with fear as to what their portion will be hereafter; it presses them to the earth and keeps them down there, and it often makes them sigh and groan under the heavy burden that lies upon their shoulders. But that very pressure, in the hand of the Spirit, leads them to make the Lord their Refuge. We need heavy burdens to bring us to a certain point in our souls.

We often deal lightly with the things of God and judge by a few doctrines, without knowing their power and blessedness in our experience. And some go round and round the truth for years, without ever really feeling its power. They are satisfied with a sound creed, without tasting the sweetness of divine truths revealed to their conscience. Now, when the Lord means to make known mercy and love—when He has determined that a man shall know that He is the only Refuge—He lays burdens on his back, brings guilt into his conscience, shows him his secret sins, and gives him a sense that he is the chief of sinners.

Whenever the Spirit lays this on a man’s conscience, sooner or later it will bring him to the Lord as his Refuge. “What can I do,” says the poor burdened soul, “what help can I expect from man? What deliverance can I find in myself, a poor guilty wretch, bowed down under the load of sin?” This will make him seek the Lord as his Refuge, for there is no other to whom he can flee.

Reading: Psalm 46

To the reader…

Does the guilt of sin press heavily on your conscience? Are you bowed down under a burden you cannot shake off, and do you see your secret sins so plainly that you count yourself the chief of sinners? Then perhaps you think the Lord is against you. But who knows whether He laid that burden on your back for this very reason, so that you would no longer deal lightly with the things of God and be content with a sound creed without power.

Do you ask with the poor burdened soul, “What can I do? What help can I expect from man?” Then you are not far from the place where the Lord wants you to be. There is no other to whom you can flee, and that is no loss, for He is a refuge for the oppressed, and He has not forsaken them that seek Him.

With warm regards,
The compilers of jcphilpot.nl