(Psa. 22)
It is a solemn thought that whatever man has touched he has corrupted. Creation groans when a man has been there. But if I look where a man cannot reach, at the moon, the stars, &c., all is glorious. The “heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” (Psa. 19:11<<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork. (Psalm 19:1).)
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Psa. 22 is Christ forsaken of God. Not that He is not despised of the people: there “Strong bulls of Bashan beset him round.” “Dogs compassed him.” “The assembly of the wicked enclosed him;” but all this, felt as none but Christ could feel, what was it in presence of the awful reality of Christ suffering from the hand of God—of Christ suffering for sin?
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It baffles thought, that most solemn lonely hour which stands aloof from all before or after. How does not the perfectness of Christ shine in it.
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In Christ nothing was brought out but what was perfect.
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There is not a vanity we have not preferred to Him.
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Never had the divine complacency in Christ been so complete as on the cross, never was God so glorified as in Him there.
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He (Christ) could suffer alone, but that finished, could He praise alone? No, “In the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto thee.” (Psa. 22:2222I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. (Psalm 22:22).)
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The cause of his fall was self-confidence; the flesh was actively present.
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It is the same with us. We often commit faults which are irreparable, from too much confidence in the flesh.
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Perfect as was the pardon of Peter he could never forget his sin.
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His (Peter’s) conscience had been so fully purified that he could accuse the Jews of the very sin he had himself committed under the most solemn circumstances. “Ye denied the Holy One and the Just” were his words. (Acts 3:1414But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; (Acts 3:14).)
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The flesh has a certain confidence in the flesh, and this is often the folly into which we fall.
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If a Christian does not walk under a constant sense of his infirmity, God leaves him in the presence of Satan, that he may there be taught it. It is then also he commits acts which are often irreparable; and it is this which is the most sorrowful part of all.
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Jacob halted all his life. Why was this? It was because he had halted, morally, during one and twenty years.
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