April 15
Lifted Up
Be their shepherd and carry them forever. - Psalms 28:9
God's people need to be carried. They are very heavy by nature. They have no wings, or if they have, they are like the dove of old that lay among the pots; and they need divine grace to make them rise up on wings covered with silver and with feathers of yellow gold. By nature sparks fly upward, but the sinful souls of men fall downward.
O Lord, "carry them forever"! David himself said, "To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul,"1 and here he feels the necessity that other men's souls should be lifted up as well as his own. When you ask for this blessing, do not forget to seek it for others also.
There are three ways in which God's people require to be carried or lifted up. They require to be lifted up in character. Lift them up, Lord; do not allow Your people to be like the rest of the world! The world lies in the wicked one; lift them out of it! The world's people are looking for silver and gold, seeking their own pleasures and the gratification of their lusts; but, Lord, carry Your people up beyond all this; keep them from being "muck-rakers," as John Bunyan calls the man who was always scraping for gold! Set their hearts upon their risen Lord and the heavenly heritage!
Moreover, believers need to be carried in conflict. In the battle, if they seem to fall, Lord, be pleased to give them the victory. If the foot of the enemy is upon their necks for a moment, help them to grasp the sword of the Spirit and eventually to win the battle. Lord, lift up Your children's spirits in the day of conflict; do not let them sit in the dust, mourning forever. Do not allow the adversary to disturb their peace and make them fret; but if they have been, like Hannah, persecuted, let them sing of the mercy of a delivering God.
We may also ask our Lord to carry them at the last! Lift them up by taking them home; carry their bodies from the tomb, and raise their souls to Your eternal kingdom in glory.
1) Psalm 25:1
Family Bible reading plan
verse 1 Leviticus 19
verse 2 Psalms 23, 24
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From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.
