Come Down, Lord!

  The following was originally posted in September 2020.  I have since updated the list. We all know  what  it  is to be discouraged and  sometimes even depressed.  These are night seasons when we long for the morning.  In such times it is hard to find our way out.  Reading becomes difficult and often in my experience adds to the sense of failure and futility.  I am one who loves biographies, but there are times when I can hardly bea r to get through one.  When I am confronted with my own weakness and failure and feeling low it is almost too discouraging to read of men (or women) whose lives were marked by such consistent faithfulness and fruitfulness.  I believe my discouragement in such times is due - at least partly - to pride (and perhaps as R. Erskine said "a legalistic spirit"), so I try to read anyway.  But in those 'night' seasons I don't read with the same relish or edification.  Still, there are books t...

"The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage (Psalm 16:5-6)." What does He mean by lines?  Charles Spurgeon wrote, " Lines refers to division of the land by lot and the measuring of it by ropes and lines." So Jesus - the speaker in this Psalm - is speaking of His portion.  He is talking about the lot that God is maintaining. He is talking about what God has assigned to Him as the God-man. This is the One who said He had no place to lay His head.  This is the Christ who suffered horrendously; and yet here He is saying that the lines have fallen unto Him in pleasant places! How can He say this?   A healthy rich man with his family surrounding him could surely say this. But how can Jesus - in the midst of this fallen world, enduring what He endured, living as He lived and facing the cross - say, "the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant pl...