August 28

He shall call upon me, and I will answer Him. (Psalm 91:15)

Listen to the prodigal: “Father, I have sinned!” That was enough; the father took him right to his bosom. The past was blotted out at once.

Look at the men on the day of Pentecost. Their hands were dripping with the blood of the Son of God; they had murdered Jesus Christ. And what did Peter say to them? “It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Look at the penitent thief. It might have been that when a little boy, his mother taught him that same passage in Joel, “It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” As he hung there on the cross, it flashed into his mind that this was the Lord of glory, and though he was on the very borders of hell, he cried out, “Lord, remember me,” and the answer came right then and there, “This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.”

In the morning, as black as hell could make him; in the evening, not a spot or wrinkle. Why? Because he took God at His Word. Why will men doubt Him?

July 22

I will be with Him in trouble. (Psalm 91:15)

We are apt to think that young people do not have any trouble, but if they haven’t, there is one thing they can make sure of, that they are going to have trouble later. “Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Trouble is coming. No one is exempt. God has had one Son without sin, but He has never had one without sorrow. Jesus Christ, our Master, suffered as few men ever suffered, and He died very young. Ours is a path of sorrow and suffering, and it is so sweet to hear the Master say:

“I will be with you in trouble."

Don’t think for a moment that you can get on without Him. You may say now, “I can get on; I am in good health and prosperity,” but the hour is coming when you will need Him.

April 7

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. (Psalm 91:15)

              

It is a great thing to have a place of resort in the time of trouble. How people get on without the God of the Bible is a mystery to me. If I didn’t have such a refuge, a place to go and; pour out my heart to God in such times, I don’t I know what I would do. It seems as if I would go out of my mind. But to think, when the heart is burdened, we can go and pour it into His ear, and then have the answer come back, “I will be with Him,” there is comfort in that! I thank God for the old Book.

I thank God for this old promise. It is as sweet and fresh to-day as it has ever been. Thank God, none of those promises are out of date, or grown stale. They are as fresh and vigorous and young and sweet as ever.

March 22

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. (Psalm 91:15)

If we call on God for deliverance and for victory over sin and every evil, God will not turn a deaf ear to our call. I don’t care how black the life has been, I don’t care what the past record has been, I don’t care how disobedient or how one may have backslidden and wandered; if one really wants to come back, God accepts the willing mind, God will hear prayer, and answer.

Some people say they can’t call. Perhaps you cannot make an eloquent prayer—I hope you can’t—I have heard about all the eloquent prayers I want to. But you can say, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Only be sincere, and God will hear your cry. Mark you, there is a sham cry. Mothers understand that; they know when their children cry in earnest, or whether it is a sham cry. Let the child give a real cry of distress, and the mother will leave everything and fly to her child.

I have been forty years in Christian work, and I have never known God to disappoint any man or woman who was in earnest about their soul’s salvation or were seeking a more consecrated life. I know lots of people who pretend to be in earnest, but their prayers are never answered.

December 21

“I will . . . honor Him.” (Psalm 91:15)

God’s honor is something worth seeking. Man's honor doesn’t amount to much. Suppose Moses had stopped down there in Egypt. He would have been loaded down with Egyptian titles, but they would never have reached us. Suppose he had been Chief Marshal of the whole Egyptian army, “General” Moses, “Commander” Moses; suppose he had reached the throne and become one of those Pharaohs, and his mummy had come down to our day. What is that compared with the honor God put upon him? How his name shines on the page of history!

The honor of this world doesn’t last, it is transient, it passes away; and I don’t believe any man or woman is fit for God's service that is looking for worldly preferment, worldly honors and worldly fame. Let us get it under our feet, let us rise above it, and seek the honor that comes down from above.