Jeremiah 16:19-21 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come to you from the ends of the earth… One of the Puritans was accustomed to describe prayer as the flight of the lonely man to the only God. There is such prayer here. This man is very lonely. He is like a speckled bird, set on by all the birds of the flock. He looks right and left, but there is no man to care for his soul; then he addresses himself to God in these touching words: I. MY STRENGTH. The Psalmist spoke of God as the strength of his life. The Apostle of love said that little children could overcome the world, because He that was in them was greater and stronger than he that was in the world. "God is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" II. MY STRONGHOLD. A stronghold is what holds strongly. A keep is that which keeps. We keep God's deposit, which is His Gospel: God keeps our deposit, which is ourselves. And none, man nor devil, can snatch us away. III. MY REFUGE IN THE DAY OF AFFLICTION. The night darkening the sky drives the chicks to the hen's wings; so affliction drives us to God. "In the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." Do you wish to know Him thus? See that you do not burden yourself by your endeavours. Be still and know. Enter into the still and peaceful land of inward spiritual fellowship. Commune with your own heart. Be a child before Him, innocent, unaffected, unrestrained. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. |
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