Devotionals: The Valley of Vision

O GOD ALL-SUFFICIENT, Thou hast made and upholdest all things       by the word of thy power;   darkness is thy pavilion,   thou walkest on the wings of the wind;   all nations are nothing before thee;   one generation succeeds another,   and we hasten back to the dust;   the heavens we behold will vanish away     like the clouds […]

O LORD, My every sense, member, faculty, affection,         is a snare to me, I can scarce open my eyes but I envy those     above me,   or despise those below. I covet honour and riches of the mighty,   and am proud and unmerciful to the rags     of others; If I behold beauty it is a bait […]

SEARCHER OF HEARTS, It is a good day to me when thou givest me     a glimpse of myself; Sin is my greatest evil,   but thou art my greatest good; I have cause to loathe myself,   and not to seek self-honour,   for no one desires to commend his own dunghill. My country, family, church   fare worse […]

O LORD, Help me to approach thee         with becoming conception of thy nature,   relations and designs. Thou inhabitest eternity, and   my life is nothing before thee; Thou dwellest in the highest heaven and   this cannot contain thee;     I live in a house of clay. Thy power is almighty;     I am crushed before the moth. Thy […]

MOST HOLY GOD, May the close of an earthly sabbath         remind me that the last of them     will one day end. Animate me with joy that in heaven praise     will never cease,   that adoration will continue for ever,   that no flesh will grow weary,       no congregations disperse,       no affections flag,       no thoughts wander,       no will […]

O MAKER AND UPHOLDER OF ALL THINGS, Day and night are thine; they are also         mine from thee —   the night to rid me of the cares of the day,       to refresh my weary body,       to renew my natural strength;   the day to summon me to new activities,       to give me opportunity to glorify thee, […]

LORD JESUS, Give me to love thee, to embrace thee,       though I once took lust and sin in my arms.       Thou didst love me before I loved thee,   an enemy, a sinner, a loathsome worm. Thou didst own me when I disclaimed myself; Thou dost love me as a son,   and weep over me as […]

MY FATHER, Enlarge my heart, warm my affections,     open my lips,   supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustres     at Calvary.’ There grace removes my burdens and heaps them     on thy Son,   made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me; There the sword of thy justice smote the man,     thy fellow; There thy infinite attributes were […]

MY DEAR LORD I depend wholly upon thee,     wean me from all other dependences. Thou art my all, thou dost overrule all     and delight in me. Thou art the foundation of goodness,   how can I distrust thee?   how be anxious about what happens to me? In the light of thy preciousness   the world and all […]

GRACIOUS GOD, My heart praises thee for the wonder         of thy love in Jesus; He is heaven’s darling, but is for me   the incarnate, despised, rejected,   crucified sin-bearer; In him thy grace has almost out-graced itself, In him thy love to rebels has reached its height; O to love thee with a love like this! […]

LORD JESUS, If I love thee my soul shall seek thee,       but can I seek thee unless my love to thee       is kept alive to this end? Do I love thee because thou art good,   and canst alone do me good? It is fitting thou shouldest not regard me,   for I am vile and selfish; […]

O LORD, I am a shell full of dust,     but animated with an invisible rational soul     and made anew by an unseen power of grace; Yet I am no rare object of valuable price,   but one that has nothing and is nothing,   although chosen of thee from eternity,   given to Christ, and born again; I […]

LORD OF ALL BEING, There is one thing that deserves my greatest care,       that calls forth my ardent desires, That is, that I may answer the great end for which     I am made —   to glorify thee who hast given me being,   and to do all the good I can for my fellow men; Verily, […]

GREAT GOD, In public and private, in sanctuary and home,     may my life be steeped in prayer,   filled with the spirit of grace and supplication,   each prayer perfumed with the incense     of atoning blood. Help me, defend me, until from praying ground I pass to the realm of unceasing praise. Urged by my need,   invited […]

GOD OF THE PUBLICAN, Be merciful to me a sinner;       this I am by nature and practice,     this thy Word proclaims me to be,     this I hope I feel myself to be; Yet thou hast not left me to despair,   for there is no ‘peradventure’ in thy grace; I have all the assurance I need […]