Devotionals: The Valley of Vision

O LORD, I bless thee that the issue of the battle       between thyself and Satan         has never been uncertain,         and will end in victory. Calvary broke the dragon’s head,   and I contend with a vanquished foe,     who with all his subtlety and strength     has already been overcome. When I feel the serpent at my heel […]

LORD JESUS CHRIST, Fill me with thy Spirit       that I may be occupied with his presence.   I am blind — send him to make me see;   dark — let him say, ‘Let there be light’! May he give me faith to behold   my name engraven in thy hand,   my soul and body redeemed by thy […]

O GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, Thou who dost proceed from the Father       and the Son,       have mercy on me. When thou didst first hover over chaos,     order came to birth,   beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth. Move, I pray thee, upon my disordered heart; Take away the infirmities of unruly desires     and hateful lusts; […]

O GOD OF MY DELIGHT, Thy throne of grace       is the pleasure ground of my soul. Here I obtain mercy in time of need,   here see the smile of thy reconciled face,   here joy pleads the name of Jesus,   here I sharpen the sword of the Spirit,       anoint the shield of faith,       put on the […]

THREE IN ONE, ONE IN THREE, GOD OF MY SALVATION, Heavenly Father, blessed Son, eternal Spirit,       I adore thee as one Being, one Essence,   one God in three distinct Persons,   for bringing sinners to thy knowledge and to     thy kingdom. O Father, thou hast loved me and sent Jesus to     redeem me; O Jesus, thou […]

THOU ETERNAL SOURCE, Author of all created being and happiness,       I adore thee for making man capable       of religion,   that he may be taught to say:     ‘Where is God, my Maker, who giveth       songs in the night?’ But degeneracy has spread over our     human race,   turning glory into shame,   rendering us forgetful of thee. We […]

GOD OF ALL SOVEREIGNTY, Thy greatness is unsearchable, Thy name most excellent, Thy glory above the heavens; Ten thousand minister to thee, Ten thousand times ten thousand stand before thee; In thy awful presence we are less than nothing. We do not approach thee because we deserve thy notice, for we are sinners; Our necessities […]

MOST HIGH GOD, The universe with all its myriad creatures       is thine,     made by thy word,     upheld by thy power,     governed by thy will. But thou art also the Father of mercies,     the God of all grace,     the bestower of all comfort,     the protector of the saved. Thou hast been mindful of us,     hast visited […]

THOU MAKER AND SUSTAINER OF ALL THINGS Day and night are thine,         heaven and earth declare thy glory;   but I, a creature of thy power and bounty,     have sinned against thee by resisting       the dictates of conscience,       the demands of thy law,       the calls of thy gospel;   yet I live under the dispensation of a […]

LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, I ask not to be enrolled amongst the earthly     great and rich,   but to be numbered with the spiritually blessed. Make it my present, supreme, persevering concern   to obtain those blessings which are     spiritual in their nature,     eternal in their continuance,     satisfying in their possession. Preserve me from a false estimate of […]

LIFE-GIVING GOD, Quicken me to call upon thy name,         for my mind is ignorant,         my thoughts vagrant,         my affections earthly,         my heart unbelieving,     and only thy Spirit can help my infirmities. I approach thee as Father and Friend,   my portion for ever,   my exceeding joy,   my strength of heart. I believe in thee as the […]

O FATHER, Thou hast made man for the glory of thyself,       and when not an instrument of that glory,       he is a thing of nought; No sin is greater than the sin of unbelief,   for if union with Christ is the greatest good,   unbelief is the greatest sin,   as being cross to thy command; I […]

O MY LORD, Forgive me for serving thee in sinful ways —       by glorying in my own strength,       by forcing myself to minister through         necessity,     by accepting the applause of others,     by trusting in assumed grace       and spiritual affection,     by a faith that rests upon my hold on Christ,       not on him alone,     by having […]

O DIVINE REDEEMER, Great was thy goodness       in undertaking my redemption,       in consenting to be made sin for me,       in conquering all my foes; Great was thy strength   in enduring the extremities of divine wrath,   in taking away the load of my iniquities; Great was thy love   in manifesting thyself alive,   in showing thy sacred […]

HEAVENLY FATHER, Thou hast placed me in the church       which thy Son purchased by his own blood. Add grace to grace that I may live worthy     of my vocation. I am a voyager across life’s ocean; Safe in heaven’s ark, may I pass through     a troubled world   into the harbour of eternal rest. I am […]

O SPIRIT OF GOD, Help my infirmities;       When I am pressed down with a load     of sorrow,   perplexed and knowing not what to do,   slandered and persecuted,   made to feel the weight of the cross,     help me, I pray thee. If thou seest in me   any wrong thing encouraged,   any evil desire cherished,   any delight […]

GLORIOUS GOD, It is the flame of my life to worship thee,     the crown and glory of my soul to adore thee,     heavenly pleasure to approach thee. Give me power by thy Spirit to help me     worship now,   that I may forget the world,     be brought into fullness of life,     be refreshed, comforted, blessed. Give […]

ETERNAL FATHER, Thou art good beyond all thought,       But I am vile, wretched, miserable, blind; My lips are ready to confess,   but my heart is slow to feel,   and my ways reluctant to amend. I bring my soul to thee;   break it, wound it, bend it, mould it. Unmask to me sin’s deformity,   that I […]

O GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, That which I know not, teach thou me,       Keep me a humble disciple in the school     of Christ,   learning daily there what I am in myself,     a fallen sinful creature,   justly deserving everlasting destruction; O let me never lose sight of my need of a Saviour,   or forget that apart […]

O SOURCE OF ALL GOOD, What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,       thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,   my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,   his self-emptying incomprehensible,   his infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp. Herein is wonder of wonders:   he came below to raise me above,   was born like me […]

BLESSED LORD JESUS, No human mind could conceive or invent         the gospel.       Acting in eternal grace, thou art both   its messenger and its message,   lived out on earth through infinite compassion,   applying thy life to insult, injury, death,   that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed. Blessed be thou, O Father, for contriving this way, Eternal […]

O MY SAVIOUR, I thank thee from the depths of my being     for thy wondrous grace and love   in bearing my sin in thine own body on the tree. May thy cross be to me   as the tree that sweetens my bitter Marahs,   as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty,   as the brazen […]

GLORIOUS GOD, I bless thee that I know thee.     I once lived in the world, but was ignorant   of its Creator,   was partaker of thy providences, but knew not     the Provider,   was blind while enjoying the sunlight,   was deaf to all things spiritual, with voices     all around me,   understood many things, but had no knowledge […]

O FOUNTAIN OF ALL GOOD, Destroy in me every lofty thought,       Break pride to pieces and scatter it     to the winds, Annihilate each clinging shred of     self-righteousness, Implant in me true lowliness of spirit, Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence, Open in me a fount of penitential tears, Break me, then bind me up; Thus […]

THOU GREAT I AM, Fill my mind with elevation and grandeur at       the thought of a Being   with whom one day is as a thousand years,   and a thousand years as one day, A mighty God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds,   and the revolutions of empires,   feels no variableness,   but is glorious in immortality. […]