Devotionals: The Valley of Vision

O GOD, I bless thee for the happy moment     when I first saw thy law fulfilled in Christ,   wrath appeased, death destroyed, sin forgiven,     my soul saved. Ever since, thou hast been faithful to me:   daily have I proved the power of Jesus’ blood,   daily have I known the strength of the Spirit,     my teacher, […]

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 […]

MY FATHER, I could never have sought my happiness     in thy love,   unless thou had’st first loved me. Thy Spirit has encouraged me by grace to seek thee,   has made known to me thy reconciliation in Jesus,   has taught me to believe it,   has helped me to take thee for my God     and portion. May […]

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 […]

O LORD, May I never fail to come to the knowledge         of the truth,   never rest in a system of doctrine, however     scriptural, that does not bring or further       salvation,   or teach me to deny ungodliness and     worldly lusts,   or help me to live soberly, righteously, godly;   never rely on my own convictions and resolutions, […]

O HEAVENLY FATHER, Teach me to see       that if Christ has pacified thee and         satisfied divine justice     he can also deliver me from my sins;   that Christ does not desire me, now justified,     to live in self-confidence in my own strength,     but gives me the law of the Spirit of life     to enable me to […]

O GOD OF GRACE, Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,       and hast imputed his righteousness     to my soul,   clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe,   decking me with jewels of holiness. But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;   my best prayers are stained with sin;   my penitential tears are so much […]

O GOD, May thy Spirit speak in me that I may       speak to thee. I have no merit, let the merit of Jesus stand for me. I am undeserving, but I look to thy tender mercy. I am full of infirmities, wants, sin;   thou art full of grace. I confess my sin, my frequent sin, […]

O THOU MOST HIGH, It becomes me to be low in thy presence.     I am nothing compared with thee; I possess not the rank and power of angels,   but thou hast made me what I am,   and placed me where I am;   help me to acquiesce in thy sovereign pleasure. I thank thee that in […]

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 […]

EVERLASTING CREATOR-FATHER, I have destroyed myself,       my nature is defiled,       the powers of my soul are degraded;       I am vile, miserable, strengthless,       but my hope is in thee. If ever I am saved it will be by goodness     undeserved and astonishing,   not by mercy alone but by abundant mercy,   not by grace but by exceeding […]

O HOLY FATHER, thou hast freely given thy Son, O DIVINE SON, thou hast freely paid my debt, O ETERNAL SPIRIT, thou hast freely bid me come, O TRIUNE GOD, thou dost freely grace me with salvation. Prayers and tears could not suffice to pardon       my sins,   nor anything less than atoning blood,   but my […]

O GOD OF UNSEARCHABLE GREATNESS, Before thee I am nothing but vanity, iniquity,       perishing; Sin has forfeited thy favour,   stripped me of thy image,   banished me from thy presence,   exposed me to the curse of thy law; I cannot deliver myself, and am in despair. But a resource is found in thee,   for without my […]

LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, Thou art beforehand with men       for thou hast reconciled thyself to the world     through the cross,     and dost beseech men to accept reconciliation. It is my responsibility to grasp thy overtures of grace,   for if thou, the offended part, act first     with the word of appeasement,   I need not call in question […]

THOU RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY SOVEREIGN, In whose hand is my life and whose are all     my ways, Keep me from fluttering about religion;   fix me firm in it,   for I am irresolute;   my decisions are smoke and vapour,   and I do not glorify thee,   or behave according to thy will; Cut me not off before […]

O LORD, Bend my hands and cut them off,       for I have often struck thee with   a wayward will,   when these fingers should embrace thee by faith. I am not yet weaned from all created glory,   honour, wisdom, and esteem of others,   for I have a secret motive to eye my name     in all I […]

O GOD OF THE HIGHEST HEAVEN, Occupy the throne of my heart,       take full possession and reign supreme,   lay low every rebel lust,   let no vile passion resist thy holy war;   manifest thy mighty power,     and make me thine for ever. Thou art worthy to be   praised with my every breath,   loved with my every […]

LORD JESUS, Give me a deeper repentance,       a horror of sin,       a dread of its approach; Help me chastely to flee it,   and jealously to resolve that my heart     shall be thine alone. Give me a deeper trust,   that I may lose myself to find myself in thee,     the ground of my rest,     the spring […]

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 […]

O LORD GOD, The first act of calling is by thy command         in thy Word,   ‘Come unto me, return unto me’; The second is to let in light,   so that I see that I am called particularly,   and perceive the sweetness of the command     as well as its truth,   in regard to thy great love […]

LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, Thy understanding is unsearchable and infinite,         Thy arm cannot be stayed, Thy agency extends through limitless space, All works hang on thy care, With thee time is a present now. Holy is thy wisdom, power, mercy, ways, works. How can I stand before thee   with my numberless and aggravated offences? I have […]

JEHOVAH GOD, Thou Creator, Upholder, Proprietor of all       things, I cannot escape from thy presence or control,   nor do I desire to do so. My privilege is to be under the agency of   omnipotence, righteousness, wisdom,   patience, mercy, grace. Thou art love with more than parental affection; I admire thy heart, adore thy wisdom,   stand […]

O GOD, Praise waiteth for thee,       and to render it is my noblest exercise; This is thy due from all thy creatures,   for all thy works display thy attributes     and fulfil thy designs; The sea, dry land, winter cold, summer heat,   morning light, evening shade are full of thee,   and thou givest me them richly […]

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 […]