Trench: God our refuge

Saturday, April 15, 2017
    Holy Saturday
Meditation:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”
    —Psalm 91:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
If there had anywhere appeared in space
    Another place of refuge where to flee,
Our hearts had taken refuge in that place,
    And not with Thee.

For we against creation’s bars had beat
    Like prisoned eagles, through great worlds had sought
Though but a foot of ground to plant our feet,
    Where Thou wert not.

And only when we found in earth and air,
    In heaven or hell, that such might nowhere be—
That we could not flee from Thee anywhere,
    We fled to Thee.
    ... Richard Chenevix Trench (1807-1886), Poems, London: Macmillan, 1874, p. 152 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 91:1-2; 46:1-3; 139:7-10; Jer. 23:23-24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I have sought You, and You found me.

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Rossetti: Am I a stone?

Friday, April 14, 2017
    Good Friday
Meditation:
    Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)
    —Hebrews 3:1-4 (ESV)
Quotation:
Good Friday

Am I a stone, and not a sheep
    That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
    To number drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
    Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
    Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
    Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
    A horror of great darkness at broad noon—
I only I.

Yet give not o’er
    But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
    Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.
    ... Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), Christina Rossetti: the complete poems, London: Penguin Classics, 2001, p. 180-181 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 3:1-4; Eze. 11:19; 36:26; Matt. 27:55-56; Luke 22:61-62; 23:49
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my heart was made of stone till You took it over.

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Lindskoog: true man

Thursday, April 13, 2017
    Maundy Thursday
Meditation:
    He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
    —Matthew 26:37,38 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To live in a fully predictable world is not to be a true man, and Christ was a true man. His prayer in Gethsemane, his sweat of blood, show that the preceding anxiety is a part of human affliction, which we must try to accept with some sort of submission.
    ... Kathryn Lindskoog (1934-2003), C. S. Lewis, Mere Christian, Glendale, Cal.: G/L Publications, 1973, reprint, Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1981, p. 141 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 26:37-39; Ps. 116:3-5; Isa. 53:3-10; Rom. 8:32; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me faith in the face of affliction. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: the chasm

Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Meditation:
    O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.
    —1 Timothy 6:20-21 (ESV)
Quotation:
    We cannot expect [people] to take seriously our belief in objective truth, if in our practice we indicate only a quantitative difference between all men who are in ecclesiastical structures or who use theological language. I do not mean that we should not have open dialogue with men; my words and practice emphasize that I believe love demands it. But I do mean that we should not give the impression in our practice that, just because they are expressed in traditional Christian terminology, all religious concepts are on a graduated, quantitative spectrum—that in regard to central doctrine no chasm exists between right and wrong.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), Death in the City, London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1969, Good News Publishers, 2002, p. 74 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 6:20-21; Pr. 1:7; Isa. 5:21; Rom. 1:22-23; 12:16; 1 Cor. 1:19-23; 2:6; 3:19; 8:1; Col. 2:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord Jesus, You are the center of unity among Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Grou: suffering

Tuesday, April 11, 2017
    Commemoration of George Augustus Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand, 1878
Meditation:
    Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
    —James 1:12 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The chief pang of most trials is not so much the actual suffering itself, as our own inherent spirit of resistance to it.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 183 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 1:12; Ps. 94:12; 119:71; Heb. 12:7-8; Jas. 1:2-4; 5:11; Rev. 3:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have implanted Your love in me, that I may cease to struggle against Your perfect will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: the relentless love of God

Monday, April 10, 2017
    Feast of William Law, Priest, Mystic, 1761
    Commemoration of William of Ockham, Franciscan Friar, Philosopher, Teacher, 1347
    Commemoration of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Priest, Scientist, Visionary, 1955
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”
    —Matthew 5:29-30 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The pure, mere love of God is that alone from which sinners are justly to expect that no sin will pass unpunished, but that His love will visit them with every calamity and distress that can help to break and purify the bestial heart of man and awaken in him true repentance and conversion to God. It is love alone in the holy Deity that will allow no peace to the wicked, nor ever cease its judgments till every sinner is forced to confess that it is good for him that he has been in trouble, and thankfully own that not the wrath, but the love of God, has plucked out that right eye, cut off that right hand, which he ought to have done, but would not do for himself and his own salvation.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), The Spirit of Love [1752-4], in Works of Rev. William Law, v. VIII, London: G. Moreton, 1893, p. 80-81 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:29-30; Job 5:17; Ps. 32:1; Matt. 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-48; 1 John 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strip everything from me that is not of You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: healing confession

Sunday, April 9, 2017
    Palm Sunday
    Feast of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Teacher, Martyr, 1945
Meditation:
    Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: “We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.”
    —Lamentations 3:40-42 (ESV)
Quotation:
    It is not experience of life but experience of the Cross that makes one a worthy hearer of confessions. The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus. The greatest psychological insight, ability, and experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is. Worldly wisdom knows what distress and weakness and failure are, but it does not know the godlessness of men. And so it also does not know that man is destroyed only by his sin and can be healed only by forgiveness. Only the Christian knows this. In the presence of a psychiatrist I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother, I can dare to be a sinner.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 115 (see the book)
    See also Lam. 3:40-42; Jer. 3:13; Matt. 3:5-6; Luke 7:2-10; Acts 19:18; Jas. 5:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to remember the injuries I do to others, so that I may receive forgiveness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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