I spent two days home this past week with the flu. During those days, I devoted a considerable amount of time meditating on several Puritan prayers. The one I’ve quoted below spoke very deeply to my heart. I trust it will speak to your heart as well.


The Cry of a Convicted Sinner
The Valley of Vision, p. 68-69, Published by The Banner of Truth Trust, author unknown

“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 vapor, and I do not glorify thee or behave according to thy will. Cut me not off before my thoughts grow to responses, and the budding of my soul into full flower, for thou art forbearing and good, patient and kind.

Save me from myself, from the artifices and deceits of sin, from the treachery of my perverse nature, from denying thy charge against my offenses, from a life of continual rebellion against thee, from wrong principles, views, and ends; for I know that all my thoughts, affections, desires and pursuits are alienated from thee.

I have acted as if I hated thee, although thou art love itself; have contrived to tempt thee to the uttermost, to wear out thy patience; have lived evilly in word and action.

Had I been a prince I would long ago have crushed such a rebel. Had I been a father I would long since have rejected my child. O, thou Father of my spirit, thou king of my life, cast me not into destruction, drive me not from thy presence, but wound my heart that it may be healed; break it that thine own hand may make it whole”


Can I encourage you to read and re-read this prayer. Let it sink deeply into your mind and heart. Ask God to show you yourself in the words of the prayer. I did, and I did not like what I saw at times. The author of this prayer, although anonymous, understood the sinful nature of his heart in contrast to the patience and lovingkindness of God. We would do well to model his attitudes and longing. Would you agree?

“For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself… But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God. He delivered us… and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope…” (II Corinthians 1:8-9).

One of my most solemn responsibilities as a pastor is to come along side you as you experience events that result in your feeling “burdened beyond strength.” No doubt such things take on a variety of forms. These include health, family, relational, work and financial issues. At times, such things come upon us suddenly and without warning. At other times, the burdens we endure seem to grow over time and just keep coming. You know exactly what I mean. Some of you are in such a time right now.

It’s comforting to me at such times to remind you (and myself) that although such burdens make us feel alone and adrift, captive to things over which we have little or no control, from God’s perspective that is never the case. God never purposes things to occur, even the most painful things, apart from a sovereign and divine purpose. The Apostle Paul came to see this in his own life and expressed it quite clearly in the passage cited above. Take a look at it with me.

The first thing that strikes me is Paul’s raw and brutal honesty. His burden was such that he “despaired of life itself.” Friends, no matter how strong your faith may be, there are times when life itself seems purposeless and futile. Paul understood that. He knew that God is big enough to handle even the most painful of our cries in the midst of our pain. When events make you despair of life itself, it’s perfectly OK to tell God in the strongest of terms that you are at the very end of your endurance. He understands. He can handle it.

But note secondly that Paul came to see God’s purpose in his pain. He realized that God’s purpose was to make him “rely on God” as his sole source of strength. Paul came to see that pain was for the purpose of pointing him to God and to God’s sufficiency. Once he realized that, his focus changed; leading us to an additional observation. Paul’s pain focused his hope. He came to see that God delivers us, and will continue to do so, as our hope is focused solely upon God, not upon any other source. 

Friends, I don’t know how these words speak into your heart at this time. I know some of your “despairing” situations, but not all of them. My prayer for you is that you will respond as Paul did; speak honestly to God, seek God’s purpose in your pain, and focus solely on the strength and hope he brings. In his time and in his way he will do for you what he did for Paul; “He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.”

“For I am watching over my word to perform it” (Jeremiah 1:12).

There was a time when a person’s word was dependable and trustworthy. Sadly, that is no longer the case. I read somewhere recently that a famous professional athlete had a contract that was over one hundred-twenty five pages long. All of that was for the purpose of making certain that his word and the word of his employer were understood fully by each party. A significant part of the document described the consequences for one or both parties should they not fulfill their part of the agreement. We hear of contracts entered into by couples prior to their marriage. Such contracts specify what will occur should one or both parties decide to terminate the relationship.

I wonder how much time the typical lawyer spends writing or reading contracts or legal agreements of one form or another. There is a sense in which if a person’s word was trustworthy, such contracts would not be necessary. The simple reality is that far too frequently, men do not keep their word.

Now contrast that with the words of Jeremiah. As God’s chosen prophet, he described how God views his word: “I am watching over my word to perform it.” That’s quite a statement, would you agree? God is keeping watch over his word for the express purpose of insuring that everything it says is performed. Men cannot be depended on in like manner, nor can any contract produced by human effort insure such trustworthiness. God watches his word. God keeps his word. God completes his word. There is a lifetime of truth in that.

Now I think you’d agree that the world we live in is filled with experts. All one has to do is pick up the newspaper, watch television or glance at the most recent magazine to identify so-called experts. They give us their word on issues regarding health, money, politics, relationships, and on and on. Yet I wonder how many of them have the ability to “watch over their word to perform it.” My guess is that none of them even care if their word is fulfilled. They are more interested in offering their opinions, caring little about the accuracy of their words.

Don’t you find a tremendous amount of comfort and confidence knowing that God has given us his word; and further, that he watches over it? His word never fails. He will never break his contract with us because his word is trustworthy. His advice is certain and secure. All we ever need to know about him is found in his word. Every promise we might ever need is found in his word. Every piece of advice he provides he has watched over to make certain it is performed. With those thoughts in mind, why would anyone consider elevating the word of others above the word of God?  After all, they don’t watch over it to perform it, do they?

“But the word of the Lord increased and multiplied” (Acts 12:24)

We begin this morning a new series of messages from the book of Acts. I can’t tell you at the outset how long the series will be. Suffice it to say that it will be lengthy, as the book is far too rich to gloss over in a quick fashion.

Now as I’ve read and re-read the book in anticipation of preaching through it, several very significant themes emerged, each worth stressing. My hope is that over the course of this series we will touch on these as we move through the book and cover the appropriate passages.

At the outset however, let me take the opportunity to show you one of the themes that has been quite instructive to me as I’ve prepared for this series of messages. It is best summarized in the passage I cited above. Take a look at it again. What I have in mind is the numerous times throughout Acts where the power of the word of God is referenced. Listen to a small sample of what I mean.

“And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching” (2:42).

“For we cannot but speak of what we have heard” (4:20).

“And every day in the temple and from house to house they did not cease teaching and preaching” (5:42).

“He preached boldly in the name of Jesus” (9:28).

“So the churches were strengthened in the faith” (16:5).

“Paul was occupied with the word” (18:9).

“So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily” (19:20).

I trust you can see from this small sample that the act of preaching played no small part in the life of the new church, as well as in the spread of the gospel throughout the known world. What I want us to see from this is that the same truth holds true for us in our day. In other words, the lifeblood of the church and the spread of the gospel is the act of preaching. Preaching is God’s designated mechanism whereby the “manifold wisdom of God” is brought to his people.

Thus, as we begin a new series of messages at the start of this New Year, I would ask you to do two things. First pray for me as I seek to honor God in preparing messages each week. And second, come each week prepared to hear from God (not from the preacher). My part is to prepare. Your part is to come prepared to listen. If we do these two things in partnership, God will be glorified and his people will be blessed.