Be of Good Courage

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.—Psalms 27:14.

"Be of good courage!" Alas, how can one be so, when all sense and feeling tend to dishearten the mind and deject the soul. Lively frames in duty, sweet enlargements of heart, heavenly transports of joy, delightful ecstasies of faith, ravishing tastes of love, all, all, like Noah's dove, have taken their flight; and I fear, says the drooping soul, never, never more to return. Truly, like Hezekiah, "I mourn as a dove, mine eyes fail with looking upward, O Lord I am oppressed, undertake for me."—Isaiah 38:14. Still, saith the comforter by his word, "Be of good courage." Remember thy calling: It is to live by faith, to honor thy Lord, and be obedient to his word. Thou hast the sentence of death in thyself, that thou shouldst not trust in thyself, lest thine heart depart from thy Lord. Not frames and feelings, but God's love and promises in Christ Jesus to sinners, are the foundation of hope. These are abundantly sufficient to inspire the soul with courage, yea with good courage, to go on in the ways of the Lord.

Here is the steadiness of faith; to cleave to Jesus, to abide by the truth, steadily to persevere in the paths of duty in the course of obedience to him. Shall this ever be suspended because we have not lively frames and joyful feelings? How would this prove that we walk by faith, and that our eye is single to Christ's glory? Nay, we shall then serve the Lord only by fits and starts of sense and passion, rather than by the uniform, consistent obedience of faith. The Lord's word is our rule of duty; his promises our support; his grace is sufficient for us; his strength is made perfect in our weakness. If our hearts are weak, that we cannot run with alacrity the way of God's commandments as we desire, so much the more reason have we for our souls to wait on the Lord for the times of refreshing from his presence. He will strengthen our hearts, "for he giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength."—Isaiah 40:29. "Wait, I say, on the Lord." David repeats the injunction, with a holy fervor, both to his own soul and to others. God has promised, expect fulfilment. Here is the exercise of FAITH, trust in the Lord Christ for what we stand in need of: of HOPE, expecting to receive all from him; of PATIENCE, waiting continually upon him. Most precious promise! "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint."—Isaiah 40:31. "The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ."—2 Thessalonians 3:5.

- William Mason, A Spiritual Treasury for the Children of God, Volume 1, November 22