Distinguishing Grace

"Who maketh thee to differ from another?"—1 Corinthians 4:7.

And, my soul, if now, as from a rising ground, thou lookest back, and tracest "all the way which the Lord thy God hath brought thee these many years, to humble thee, and to prove thee, and to shew thee what was in thine heart," thou beholdest thy Lord's gracious dealings with thee, compared to others: how many with whom, in thy boyish days, thou enteredst the field of life together, that are now no more; how many that still survive, but know not the Lord; how many, in circumstances far more promising than thine, and yet have come short of the grace of God! Views like these, and all the thousand, and ten thousand incidents connected with them, instead of lifting the mind with pride, are enough to humble the soul to the dust before God, and melt all the finer affections into the most heartfelt sense of the apostle's question, "Who maketh thee to differ from another?" Jesus, my Lord, behold me at thy feet! How shall I dare lift mine eyes to thee, while in the moment of recollection of thy distinguishing mercy towards me, I call to remembrance my baseness towards thee? Lord, is it possible, that in a life where so much grace hath abounded, sin should so much abound? That in every spot where my God hath erected a monument of his love, my sinful and ungrateful heart should have left an inscription of my unworthiness! What others feel, I know not; but blessed, for ever blessed be the unwearied patience and goodness of my God, that through his distinguishing grace alone, I am what I am; and while my soul desires to refer all and every part of divine mercy, in all the departments of nature, providence, and grace, into the Lord's own free, and rich, and sovereign pleasure; I praise him for having given me that precious testimony in my soul, which the Lord himself said should be the consequence, inwrought by his divine teaching in the heart: "I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; that thou mayest remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel 16:62-63.

- excerpt from Robert Hawker's The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions, September 22, Evening