April 15
Desires
of Righteous Granted
"The desires of the righteous shall be granted." (Proverbs 10:24)
Because it is a righteous desire it is safe for God to grant it. It would be neither good
for the man himself, nor for society at large, that such a promise should be made to the
unrighteous. Let us keep the Lord's commands, and He will rightfully have respect to our
desires. When righteous men are left to desire unrighteous desires, they will not be
granted to them. But then these are not their real desires; they are their wanderings or
blunders, and it is well that they should be refused. Their gracious desires shall come
before the Lord, and He will not say them nay. Does the Lord deny us our requests for a
time? Let the promise for today encourage us to ask again. Has He denied us altogether? We
will thank Him still, for it always was our desire that He should deny us if He judged a
denial to be best. As to some things, we ask very boldly. Our chief desires are for
holiness, usefulness, likeness to Christ, preparedness for heaven. These are the desires
of grace rather than of nature -- the desires of the righteous man rather than of the mere
man. God will not stint us in these things but will do for us exceeding abundantly.
"Delight thy self also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine
heart." This day, my soul, ask largely!
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