The Believer's Joy.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 16 v 11.

The greatest joy of a believer in this world is to enjoy the presence of Christ - not seen, not felt, not heard, but still real - the real presence of the unseen Saviour. It is this that makes secret prayer sweet, and sermons sweet, and sacraments sweet, when we meet with Jesus in them: 'I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.'

Often Jesus hides His face, and we are troubled. We seek Him whom our soul loveth, but He is gone. We rise and seek, but find Him not. At the best, it is but half bliss to feel after an unseen Saviour. Suppose a husband and wife were parted by many seas. It is sweet to have letters and love tokens, and to see a friend who left him well; but this will not make up for his presence. So we mourn an absent Lord.

But when He comes we shall be with Him. 'In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.' Here we have drops and gleams of pleasure. Christ could not be happy without us. We are His body. If one child of God were wanting, he would not be complete. We are His fulness. Hence His prayer: 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me' (John 17 v 24).

We could not be happy without Christ. Take us to the golden pavement, the pearly gates, the songs, the thrones, the palms, the angels, we would still say, Where is the God-man that died for me? Where is the Angel that redeemed me from all evil? Where is Jesus? Where is the side that was pierced? 'We shall see his face.' The Lamb is the light thereof. We shall stand with the Lamb upon mount Zion. We shall never be parted more.

By Robert Murray M'Cheyne.
From the book: 'God Makes a Path'. Compiled by: Stanley Barnes.
Published by: Ambassador Productions Ltd., Belfast.

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