"He is Faithful that Promised."
"And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever."--HOSEA ii. 19.
Everlasting Espousals.
How wondrous and varied are the figures which Jesus employs to express
the tenderness of His covenant love! My soul! thy Saviour-God hath
"married thee!" Wouldst thou know the hour of thy betrothment? Go back
into the depths of a by-past eternity, before the world was; then and
there, thine espousals were contracted: "I have loved thee with an
everlasting love." Soon shall the bridal-hour arrive, when thine absent
Lord shall come to welcome His betrothed bride into His royal palace.
"The Bridegroom tarrieth;" but see that thou dost not slumber and sleep!
Surely there is much all around demanding the girded loins and the
burning lamps. At "midnight!" (the hour when He is least expected) the
cry _may_ be--_shall_ be heard,--"Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!" My
soul! has this mystic union been formed between thee and thy Lord? Canst
thou say, in humble assurance of thine affiance in Him, "My beloved is
mine, and I am His!" If so, great, unspeakably great, are the glories
which await thee! Thy dowry, as the bride of Christ, is all that
Omnipotence can bestow, and all that a feeble creature can receive. In
the prospect of those glorious nuptials, thou needest dread no pang of
widowhood. What God has joined together, no created power can take
asunder; He betroths thee, and it is "for ever!"
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"