O Lord! Thou art the High and Lofty One, whose Name is Holy. And yet
Thou speakest, 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him that is
of a contrite and humble spirit.' Yes, Lord! when the soul takes the low
place, and has low thoughts of itself, that it feels it is nothing, Thou
dost love to come and comfort, to dwell with it and revive it.
O my God! my creature nothingness humbles me; my many transgressions
humble me; my innate sinfulness humbles me; but this humbles me most of
all, Thine infinite condescension, and the ineffable indwelling Thou
dost vouchsafe. It is Thy Holiness, in Christ bearing our sin, Thy Holy
Love bearing with our sin, and consenting to dwell in us; O God! it is
this love that passeth knowledge that humbles me. I do beseech Thee, let
it do its work, until self hides its head and flees away at the presence
of Thy glory, and Thou alone art all.
Holy Lord God! I pray Thee to humble me. Didst Thou not of old meet Thy
servants, and show Thyself unto them until they fell upon their faces
and feared? Thou knowest, my God! I have no humility which I can bring
Thee. In my blessed Saviour, who humbled Himself in the form of a
servant, and unto the death of the cross, I hide myself. In Him, in His
spirit and likeness, I would live before Thee. Work Thou it in me, by
the Holy Spirit dwelling in me, and as I am dead to self in Him, and His
cross makes me nothing, let Thy holy indwelling revive and quicken me.
Amen.
1. Lowliness and holiness. Keep fast hold of the intimate
connection. Lowliness is taking the place that becomes me;
holiness, giving God the place that becomes Him. If I be
nothing before Him, and God be all to me, I am in the sure path
of holiness. Lowliness is holiness, because it gives all the
glory to God.
2. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.' These first words of the Master when He opened His
lips to proclaim the Kingdom, are often the last in the hearts
of His disciples. 'The Kingdom is in the Holy Ghost:' to the
poor in spirit, those who know they have nothing that is really
spiritual, the Holy Spirit comes to be their life. The poor in
spirit are the Kingdom of the Saints: in them the Holy Spirit
reveals the King.
3. Many strive hard to be humble with God, but with men they
maintain their rights, and nourish self. Remember that the
great school of humility before God, is to accept the humbling
of man. Christ sanctified Himself in accepting the humiliation
and injustice which evil men laid upon Him.
4. Humility never sees its own beauty, because it refuses to look
to itself: It only wonders at the condescension of the Holy
God, and rejoices in the humility of Jesus, God's Holy One, our
Holy One.
5. The link between holiness and humility is indwelling. The
Lofty One, whose name is Holy, _dwells_ with the contrite one.
And where He dwells is _the Holy Place_.
Fourteenth Day.