“Lord, what is man!”Psalms 144:3
By nature he is an enemy to God, in open rebellion against Him, and justly condemned by Him. He is in love with sin, a slave to lust, a servant of Satan. He is blind to his best interest, deaf to the call of God, and dead in trespasses and sins. He is an open sepulchre, a mass of wretchedness and disease, abominable and filthy beyond description. And can such a creature be the object of Jehovah’s love, the purchase of a Saviour’s blood and the habitation of the Holy Spirit? Yes…….Jesus was sent into the world to redeem them–the Holy Spirit came to quicken, cleanse, justify, and save them! O amazing grace! Astonishing mercy! And will God in very deed dwell with such creatures upon earth? Yes: “To this man will I look, and with him will I dwell, even that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word.” Well may the patriarch exclaim, “What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him? and that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him?’—–James Smith
O what is feeble, dying man,
Or any of his race,
That God should make it His concern
To visit him with grace!
That God, who darts His lightnings down,
Who shakes the worlds above,
And mountains tremble at His frown,
How wondrous is His love!
