September 23—Morning—Jeremiah 8:22
"Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" — Jeremiah 8:22

Yes, there is both balm in Gilead and a physician there. The blood and righteousness of Jesus are the truest balm, and Jesus Himself is the Sovereign and Almighty Physician. But if that blood is not applied, if Jesus is not known or sought, how can health be obtained?

My soul, have you recognized your disease and felt your disorder? Are you convinced that it is incurable by any human means—no medicine, no earthly physician can provide relief? Have you come to understand these truths? And, convinced of the infinite importance of seeking help elsewhere, have you come to Jesus?

What do you say, my soul, in response to this inquiry? Are you familiar with Jesus? Have you made known your condition to Him? Has He revealed to you all that is in your heart? Has He taken you under His care? Is He administering to you the balm of Gilead?

Oh, my soul, make sure that nothing satisfies you until you have heard His soul-reviving voice saying, "I am the Lord who heals you" (Exodus 15:26). Seek this for your life. Say to the Son of God, "Speak but the word, Lord, and my soul shall be healed."
 

September 23—Evening—Revelation 12:16
"And the earth helped the woman." — Revelation 12:16

How blessed it is to recognize the hand of the Lord when no other help is near! When our situation feels as lonely and desolate as that of the pelican in the wilderness, Jesus is still present, and we are never more supported than when we feel most alone.

When the church brought forth her offspring, and hell stood ready to devour it, God protected it from destruction. And when the enemy cast forth a flood to sweep the church away, the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing up the flood.

My soul, look at your own circumstances and trace the Lord's dealings with you, and you will find countless similar instances. It is often due to the inattentiveness of God’s people that mercies so frequently pass unnoticed. There are thousands of mercies in every believer's life, of which they are as unaware as the world is of the sweet-scented flower of the desert, which releases its rich fragrance into the air and blooms unseen on the heath.

The Lord's dealings with His people, both in providence and grace, will form a vast volume to read over in eternity, where, like the earth helping the woman, we will find countless wonders that will prompt us to love and praise God and the Lamb.

The timing of mercies, their unexpected arrival, the instruments through which they were brought, the means by which they were accomplished, and, most endearing of all, the source from which they came—the person of Jesus and the covenant of redemption in His blood—bring them home to the heart with "a joy unspeakable and full of glory," and richly fulfill that precious promise of a covenant God in Christ: "Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul" (Jeremiah 32:41).

Robert Hawker