God Knows Our Frame

The Lord knows our frame; he remembers that we are but dust (Psa. 103:14), that our strength is not the strength of steel. This is a branch of his faithfulness to us as his creatures, thus he is called ‘a faithful Creator' (1 Pet. 4:19). 'God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able’ (1 Cor. 10:13). There were certain commandments which the Jews called the hedges of the law. So as to fence men off from cruelty, God commanded that they should not 'boil a kid in his mother's milk (Exod. 23:19), nor 'muzzle the mouth of the ox' (Deut. 25:4). Does God take care of beasts, and not his more noble creatures?
Our encouragement to a thorough work of bruising, and patience under God's bruising of us, let all know that none are fitter for comfort than those who think themselves furthest off. Men, for the most part, are not lost enough in their own feeling for a Saviour. A holy despair in us is the ground of true hope. In the God of the fatherless find mercy (Hos. 14:3); the God who dwells in the highest heaven dwells likewise in the lowest soul (Isa. 57:15). Christ's sheep are weak sheep and lacking in something or other; he therefore applies himself to the necessities of every sheep. He seeks that which was lost and binds up that which was broken, and strengthens the weak (Ezek. 34:16). His tenderest care is over the weakest. The lambs he carries in his bosom (Isa. 40:11). He says to Peter, 'Feed my lambs' (John 21:15). He was most familiar and open to troubled souls. How careful he was that Peter and the rest of the apostles should not be too much dejected after his resurrection! 'Go your way, tell his disciples and Peter' (Mark 16:7). Christ knew that guilt of their unkindness in leaving of him had dejected their spirits. How gently he endured the unbelief of Thomas and stooped so far unto his weakness, as to suffer him to thrust his hand into his side.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
The Bruised Reed, pp. 11-15 [14-15]
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