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PREFACE
In presenting this volume
now complete, it is gratifying to state, as affording the hope of its
usefulness, that its first design was suggested by many who were the
devout readers of its predecessor—the “Family
Worship.” That work, penned by upwards of 180 ministers of the
Church of Scotland, is now well known to the Christian public, who have
testified their sense of its value as a help to family devotion. And
this, now offered as a fit associate and auxiliary to the former, has
been accomplished by a more limited number of clergymen, whose names are
given in connection with their several allotments; and who being
distinguished for talents and learning, for piety and evangelical views
of divine truths, as well as pains-taking and experience in applying the
words of eternal life to every rank and condition of their flocks, must
afford a sufficient guarantee for the worth and faithfulness of those
instructions which they have been called in the providence of God thus
to convey.
Whilst the former work has its place in ministering to the family altar,
this is calculated to assist in the equally important duties of the
closet. We say equally important; for certain it is, that the devotions
of the household will dwindle to a cold formality, unless there be a
serious and constant regard to those which are personal and secret, in
the observance of which it is felt that the soul has singly to do with
its Creator and Redeemer. With what livelier heart do the inmates come
together, when, morning and evening before assembling, they have
severally held communion with God by a prayerful meditation on his word!
Or, on leaving the family altar, what nobler preparation for the duties
of his calling will each one find, when he retires for a few moments to
ask a blessing on the service past, and learn for himself a special
lesson from the lips of that great Lord who came to be the light and
life of the world.
And who can fail to own the necessity, or, when trial is made, to reap
the fruit of secret com-munings with his own heart! “Come my people,
enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee/ This is no
unwelcome task to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; who
have sought a hiding-place in his pavilion, and have tasted of the
hidden manna. And if there be any who have no relish of such heavenly
communion, let them inquire how far they are prepared to meet their
God,” to go through the valley of death, or even to endure a night of
solitary sickness. How should they be prepared for the great reckoning?
if they have not learned to meditate alone and pray alone, while there
is nothing external either to soothe or to distract; to call self to an
account; to penetrate the recesses of the heart, and from the depth of
its discovered iniquities to cry unto God. To the darkest of these
depths, though there be a wall on every side, there is light above; a
space of open sky and a memorial there, “The Lord, the Lord God,
merciful and gracious.” “If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniouities, O
Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou
shouldst be feared; with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is
plenteous redemption.” And if this secret communing with the heart be so
essential, we doubt not the brief doctrinal and practical discourses of
the Christian's Daily Companion will be found eminently conducive to
that end; serving to improve and endear those retired hours, which,
though taken from the world, will yet add to its stores, and enrich the
soul by treasure laid up in heaven.
But accommodated as these meditations are to the studies of the closet,
they are beyond all question equally appropriate to the family circle;
and wherever circumstances may allow, it will be found that this work,
as its title implies, will prove a fit companion to the “Family
Worship.” There is no duty of man; no relation in which he is placed;
and no doctrine; no precept; no promise, unfolded in the divine Word,
which this manual fails, however shortly, to handle; and much care has
been taken that it might, by the divine blessing, be efficacious to the
awakening of the conscience, and engaging the affections of parents and
children, of masters and servants, with a view to strengthen every
obligation and enhance every endearment of the family tie.
But whether perused in company or seclusion, it is calculated, by its
Scriptural lessons for every morning and evening throughout the year, to
afford a pleasant and profitable way of acquiring a comprehensive
knowledge and inward application of revealed truth. It has often been
recorded, as the experience of devout Christians, that besides searching
the Scriptures daily, it is of excellent use to take a small portion of
the Word as a theme of meditation for the day. By this method some
momentous text of inspiration is more fixed in the memory, whilst being
clearly remembered, it becomes by much thinking engraven on the heart;
and the scenes which from morning to night are ever shifting before the
eye; whether they be of inward emotions, or the ways of men, or the
dealings of Providence; Present the occasions on which the truth so kept
in view cannot fail to be applied as Heaven’s own wisdom, and to be
appreciated as heaven’s best treasure. And if such method of using the
sacred volume be found so highly beneficial, then obviously the work ’
now furnished is not only in accordance with that method, but designed
for its furtherance and fitted to secure its best results. It is indeed
the Spirit of God who alone can make the ’ word spirit and life, or
cause anything of man’s help to avail; but it is by such means as those
now contemplated that the Spirit is pleased to operate; that He guides
the believer into all truth, and brings all things to his remembrance
whatsoever the Lord hath spoken. . And, 0 if the reader would but reckon
the mornings and evenings of a year, and the number of lessons for
eternity which might thus be easily and successfully learned, he would
be -astonished on the one hand at the amount of good that might be
gained by the diligence which keeps pace with time; and on the other at
the loss insensibly incurred by taking no note of moments as they fly,
and suffering so many seasons of grace to pass away unimproved.
To the reader it may not
be uninteresting to know what is the scope of this work, and by what
means it was provided that a diversity of writers might be led to act in
concert, and avoid alike the tediousness of unnecessary repetition, and
the injury of vital omissions. It was essential to the attainment of an
end so desirable, that a previous plan and arrangement 4 „ of the
several parts should be laid and conducted by one hand; a department
which it is hoped the reader will find to have been well entrusted to
the Rev. Dr. Paterson of Glasgow.
And with regard to the scope of the work, it was judged necessary, and
this is its chief characteristic, that the passages for meditation
should not be merely select, but so selected as to embrace an entire
view of Divine truth, in its doctrines, promises, and precepts, as well
as practical application; and that not in the dryness of a system, but
after the manner of the Word itself, now giving relief by variety, and
now lending force by the union of precept and promise; of privilege and
duty. It will be observed, however, on glancing at the “List of
Subjects,” that the exercises for each day have a special bearing on
each other, and preserve for the most part a certain association whether
of resemblance or of contrast; ? whilst the whole series has been so
ordered as to unfold to the utmost that the limits would allow, all that
counsel of God which is given to make wise unto salvation. And let the
pious reader rest assured that he is followed by the prayers of all who
have contributed to these pages. It is their earnest desire, that in all
their labours, whether of the pulpit or the pen, they may have a single
eye to the glory of God and the saving of souls; and their humble hope
is, that this work may, by the Divine blessing, be of use to many, long
after its writers are numbered with the dead; that it may prove a guide
to the young, a staff to the aged, a consolation to the afflicted and
the dying. Let every reader proceed with its perusal only in the spirit
of prayer, and then as the Lord hveth, and is faithful and true, there
will be a good hope through grace that this manual of devotion will be
instrumental in winning souls to Christ, and increasing the faith which
worketh by love, purifieth the heart, and overcometh the world.
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