September 28—Morning—Revelation 4:3
"And there was a rainbow round about the throne." — Revelation 4:3

Notice this, my soul, and connect it with what God said after the destruction of the old world by water: "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh." Isn't this rainbow around the throne that John saw meant to remind the church of Jesus of the everlasting covenant of grace?

What does it signify if not this: that there will no longer be a deluge or flood of vengeance poured out upon the sinner who believes in Jesus? The believer looks to Christ, just as the Father beholds Christ. He trusts in Jesus, whom the Father has entrusted with His honor. He accepts Jesus as the fulfillment of the entire covenant, just as the Father sees the whole covenant fulfilled in Him.

Help me, Lord, to connect every appearance of the rainbow in the heavens with the promise of Jehovah to His redeemed people on earth. Yes, blessed Lord, there is a rainbow around the throne, and Christ is the bow that Jehovah has set in the cloud. Fix my gaze on Him, and let my soul find joy in Him. On Him, your God and Father looks and is well pleased.
 

September 28—Evening—Psalm 76:4
"You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey." — Psalm 76:4

My soul, the more you explore the word of God in search of your beloved, the more amazed you will be by the descriptions of His excellence and glory. By everything that can depict the adorable Redeemer—in His beauty, loveliness, grace, fullness, and all-sufficiency, whether considered in His absolute, comparative, relative, or official glory, or in His glory as the head of His body, the church, the fullness of Him who fills all in all—you are compelled, like the church, to cry out at every view, "Yes, He is altogether lovely; the chief among ten thousand."

There is something particularly striking in this verse for your evening meditation: "You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey." Yes, it must be so; for when the soul has found Jesus, like the merchant searching for fine pearls, and having found this one of immense and immeasurable value, it gladly lets go of everything else to obtain it.

Hence, someone in the past who found Jesus cried out with holy joy and rapture, "I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure" (Psalm 119:162). In life, people become like mountains of prey to one another, and too often find, to their regret, that the pursuit is futile and ends in vanity and vexation of spirit. But in following you, blessed Jesus, every renewed discovery of you is glorious, and every new encounter is excellent indeed.

In your person, offices, character, and relationships, you are most glorious and excellent. You are a glorious Redeemer, a glorious head of your church and people, a glorious husband, brother, and friend; a glorious prophet, priest, and king in your Zion. When I behold you in all these relational excellencies and can know you, enjoy you, and call you mine under each one of them, surely I may rightly take up the language of this sweet scripture and say, "You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey."

by Robert Hawker