Bowen's Daily Meditations

Thou art indeed the good shepherd; but we must acknowledge that there often appears in us something that looks very much like a denial of this truth. Believing thee to be the good shepherd, why are we sometimes so slow to follow thee? Why do we ever doubt that thy commandments are better than our own conceits? Why murmur at the ruggedness of thy path? Why look with wistful eyes at the pastures which thou forbiddest? We name thee the good shepherd; but is there not some hypocrisy in the joy...

Because the Lord is slow to anger, men suppose that they have nothing to apprehend from his anger. But, indeed, his anger is only the more terrible, because it is slow. He is slow to anger; this shows that his anger is something different from what we call anger. It is not an impulse; but moves with the utmost possible deliberation.

It would be of the greatest advantage to men if they would just take knowledge that the goodness of God expressed in the innumerable gifts of Providence...

Having had a taste of the power of these our enemies, we look disconsolately around, much desiring, but little hoping, that a deliverer may appear. We discover some, perhaps, who excel in virtue. But we see at once that they can never medicine us to that sweet peace which they themselves possess. They may instruct; but we need something more than instruction; there is that within us which laughs at instruction, human or divine. If some angels would only come and tarry with us for a season;...

As many as I love. Is this the voice which has just been giving expression to such intensity of holy disgust? "Well may we marvel at the modulations of which it is susceptible. Ah, if there had not been love somewhere in thy heart, thou wouldst not have threatened the Laodiceans with ignominious ejection, but wouldst have cast them forth without any words of condescending reproach. Thou sawest how that confusion and alarm were being borne by thy words to their hearts, and how they began to...

Temptation is not of God. What constitutes a thing tempting is something in the man or woman that looks upon it, namely, a disposition more or less active to transgress, and take what is forbidden. The fruit is suspended on the tree for an admirable purpose; namely that men may have an opportunity of evincing their fidelity towards God, and thus may obtain a crown of life. The same thing is to one man a temptation, to another a good gift of God, by means of which his walk of righteousness is...

There is a little flock who are acquainted with God; are so far acquainted with his essential perfections, and see so much of his glory in Christ, that God is not ashamed to be known as their God, and to have it understood among the angels of heaven that the members of this flock do know him. But viewing these as exceptional, innumerable conceptions of God possess the minds of men; to express it otherwise, innumerable gods of, widely different characters exist in the conceptions of men, and...

This is said with reference to the allegations of the men who stood around the cross of Christ. They affirmed that God evidently despised the sufferer, and so far from sympathizing with him in his affliction, abhorred him as a deceiver, and was glad to have men execute their indignation with unchastened severity. "It is beyond all question," said they, " that the Lord is against him. He has delivered him into our hands, notwithstanding all the reluctance of Pilate and the attachment of his...

What a wonderful consciousness was this for one that saw his life gliding rapidly away in an obscure corner of the world, among a despised class of persons, and knew that a cross was prepared for him at the capital. Knowing that the light of life is to go forth from him, from him alone, to all nations, peoples, and languages, how admirable is the quiet, unhasting humility that enables him to sit down among the poorest and meanest of earth, occupy himself with all their cares and solicitudes,...

This is a noble utterance, Habakkuk! Thou hast surely read the book of Job, and art echoing that great word of his - "Though the Lord slay me, yet will I trust in him." Thou believest that the love which God has towards us, rests upon some more solid evidence than the temporal benefits which he bestows upon us; upon evidence so satisfactory, so unimpeachable, that even if the greatly-prospered servant of God saw his flocks and herds rapidly perish, his merchandise carried off by robbers or...

The disciples, we may suppose, had embarked with the Lord Jesus in that vessel, with a feeling of great confidence, and with the anticipation of a delightful sail over the familiar waters of that lake. Upon that lake most of them had spent the chief part of their time from childhood; and under almost no circumstances would they be likely to experience a feeling of fear. Now all things conspired to tranquilize their spirits. Behold them, as the sun sinks over the hills beyond Capernaum, and a...

How surprising the infatuation of man, in that while he despises and abuses the gifts of God actually bestowed, he makes sure of gifts to come. He makes havoc of to-day, as a child makes havoc of some valuable book fallen within its reach, and confidently expects that there shall be given to him a morrow, and a long series of morrows. While he, on earth, is busy with the transgression of God's commands, and with casting contempt on the authority of God, God, in heaven, is to be busy in...

In the place where there is nothing to hinder the full perception of the glory of God, there is fullness of joy. The most we can do in this world is to get a conception, faint at the best, of beatific joy. As we perceive the presence of him who once became manifest in our nature, loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, we experience joy unspeakable; but we cannot describe our experience as fullness of joy, without declaring that the company of the ungodly is as blessed as that...

Who was this poor man? Let us see if we can find out; if we can ascertain the characteristics of those poor people whom God so honorably mentions in his word.

Mere penury of worldly goods is not a sufficient title. He must be poor in spirit - poor contentedly. His must be a spirit cheerfully acquiescent in the allotments of God - with all that he is reputed to have, placed unreservedly at his disposal; sensible that he is not even his own, but bought with a price; his abilities and...

Worlds, as countless as the sands of the sea-shore, were his, and innumerable sovereignties lay low at his feet. Tell off the sum of what he renounced, world by world, host by host, and a life would not suffice. Suppose the renunciation gradual, and watch it from the throne of the universe. You would see the suns of least magnitude, the heavens of greatest distance vanishing one by one, very rapidly, from the face of the universe; worlds of greater magnitude following them into night; great...