A reading of Anglican priest Robert Hawker’s (1753–1827) morning devotional writings from “The Poor Man’s Morning and Evening Portion” for January 30th.
The music for this reading is “European Starling” by Chad Crouch and was adapted for length under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”—Ephesians 2:7
Pause, my soul, and gather in all the powers of arithmetic, ‘and try if thou art able to count what the exceeding riches of God’s grace amount to. Think how great, how free, how sovereign, how inexhaustible, how everlasting! All that a poor sinner hath in time, all that we can enjoy to all eternity, all is of grace. And what a title hath thy God chosen to be known by among his people, when to make himself known more fully in Jesus, he styles himself “the God of all grace!” All grace? Yes, all grace, and all sorts and degrees of grace: pardoning grace, renewing grace, quickening grace, strengthening grace, comforting grace; in short, all grace. And is all this treasured up in Jesus? Oh then, my soul, see that Jesus be thine, and all is thine. And mark this down as a sure unerring rule-—as grace hath no source but in the Father’s love, so the exalting that grace, in Jesus, is the Father’s design in salvation. The brightest pearl in the Redeemer’s crown is that which shines with this inscription: “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” Here, my soul, seek thy daily grace more earnestly than thy daily bread.
