A reading of Anglican priest Robert Hawker’s (1753–1827) morning devotional writings from “The Poor Man’s Morning and Evening Portion.”
The music for this reading is “Anna’s Hummingbird” by Chad Crouch and was adapted for length under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
“Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler.”-—Isa. 16:4
“When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Moab was the sworn foe of Israel, but yet Moab shall be overruled to shelter and feed Israel. The world, like Moab, dislikes God’s people: but as God’s people must sojourn in the world, until the time comes for God to take them home, they shall be taken care of. “Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab.” House them as travelers in an inn. See that they have a lodging. Let their bread be given and their water be sure. “They are poor; but they are my poor,” saith our God. “They are outcasts; but they are mine outcasts.” Oh! Precious Jesus, I see thou wilt still own thy people. And wherefore is it, dearest Lord? Not for their worth, not for their deservings, not for their adherence to thee; but because thou hast loved them; because the Father hath given them to thee, and thou hast purchased their persons, redeemed them, and washed them, and made them thine. Grant, dearest Lord, that though we are con strained to dwell with Mesech, and to have our habitation among the tents of Kedar; though we “are made as the filth of the earth, and the offscouring of all things,” yet never, never may we forget our relationship to thee. Though outcasts, yet Jesus’s outcasts. Be thou, Lord, our hiding-place, our covert, in the midst of Moab; and so shall we be free from every spoiler; thou wilt be to us all we need—“rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
