August 23

They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten. — Jer 50:5 BSB

“Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord.” Does this suggest that we have the power within ourselves to join with the Lord? No, it does not. Instead, it implies that when the Lord unites us to Himself, then we respond by joining ourselves to Him. When the Lord brings a believer into a manifested union with Himself, the soul leaps toward Him, the affections are stirred, and the heart clings to Him with all its strength. The believer trusts in the Lord with every part of their mind, and there is a clear renunciation of everything that does not stand in the power of God as made known by the Holy Spirit.

This is not said presumptuously—“Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord.” It doesn’t reflect an arrogant claim to God's promises, as if one could boldly lay hold of gospel blessings just because they are on the road to Zion and feel certain evidences. Rather, it shows the act of living faith in the soul when raised up and drawn by the Spirit.

The vain confidence and bold presumption of those who are complacent in Zion are worlds apart from the tender faith of those who come with tears, asking the way to Zion with faces turned toward God. These are the ones whose hearts have been softened by the Spirit into repentance, who renounce everything but Christ crucified and long for the sweet manifestation of His love. Without presumption or bold familiarity, they say, “Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord,” feeling within their souls the actings of that living faith by which they cleave to and lean upon Him as the only one who stands between them and eternal ruin.