April 9

Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise. — Jer 17:14 BSB

If we realize that we have ruined our own souls, that no human arm can save us, that we cannot bring salvation into our own consciences or see any beauty, glory, sweetness, or suitability in the Lord Jesus Christ, yet we strive with prayer and supplication to touch the hem of His garment, to taste the sweetness of His dying love, to feel the power of His atoning blood, to be clothed in His glorious robe of righteousness, and to know Him through the sweet manifestations of His grace, we can say, “Save me, and I shall be saved.”

Here is this sin—save me from it. Here is this snare—break it to pieces. Here is this lust—subdue it. Here is this temptation—deliver me from it. Here is my proud heart—humble it. My unbelieving heart—remove it and give me faith. Grant me submission to Your will. Take me as I am, with all my sin and shame, and work in me everything well-pleasing in Your sight, for “You are my praise.”

If ever I have praised You, it has been for Your goodness to my soul. If my heart has been moved to thank You, if my lips have ever blessed Your name, it has been for the riches of Your grace and the manifestations of Your mercy. I am nothing and never will be anything but a poor guilty sinner before You. Yet I must praise You for all that is past and hope in You for all that is to come, for You, O Lord, and You alone, “are my praise.”