DIVINE ANOINTING
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"I shall be anointed with fresh oil" Psalm 92:10
Lord, if You Yourself will put this confident language into the lips of my heart this morning, and give me the power to believe in You — then this thing that I say shall come to pass — I have Your own Word for it (Mark 11:23).
"I shall be anointed with fresh oil." How wonderfully do Your mercy and my need meet together here! My soul's necessities — make a blessed occasion for the outpouring of Your grace. When Your love awakens me in the morning, how cheering is the thought that this anointing awaits my poor listless, sluggish, corroded soul! The "renewing of the Holy Spirit", the "quickening of the Spirit", the "coming" of the Comforter — these are the precious ingredients which give "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning," and make the face to shine with Heaven's reflected glory!
"I shall be anointed with fresh oil." O my dear Lord, You alone know the deep and constant need I have of this "anointing which teaches all things." Sometimes, my spiritual life seems to come to a deadlock, like a delicate piece of machinery which is clogged by rust and grime. Scarcely a desire Heavenward moves the lagging wheels, only a feeble heart-throb, now and again, proves the motive-power to be still lingering within. "My soul cleaves unto the dust!" and my whole being is deadened, until I cry, "Quicken me, O Lord!"
Then, in wondrous answer to my call, there comes the whispered word of power and deliverance, "I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes," and my soul feels the blessed softening and life-giving working of the Holy Spirit, as she shakes herself from the dust, and utters once again the glad assurance, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil."
And oh, how easily and smoothly all things go — when the Spirit dwells in the heart, and sheds abroad the love of God within and around us! All the grime and rust disappear from our daily lives, and with eager diligence, we set ourselves to do our Master's will.
Dear Lord, Your Word declares, "The anointing which you have received of Him, abides in you." Fulfill this promise to me, I beseech You, that I may no more dishonor You bylanguid or half-hearted worship or work.
Anoint me for service, Lord — that, in all that I do for You, either directly or indirectly — there may be manifested the power of the Holy Spirit, and the wholehearted earnestness which He alone can supply!
Anoint me for sacrifice — so that, contrary to my sinful nature, self may be overcome, and bound, and crucified — that Christ alone may reign in my mortal body!
Anoint me for suffering, if so it be Your will — that I may praise You as I pass through the waters and the fires of affliction!
Anoint me for intercession, O my Father — that for others, as well as for myself, I may plead with You, and may prevail!
This morning, Lord, pour Your holy "oil of joy" upon my head, and let the precious, fragrant unction of Your grace drop down from hour to hour of the day's garments, until the skirts of night shall enfold both body and soul in the sweet spices of the sleep which You give to Your beloved!
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