Isaiah 42:3

Then I may reckon upon tender treatment from my Lord. Indeed, I feel myself to be at best as weak, as pliant, as worthless as a reed. Someone said, "I don't care a rush for you"; and the speech, though unkind, was not untrue. Alas! I am worse than a reed when it grows by the river, for that at least can hold up its head. I am bruised —sorely, sadly bruised. There is no music in me now; there is a rift which lets out all the melody. Ah, me! Yet Jesus will not break me; and if He will not, then I mind little what others try to do. O sweet and compassionate Lord, I nestle down beneath Thy protection and forget my bruises!

Truly I am also fit to be likened to "the smoking flax," whose light is gone, and only its smoke remains. I fear I am rather a nuisance than a benefit. My fears tell me that the devil has blown out my light and left me an obnoxious smoke, and that my Lord will soon put an extinguisher upon one. Yet I perceive that though there were snuffers under the law, there were no extinguishers, and Jesus will not quench me; therefore, I am hopeful. Lord, kindle me anew and cause me to shine forth to Thy glory and to the extolling of Thy tenderness.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.—Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.—The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.—He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.—A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench.

Peter followed him afar off.—Among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.—The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.—A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench.—Faith as a grain of mustard seed.

It shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.—I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.—I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.—Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord , and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.—Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

A bruised reed shall he not break.—He restoreth my soul.

Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.—No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceful fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Could any two things be in greater contrast than a worm and a threshing tool with sharp teeth? A worm is delicate and is easily bruised by a stone or crushed beneath a passing wheel. Yet a threshing tool with sharp teeth can cut through rock and not be broken, leaving its mark upon the rock. And almighty God can convert one into the other. He can take an individual or a nation, who has all the weakness of a worm, and through the energizing work of His own Spirit, endow that person or nation with strength enough to make a profound mark upon the history of their time.

Therefore a “worm” may take heart. Almighty God can make us stronger than our circumstances and can turn each situation to our good. In God’s strength we can make them all pay tribute to our soul. We can even take the darkest disappointment, break it open, and discover a precious jewel of grace inside. When God gives us an iron will, we can cut through difficulties just as an iron plowshare cuts through the hardest soil. As He said in the above verse, “I will make you . . .” Will He not do it? JOHN HENRY JOWETT

I will be as the dew unto Israel.

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench.

The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.—What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?

It is God which worketh in you.