Divine Anointing

DIVINE ANOINTING

“I shall be anointed with fresh oil.” 
Psalm xcii. 10.

LORD, if Thou wilt Thyself put this confident language into the lips of my heart this morning, and give me the power to believe in Thee, then this thing that I say shall come to pass, I have Thine own Word for it (Mark xi. 23).

     “I shall be anointed with fresh oil.” How wonderfully do Thy mercy and my need meet together here! My soul’s necessities make a blessed pretext for the outpouring of Thy grace. When Thy love wakens me in the morning, how cheering is the thought that this anointing awaits my poor listless, sluggish, corroded soul! The ” renewing of the Holy Ghost “, 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, Thou alone knowest the deep and constant need I have of this “anointing which teacheth 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. Scarce 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 cleaveth unto the dust,” and my whole being is deadened, till I cry, “Quicken Thou 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 the soul feels the blessed softening and life-giving working of the Holy Ghost, 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 canker and rust disappear from our daily lives, and with eager diligence we set ourselves to do our Master’s will.

     Dear Lord, Thy Word declares, “The anointing which ye have received of Him, abideth in you.” Fulfil this promise to me, I beseech Thee, that I may no more dishonor Thee by languid or half-hearted worship or work. 

• Anoint me for service, Lord, that, in all I do for Thee, either directly or indirectly, there may be manifested the power of the Holy Spirit, and the wholehearted earnestness which He only 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 Thy will, that I may praise Thee 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 Thee, and may prevail! This morning, Lord, pour Thy holy “oil of joy ” upon my head, and let the precious, fragrant unction of Thy grace drop down from hour to hour of the day’s garments, till the skirts of night shall enfold both body and soul in the sweet spices of the sleep which Thou dost give to Thy beloved!