Counsellor

‘His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor. — ISA. ix.

PEOPLE who think themselves very wise

and clever would not care very much

for this beautiful name of the Lord Jesus,

for we always have to see how poor we are before we can see how precious Jesus is.

If you have found out that you are not very wise and clever, and that you sometimes make mistakes, and say or do just what you wish afterward you had not said or done, you will be ready to see how good it is to have a Counsellor.

How many foolish things we do! We have to say again and again, “O God, Thou knowest my foolishness” (Ps. lxix. ). And when we look back on a day or a week, how often we have to say, “So foolish was

Te bsen xxii. ). Then sometimes we feel puzzled as to what we had better do, and there is no one to tell us. And sometimes we have to give an answer all in a minute, and there is no time to ask any one to tell us what to say. These are the times for finding out what God meant by saying that “His name shall be called Counsellor.” It does not take a minute to whisper to the Lord Jesus in your heart, asking Him to tell you what to do or what to say. ‘It is not like having to write a letter to ask a friend’s advice, and wait to send it by post and get an answer. The Lord Jesus is always there, and always ready to advise you.

But it is no good having a wonderful Counselior unless you make use of Him. When the Moabites and Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat (2 Chron, xx. ), he said, “neither know we what to do;” but he did not stop there: he made use of the great Counsellor, and added, “But our eyes are upon Thee.” And then, of course, God showed him exactly what to do, and saved him out of all the trouble. Now, the very next time you have to say, “neither know I what to do,” recollect that Jesus is your Counsellor, and look up to Him, and do not be one bit afraid but what He will, in some way or other, guide you, whether it may be the steps, or the words, or anything else, that want guiding (Ps. xxxil. i,

We find Jesus most of all precious as our Counsellor when we come and ask Him about the most important things of all. Sometimes we feel as if we could not possibly tell anybody what our heart is very full of, and so we go on without getting any help or counsel. Do you want to understand better about your sins being forgiven? do you want to know how to get on faster? do you want to know how to please God, and yet you have no one that you can ask about all this? Now take this name of Jesus for yourself. Jesus is come to be your Counsellor, and He is able to make all this clear ta

you far better than any one else, if you will only ask Him. Most likely He will give you the counsel by reminding you of something that He has written already for you. He generally does this; so if you take your Bible and “watch to see what He will say unto

you” (Hab. ii. ), you will very soon be able to say, “I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel” (Ps. xvi. y

Master, speak! Thy servant heareth, Longing for Thy gracious word, Longing for Thy voice that cheereth; Master, let it now be heard! Iam listening, Lord, for Thee; What hast Thou to say to me?

Speak to me by name, O Master,
Let me know it is to me;

Speak, that I may follow faster, With a step more firm and free, Where the Shepherd leads the flock,

In the shadow of the rock!