Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help you my unbelief. If a man can say this sincerely, he need never be discouraged; let him hope in the Lord. Little grace can trust in Christ, and great grace can do no more. God brings not a pair of scales to weigh our graces, and if they be too light refuseth them; but he brings a touchstone to try them: and if they be pure gold, though never so little of it, it will pass current with Him; though it be but smoke, not flame — though it be but as a wick in the socket — likelier to die and go out than continue, which we use to throw away; yet He will not quench it, but accept it. (Anon.)We give a beggar an alms (says Manton), "though he receives it with a trembling palsied hand; and if he lets it fall, we let him stoop for it." So doth the Lord give even to our weak faith, and in His great tenderness permits us afterward to enjoy what at first we could not grasp. The trembling hand is part of the poor beggar's distress, and the weakness of our faith is a part of our spiritual poverty; therefore it moves the Divine compassion, and is an argument with heavenly pity. As a sin, unbelief grieves the Spirit; but, as a weakness, mourned and confessed, it secures His help. "Lord, I believe," is a confession of faith which loses none of its acceptableness when it is followed by the prayer, "help Thou mine unbelief." (C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.WEB: Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, "I believe. Help my unbelief!" |
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