There has been laid before the Lord a bitter and heavy sorrow, the cry of those forsaken and abandoned, of children despised and unborn, of families scattered and left without house or refuge or shelter, and of generations cut off. Such grief is not hidden from Him who is called Thou God seest me, for Hagar in the wilderness found that the Lord saw her, and so does He see every lonely and desolate heart now.
The word you have quoted is true and full of comfort, Though my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me, and again, Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne. Though man forgets, though father and mother, husband and wife, brother and sister forsake, the Lord does not forget. As in the kaleidoscope there is a vast variety in the tribulations of the Lord's people and yet there never has arisen a single case in which there has not been a promise which word for word and letter for letter met the case in hand, and this promise meets your case. He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds, and He cheereth the wounded in His mercy.
Those who fear God are the same persons as those who hope in His mercy and this is very consoling, for to hope in God's mercy seems to be but a very small evidence of Divine Grace and yet it seems to be a very sure sign. Your Father's eye is upon you and He pities those tears, sighs and cries of yours. He loves you and He means to bless you, not for any merit of your own, for if by grace it must be all of grace, for the two will no more mix than fire and water. A hope in God's mercy which is twisted and inter twisted with a hope in your own works is vain. Unless you are converted and become as little children you shall in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The first thing God's mercy will do for you will be to turn your face in the opposite direction.
Therefore come and find in Jesus wounds a refuge from the stormy blast that shall soon come to sweep the unconverted into condemnation. I rejoice to be able to say that all that a sinner can need between here and Heaven is provided in the Gospel of Christ, all for pardon, all for the new nature, all for preservation, all for perfecting and all for glorifying is treasured up in Christ Jesus, in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell. Mercy pleads with the sinner, God will be glorified in your salvation, for He delighteth in mercy, and He says that as He lives He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. The Grace of God is boundless, so your sin may be pardoned. The Heaven of God is wide and large, so there is room for you there. There is not one Heaven for the great sinners and another for the little ones, but there is the same Heaven for those who have been the greatest sinners, but who have repented and trusted in Jesus.
Let us pray together.
O Lord God, who seest the forsaken and hearest the cry of the desolate, have mercy. Look upon those who are abandoned, the wife forsaken by her husband, the husband by his wife, the daughter and the son left alone, the little ones without shelter, the friend betrayed, the neighbor without refuge, and those who wander as beggars seeking a house or a madhouse to hide their heads. Spread over them Thy tender comfort, for Thou hast said Thou wilt receive those whom father and mother forsake. Be Thou their family, their home, their refuge and their shelter.
We entrust to Thy care the innocent unborn, those despised and hated by father or mother, those taken by abortive and murderous hands, those lost by miscarriage and suffering. Only Thou canst take these little ones to Heaven, and we ask Thee in Thy great mercy to receive them, for Thou art gracious and full of compassion. Grant rest in peace in Heaven through Jesus Christ Thy Son, who shed His blood for sinners.
Have mercy also upon those who have done this evil, and upon all who have sinned and are guilty before Thy Law. Thou art He who sets open the door of mercy and says Come unto Me, for I have absolved you. Grant them repentance and faith, that they may turn and live, and find pardon alone through Jesus Christ, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Heal the broken in heart, lift up the feeble, the guilty, the weak and the forlorn, that coming to Jesus they may not meet with scorn, but may be received and blessed and saved from death and destruction.
We ask that Thy mercy which goes before us would clear the way, and that Thou wouldst be with Thy people in the fire and cheer them in the midst of the flames, giving comfort to suit their present place and position. Keep those who hope in Thy mercy under Thine eye, and provide for the morrow according to Thy goodness. In the name of Jesus Christ our only refuge and hope we pray, Amen.