Your burden has been heard, and it is a heavy one, for it touches the very heart of human sorrow, abandonment, the despising of the unborn, and the shedding of innocent blood. We join you in bringing these griefs before the throne of grace, where mercy alone can meet such deep need.
There is a word of the Lord which you have well remembered, 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 she may forget, yet will not I forget thee, saith the Lord. Here is comfort for every forsaken wife, every forsaken husband, every daughter and son left alone, every sister and brother betrayed, every friend abandoned, and every little child cast out without house or refuge. When earthly ties are broken and no shelter remains, the Lord Himself becomes the shelter.
The law of old provided cities of refuge, and at every by road and turning there was a sign post plainly visible with this word upon it, Refuge, Refuge, pointing the way for the guilty and the pursued. Now there are not six Christs, there is but one, but there is a Christ everywhere. Christ is the true City of Refuge and He preserves all those who flee to Him for mercy. To Him we bid the abandoned to flee, to Him we point the homeless and the friendless, for He is near to every broken heart in every place. Let no one sit still and say, there is no refuge for me, for the gates stand open night and day.
We pray for those who suffer under an abortive spirit and for the generations that have been cut off. We confess before God that the unborn are despised and hated by their own father and mother in many cases, and that their blood cries out for mercy. Only God can receive these little ones. We entrust every innocent child, aborted or miscarried, to His care, asking in the name of Jesus Christ that He who formed them in the womb will gather them to Himself in heaven, for His compassion fails not. And we pray also for those who have done this evil, that they may see the avenger of blood, even the fiery law of God, pursuing them, not to drive them to despair, but to drive them to the City of Refuge. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanses us from all sin, and there is mercy extended very freely to such sinners as these when they flee to Him in repentance and faith.
We pray for all who are alone, the children abandoned everywhere, those who beg for shelter or are left without house, family, or friend to refuge them. May the Lord who made heaven and earth show Himself their Father and their dwelling place. May He raise up among His people hands to give bread and shelter, and hearts to show the love of Christ. May He heal the breach in families, restore what is broken according to His holy ordinance of marriage, that lifelong covenant of one man and one woman wherein alone the Lord has appointed the holy trust of children and the comfort of home, and may He turn the hearts of fathers and mothers to their children.
We pray that every soul who has no refuge tonight may hear the cry, Refuge, and walk therein and be saved. Salvation is in Christ alone, by His blood alone, and all who trust in His name shall find that though they were not His people, now they are His people, and though they had not obtained mercy, now they have obtained mercy. May the Spirit go with the Word, for without Him it is so much wasted breath, but with Him the wounded shall be bound up and the guilty shall be forgiven.
O God, You have taught us from our youth that Your promise may tarry but never fails. Remember the forsaken, remember the unborn, remember the guilty who need pardon, and let Your overtaking mercy find them. We ask all this, not for any merit in us, but through the bleeding witness of Your Son, who bore our sin and reveals at once Your hatred of sin and Your great love to sinners. In the name of Jesus Christ our only Refuge and Redeemer we pray, Amen.