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The first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” is not exactly the kind of statement one hears on today’s media. To express one’s need, to acknowledge one’s lack—that does not seem the way to inherit anything, let alone a kingdom. Yet these words are Jesus’ words, our Lord and Master, God incarnate, Wisdom Incarnate, and they echo through the ages and knock at the doors of our hearts.


The book, Royal Purposes, compiled by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, is small—sixty-four pages in all, yet it has proved a blessing to many. It encourages all readers to take heart when suffering of any kind knocks at their door, for God has a purpose in suffering which, after all, enables us to more easily become “poor in spirit” and thus inherit the kingdom of heaven. On page thirty-three, in the reading entitled “Through the Door of Destitution,” the authors have included a poem by E. C. Priestley which encourages us all to enter through this “door.”
Only the beggared ask,
Only the weakened cling,
Only the joyless crave
Joy from the living spring.

Only the conquered yield,
Only the humbled pray,
Only the helpless trust
Jesus, the soul’s strong Stay.

Only the weary rest,
Only the seekers find,
Only the souls are blest
Who in the Savior hide.

This entry was posted in God, Prayer and tagged E. C. Priestley, Only the conquered yield, Only the helpless trust, Only the humbled pray by harveycp. Bookmark the permalink.

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