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Who Are You Leaning On?

Letters of M’Cheyne Part 6 of 6


What does it mean to believe in Jesus? How can I seek and find Him? These crucial questions are pastorally answered in 6 letters that Robert Murray M’Cheyne wrote to a dying lady in his congregation. We will be posting each of these letters individually over the next few months, so we pray that they would be a blessing to you!


Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813 - 1843) was a faithful minister at St Peter's Church in Dundee, Scotland, from 1836 to 1843. The Lord took him home to glory at the young age of 29 years old, but his love for Christ continues to encourage many today. These letters are taken from Andrew Bonar’s great biography of M’Cheyne: The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne and slightly modernized.


Letters to a Soul Seeking Jesus (6) – Go up, Leaning on Jesus


Dear Friend,


I have heard how you are doing from ________, and have been praying for you, that your eye might rest on Jesus, and that your soul might lie in perfect peace under His blood shed for the sins of many (Matt. 26:28). I have been thanking my Father, too, for dealing so bountifully with you. "He is the Father of mercies, and the God of all comforts" (2 Cor 1:3).


I will give you a sweet verse to meditate upon: "Who is this that comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon the Beloved?" (Song of Sol. 8:5). Do you think this is your posture?


This world is a wilderness if you have seen it rightly. It is a place of guilt and shame. Every natural heart is a wilderness—a dead place without a drop of living water; and all natural hearts put together make up a wilderness world. The whole world lies in wickedness. There are few that know and love Jesus, and these few are panting to get more of the living water.


But if you have truly fled to Jesus, you are coming up from the wilderness. “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand" (Rom 13:11-12). Have you truly found Jesus? Do you feel willing to be all vile, all hell-deserving in yourself, and to let God's dear Son be your only shield and righteousness?


Above all make sure of this! Who cares what people think about you. I would not give a straw for the opinions of others, as to whether I was safe or not. It is not what others think of us that will cover us on the judgment day. Oh no! You must be in Jesus, sitting at His feet, allowing Him to wash your stains away, allowing Him to clothe your guilty soul in His divine righteousness.


If you were lying at the bottom of the sea, no one could see your deformities; so when the infinite ocean of Immanuel's righteousness flows over the soul, you are swallowed up as it were in Christ. Your defilement is never seen, only His beauty; and so, the God of truth can say, "Behold you are fair; behold thou are fair, My love. You are all fair, My love; and there is no spot in you" (Song of Sol. 4:1,7).


Always remember this! Then, when guilt comes on your conscience, as it will, lie down again beneath the righteousness of Jesus. Never lose sight of this. Jesus must be seen by the Father instead of our guilty soul. It is not the improvement of our sinful soul that is to be our covering. You must leave self and stand in your Older Brother. Hide behind Him. Let the Father's eye fall on Him, not on you. This is what Jesus wants. He died to be a shelter for such as you. This is what the Father wants; for He is not willing that any should perish. If you are seen by the Father as a naked, guilty sinner, you will die; there is no escaping it. But if Jesus appears for you—if you hide in His wounds like the dove in the clefts of the rock, and under His snow-white raiment—then the Father Himself loves you, and now you are coming up from the wilderness.


Every hour that passes is an hour less between you and glory. Oh, do not grieve to leave this world if you are in Christ! An hour with Christ will make up for all your grief and pain. Half an hour in the presence of our God will make us forget a lifetime of agony.


"Leaning on her beloved!" Is this the posture of your soul? Do you feel empty, weak, and helpless? Do you see Him mighty to save, able to save to the uttermost (Heb 7:25)? Jesus is strong enough to carry you completely for "His legs are like pillars of marble" (Song 5:15). It is Christ's glory that He justifies sinners who have no righteousness, and sanctifies souls that have no inborn holiness. Let Jesus bear your whole weight. Remember, He loves to be the only support of the soul. He is a jealous Saviour. He wants to be trusted completely. Everything that you can possibly need you will find in Him. "All my springs are in You" (Ps. 87:7).


Do you want righteousness? He will give the spirit of a weaned child so you depend on God (Psalm 131). Do you want love? He is the fountain of love: all the promises of God in Him are yes and in Him amen (2 Cor 1:18).


I am sure, if you get a glimpse of Him you would lay your head on His heart and die there. May the Spirit anoint your eyes to see Him more and more, and soften your heart to lean on Him. Those that have leaned on Him through the wilderness will sit with Him on the throne (Rev. 3:21).


Farewell, dear soul! May the Lord feed you sweetly, as He feeds the flowers, by silent drops of dew.


Ever yours,

Robert Murray M'Cheyne


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