“For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.” Psalm 27:10 (ESV)
At times children are left to themselves through abandonment, and sometimes children are orphaned through the death of one or more parents.
On March 22, 1758, preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards, near death, spoke to his beloved daughter:
Dear Lucy, it seems to me to be the will of God that I must shortly leave you; therefore give my kindest love to my dear wife, and tell her, that the uncommon union, which has so long subsisted between us, has been of such a nature, as I trust is spiritual, and therefore will continue forever: and I hope she will be supported under so great a trial, and submit cheerfully to the will of God. And as to my children, you are now like to be left fatherless, which I hope will be an inducement to you all to seek a Father, who will never fail you. And as to my funeral, I would have it be like Mr. Burr’s; and any additional sum of money that might be expected to be laid out that way, I would have it disposed of to charitable uses.
This year, my prayer for you, is that you would draw near to this Father who never fails, through Jesus Christ who lives forever.
May the next year be a year that you know this Father to which Jonathan Edwards entrusted his soon-to-be fatherless children and widowed wife, as he prepared to see His Savior face-to-face.
“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” Psalm 68:5 (ESV)
Soli Deo Gloria
