By Mr D. P. Rowland, President of the Society

Each New Year should be both a time of rejoicing and thanksgiving and also a time of solemn reflection and self-examination. It is an annual reminder of the Lord’s faithfulness and mercy. It is also an annual reminder of the brevity of our lives, and the need we all have of the mercy and grace of the Lord. Soon, sadly, too soon for many, we will all be summonsed to ‘appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad’ (2 Corinthians 5.10). What need then for all to be taught the prayer that Moses taught the Israelites during their time in the wilderness, ‘So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our heart unto wisdom’ (Psalm 90.12), and to heed the exhortations of the Lord graciously given to us through His Word, ‘it is time to seek the LORD’ (Hosea 10.12) and ‘prepare to meet thy God’ (Amos 4.12)!

For those who fear the Lord, and who thus prayerfully seek to have their lives directed by the enduring principles of the Holy Scriptures, the beginning of the New Year is a time for prayerful reflection on the past and of seeking the face of their Lord and God for the future. This we need to do personally as individuals, but also as families, as local congregations, and as churches at large. Further, it is profitable for organisations such as the Trinitarian Bible Society to do so too, and we warmly encourage all our friends to join with us daily in thanksgiving and prayer as we wait upon the Lord, seeking to know His mind and will for the future in every area of the Society’s extensive work.

As the Lord’s people look back and consider the year that is now departed, invariably they do so with a certain element of grief and sorrow, especially as they consider how the whole of their lives have been so shamefully marred by their sinful poverty and spiritual waywardness—and that notwithstanding the exceeding greatness of the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness towards them. And, as they now look forward to the unfolding of the few or many days allotted them for their pilgrimage through this ‘valley of Baca’ (cf. Psalm 84.6), they do so with a certain, humble, but nevertheless assured, anticipation of the Lord’s gracious favour towards them. This they do, notwithstanding the bitter and heartaching knowledge they have of their utter unworthiness of the very least of God’s mercies. However, they are warranted, by the testimony of the Word of God and the inward witnessing of the Holy Spirit, to be quietly confident that He who so wonderfully has been their Refuge and Strength in the past, and Who so graciously has assured His people ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee’ (Hebrews 13.5) will be their Divine Helper and Divine Comforter in the future, notwithstanding all the temptations and doubts and fears with which they may be assailed.

Knowing a little of the truth of the Prophet Jeremiah’s statement regarding the perversity of their hearts (Jeremiah 17.9), and thus having no confidence in themselves, they know that their complete dependence for all things must be placed solely and continuously upon the person and work of Christ, both for time and eternity. They know that their great need for today, for tomorrow, and for however many more days their unworthy lives may be lengthened, is to be found ‘accepted in the beloved’ (Ephesians 1.6): to be clothed in His perfect righteousness, to be washed in His atoning blood, and to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit; and thus to be found walking in the glorious light of the countenance of the God of all comfort and consolation. To this end, their prayer is that the Lord may be pleased to grant that His rich and indispensable blessing may rest upon them, and that He would day-by-day enable them to grow in grace and in the knowledge of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3.18). They prayerfully desire to know by faith His blessed presence with them more and more, and to be enabled of God to live the more to His honour and glory throughout the days of their pilgrimage here below.

As we look back over the past year as a Society, we do so with humble thankfulness to the Lord for His gracious provisions. As we look forward to the New Year and the future, we do so with renewed confidence in the bounteous goodness of the Lord to provide for the Society’s needs through His church and people. Before the Society lies an ever increasing field of activity throughout the world. We give thanks to Almighty God, praying that in all things we may be kept in the path of His will, doing only that which will be glorifying to His Name and undertaking that which will be for the furtherance of His Kingdom throughout the world.

First published in Quarterly Record 614. Edited 13 December 2024.