Have we not leaned upon a thousand things?

(J. C. Philpot, "Daily Words for Zion's Wayfarers")

"You are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed
 of a staff, which pierces a man's hand and wounds
 him if he leans on it!" Isaiah 36:6

Have we not leaned upon a thousand things?
And what have they proved? Splintered reeds
that have run into our hands, and pierced us!

Our own strength and resolutions,
the world and the church,
sinners and saints,
friends and enemies,
have they not all proved, more or less, splintered reeds?

The more we have leaned upon them, like a man
leaning upon a sword, the more have they pierced
our souls!

The Lord Himself has to wean us . . .
  from the world,
  from friends,
  from enemies,
  from self,
in order to bring us to lean upon Himself. And
every prop He will sooner or later remove--that
we may lean wholly and solely upon His Person,
love, death, and righteousness!