Evening and Morning
By Charles
Haddon Spurgeon
September 14
Morning
"There were also with Him other little ships."—Mark
4:36.
Jesus was
the Lord High Admiral of the sea that night, and His presence preserved the
whole convoy. It is well to sail with Jesus, even though it be
in a little ship. When we sail in Christ's company, we may not make sure of
fair weather, for great storms may toss the vessel which carries the Lord
Himself, and we must not expect to find the sea less boisterous around our
little boat. If we go with Jesus we must be content to fare as He fares; and
when the waves are rough to Him, they will be rough to us. It is by tempest and
tossing that we shall come to land, as He did before us. When the storm swept
over Galilee's dark lake all faces gathered blackness, and all hearts dreaded
shipwreck.
When all
creature help was useless, the slumbering Saviour
arose, and with a word, transformed the riot of the tempest into the deep quiet
of a calm; then were the little vessels at rest as well as that which carried
the Lord. Jesus is the star of the sea; and though there be sorrow upon the
sea, when Jesus is on it there is joy too. May our hearts make Jesus their
anchor, their rudder, their lighthouse, their life-boat,
and their harbour. His Church is the Admiral's
flagship, let us attend her movements, and cheer her officers with our
presence. He Himself is the great attraction; let us follow ever in His wake,
mark His signals, steer by His chart, and never fear while He is within hail.
Not one ship in the convoy shall suffer wreck; the great Commodore will steer
every barque in safety to the desired haven. By faith
we will slip our cable for another day's cruise, and sail forth with Jesus into
a sea of tribulation. Winds and waves will not spare us, but they all obey Him;
and, therefore, whatever squalls may occur without, faith shall feel a blessed
calm within. He is ever in the centre of the
weather-beaten company: let us rejoice in Him. His vessel has reached the
haven, and so shall ours.
Evening
"I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the
Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my
sin."—Psalm 32:5.
DavidŐs
grief for sin was bitter. Its effects were visible upon his outward frame:
"his bones waxed old"; "his moisture was turned into the drought
of summer." No remedy could he find, until he made a full confession
before the throne of the heavenly grace. He tells us that for a time he kept
silence, and his heart became more and more filled with grief: like a mountain
tarn whose outlet is blocked up, his soul was swollen with torrents of sorrow.
He fashioned excuses; he endeavoured to divert his
thoughts, but it was all to no purpose; like a festering sore his anguish
gathered, and as he would not use the lancet of confession, his spirit was full
of torment, and knew no rest. At last it came to this, that he must return unto
his God in humble penitence, or die outright; so he hastened to the mercy-seat,
and there unrolled the volume of his iniquities before the all-seeing One,
acknowledging all the evil of his ways in language such as you read in the
fifty-first and other penitential Psalms. Having done this, a work so simple
and yet so difficult to pride, he received at once the token of divine
forgiveness; the bones which had been broken were made to rejoice, and he came
forth from his closet to sing the blessedness of the man whose transgression is
forgiven. See the value of a grace-wrought confession of sin! It is to be
prized above all price, for in every case where there is a genuine, gracious
confession, mercy is freely given, not because the repentance and confession deserve
mercy, but for Christ's sake. Blessed be God, there is always healing
for the broken heart; the fountain is ever flowing to cleanse us from our sins.
Truly, O Lord, Thou art a God "ready to pardon!" Therefore will we
acknowledge our iniquities.