Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
November 20
Morning
"O Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul."—Lamentations
3:58.
Observe
how positively the prophet speaks. He doth not say, "I hope, I
trust, I sometimes think, that God hath pleaded the causes of my soul";
but he speaks of it as a matter of fact not to be disputed. "Thou hast
pleaded the causes of my soul." Let us, by the aid of the gracious Comforter, shake off those doubts and fears which so much
mar our peace and comfort. Be this our prayer, that we
may have done with the harsh croaking voice of surmise and suspicion, and may
be able to speak with the clear, melodious voice of full assurance. Notice how gratefully
the prophet speaks, ascribing all the glory to God alone! You perceive there is
not a word concerning himself or his own pleadings. He doth not ascribe his
deliverance in any measure to any man, much less to his own merit; but it is "thou"—"O
Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; Thou hast redeemed my
life." A grateful spirit should ever be cultivated by
the Christian; and especially after deliverances we should prepare a
song for our God. Earth should be a temple filled with the songs of grateful
saints, and every day should be a censor smoking with the sweet incense of
thanksgiving. How joyful Jeremiah seems to be while he records the
Lord's mercy. How triumphantly he lifts up the strain! He has been in the low
dungeon, and is even now no other than the weeping prophet; and yet in the very
book which is called "Lamentations," clear as the song of Miriam when
she dashed her fingers against the tabor, shrill as the note of Deborah when
she met Barak with shouts of victory, we hear the voice of Jeremy going up to
heaven—"Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed
my life." O children of God, seek after a vital experience of the Lord's lovingkindness, and when you have it, speak positively of
it; sing gratefully; shout triumphantly.
Evening
"The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in
the rocks."—Proverbs 30:26.
Conscious
of their own natural defenselessness, the conies resort to burrows in the
rocks, and are secure from their enemies. My heart, be willing to gather a
lesson from these feeble folk. Thou art as weak and as exposed to peril as the
timid cony, be as wise to seek a shelter. My best
security is within the munitions of an immutable Jehovah, where His unalterable
promises stand like giant walls of rock. It will be well with thee, my heart,
if thou canst always hide thyself in the bulwarks of His glorious attributes,
all of which are guarantees of safety for those who put their trust in Him.
Blessed be the name of the Lord, I have so done, and have found myself like
David in Adullam, safe from the cruelty of my enemy;
I have not now to find out the blessedness of the man who puts his trust in the
Lord, for long ago, when Satan and my sins pursued me, I fled to the cleft of
the rock Christ Jesus, and in His riven side I found a delightful
resting-place. My heart, run to Him anew to-night,
whatever thy present grief may be; Jesus feels for thee; Jesus consoles thee;
Jesus will help thee. No monarch in his impregnable fortress is more secure
than the cony in his rocky burrow. The master of ten thousand chariots is not
one whit better protected than the little dweller in the mountain's cleft. In
Jesus the weak are strong, and the defenceless safe;
they could not be more strong if they were giants, or more safe if they were in
heaven. Faith gives to men on earth the protection of the God of heaven. More
they cannot need, and need not wish. The conies cannot build a castle, but they
avail themselves of what is there already: I cannot make myself a refuge, but
Jesus has provided it, His Father has given it, His Spirit has revealed it, and
lo, again to-night I enter it, and am safe from every foe.