Evening and Morning
By Charles
Haddon Spurgeon
December 12
Morning
"His
ways are everlasting."—Habakkuk 3:6.
What He hath done at one
time, He will do yet again. Man's ways are variable, but God's ways are
everlasting. There are many reasons for this most comforting truth: among them
are the following—the Lord's ways are the result of wise deliberation;
He ordereth all things according to the counsel of
His own will. Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear,
and is followed by regret and alteration; but nothing can take the Almighty by
surprise, or happen otherwise than He has foreseen. His ways are the
outgrowth of an immutable character, and in them the fixed and settled
attributes of God are clearly to be seen. Unless the Eternal One Himself can
undergo change, His ways, which are Himself in action,
must remain for ever the same. Is He eternally just, gracious, faithful, wise,
tender?—then His ways must ever be distinguished
for the same excellences. Beings act according to their nature: when those
natures change, their conduct varies also; but since God cannot know the shadow
of a turning, His ways will abide everlastingly the same. Moreover there is no
reason from without which could reverse the divine ways, since they are the embodiment
of irresistible might. The earth is said, by the prophet, to be cleft with
rivers, mountains tremble, the deep lifts up its hands, and sun and moon stand
still, when Jehovah marches forth for the salvation of His people. Who can stay
His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou? But it is
not might alone which gives stability; God's ways are the
manifestation of the eternal principles of right, and therefore can never
pass away. Wrong breeds decay and involves ruin, but the true and the good have
about them a vitality which ages cannot diminish.
This morning let us go to
our heavenly Father with confidence, remembering that Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and in Him the Lord is ever gracious to His
people.
Evening
"They
have dealt treacherously against the Lord."—Hosea 5:7.
Believer, here is a
sorrowful truth! Thou art the beloved of the Lord, redeemed by blood, called by
grace, preserved in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, on thy way to
heaven, and yet, "thou hast dealt treacherously" with God, thy best
friend; treacherously with Jesus, whose thou art; treacherously with the Holy
Spirit, by whom thou hast been quickened unto life eternal! How treacherous you
have been in the matter of vows and promises. Do you remember the love of your
espousals, that happy time—the springtide of your spiritual life? Oh, how
closely did you cling to your Master then! saying,
"He shall never charge me with indifference; my feet shall never grow slow
in the way of His service; I will not suffer my heart to wander after other
loves; in Him is every store of sweetness ineffable. I give all up for my Lord
Jesus' sake." Has it been so? Alas! if conscience
speak, it will say, "He who promised so well has performed most ill.
Prayer has oftentimes been slurred—it has been short, but not sweet; brief, but not fervent. Communion with Christ has been
forgotten. Instead of a heavenly mind, there have been carnal cares, worldly
vanities and thoughts of evil. Instead of service, there has been disobedience;
instead of fervency, lukewarmness; instead of
patience, petulance; instead of faith, confidence in an arm of flesh; and as a
soldier of the cross there has been cowardice, disobedience, and desertion, to
a very shameful degree." "Thou hast dealt treacherously."
Treachery to Jesus! what words shall be used in
denouncing it? Words little avail: let our penitent thoughts execrate the sin
which is so surely in us. Treacherous to Thy wounds, O Jesus! Forgive us, and
let us not sin again! How shameful to be treacherous to Him who never forgets
us, but who this day stands with our names engraven on His breastplate before the eternal throne.