Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
December 16
Morning
"Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth clave unto
her."—Ruth 1:14.
Both of them had an affection for Naomi, and therefore set out with her upon
her return to the land of Judah. But the hour of test came; Naomi most
unselfishly set before each of them the trials which
awaited them, and bade them if they cared for ease and comfort to return to
their Moabitish friends. At first both of them
declared that they would cast in their lot with the Lord's people; but upon
still further consideration Orpah with much grief and
a respectful kiss left her mother in law, and her people, and her God, and went
back to her idolatrous friends, while Ruth with all her heart gave herself up
to the God of her mother in law. It is one thing to love the ways of the Lord
when all is fair, and quite another to cleave to them under all discouragements
and difficulties. The kiss of outward profession is very cheap and easy, but
the practical cleaving to the Lord, which must show itself in holy decision for
truth and holiness, is not so small a matter. How stands the case with us, is
our heart fixed upon Jesus, is the sacrifice bound with cords to the horns of
the altar? Have we counted the cost, and are we solemnly ready to suffer all
worldly loss for the Master's sake? The after gain will be an abundant
recompense, for Egypt's treasures are not to be compared with the glory to be
revealed. Orpah is heard of no more; in glorious ease
and idolatrous pleasure her life melts into the gloom of death; but Ruth lives
in history and in heaven, for grace has placed her in the noble line whence
sprung the King of kings. Blessed among women shall those be who for Christ's
sake can renounce all; but forgotten and worse than forgotten shall those be
who in the hour of temptation do violence to conscience and turn back unto the
world. O that this morning we may not be content with the form of devotion,
which may be no better than Orpah's kiss, but may the
Holy Spirit work in us a cleaving of our whole heart to our Lord Jesus.
Evening
"And lay
thy foundations with sapphires."—Isaiah 54:11.
Not only that which is seen
of the church of God, but that which is unseen, is
fair and precious. Foundations are out of sight, and so long as they are firm
it is not expected that they should be valuable; but in Jehovah's work
everything is of a piece, nothing slurred, nothing mean. The deep foundations
of the work of grace are as sapphires for preciousness, no human mind is able
to measure their glory. We build upon the covenant of grace, which is
firmer than adamant, and as enduring as jewels upon which age spends itself in
vain. Sapphire foundations are eternal, and the covenant abides throughout the
lifetime of the Almighty. Another foundation is the person of the Lord
Jesus, which is clear and spotless, everlasting and beautiful as the
sapphire; blending in one the deep blue of earth's ever rolling ocean and the
azure of its all embracing sky. Once might our Lord have been likened to the
ruby as He stood covered with His own blood, but now we see Him radiant with
the soft blue of love, love abounding, deep, eternal. Our eternal hopes are
built upon the justice and the faithfulness of God, which are clear and
cloudless as the sapphire. We are not saved by a compromise, by mercy defeating
justice, or law suspending its operations; no, we defy the eagle's eye to
detect a flaw in the groundwork of our confidence—our foundation is of
sapphire, and will endure the fire.
The Lord Himself has laid
the foundation of His people's hopes. It is matter for grave enquiry whether our
hopes are built upon such a basis. Good works and ceremonies are not a
foundation of sapphires, but of wood, hay, and stubble; neither are they laid by
God, but by our own conceit. Foundations will all be tried ere long: woe unto
him whose lofty tower shall come down with a crash, because based on a
quicksand. He who is built on sapphires may await storm or fire with
equanimity, for he shall abide the test.