Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
February 17
Morning
"Isaac
dwelt by the well Lahai-roi."—Genesis 25:11.
Hagar had once found
deliverance there and Ishmael had drank from the water so graciously revealed
by the God who liveth and seeth
the sons of men; but this was a merely casual visit, such as worldlings pay to the Lord in times of need, when it serves
their turn. They cry to Him in trouble, but forsake Him in prosperity. Isaac dwelt
there, and made the well of the living and all-seeing God his constant source
of supply. The usual tenor of a man's life, the dwelling of his soul, is
the true test of his state. Perhaps the providential visitation experienced by
Hagar struck Isaac's mind, and led him to revere the place; its mystical name
endeared it to him; his frequent musings by its brim at eventide made him
familiar with the well; his meeting Rebecca there had made his spirit feel at
home near the spot; but best of all, the fact that he there enjoyed fellowship
with the living God, had made him select that hallowed ground for his dwelling.
Let us learn to live in the presence of the living God; let us pray the Holy
Spirit that this day, and every other day, we may feel, "Thou God seest me." May the Lord Jehovah be as a well to us,
delightful, comforting, unfailing, springing up unto eternal life.
The bottle of the creature cracks and dries up, but the well of the Creator
never fails; happy is he who dwells at the well, and so has abundant and
constant supplies near at hand. The Lord has been a sure helper to others: His
name is Shaddai, God All-sufficient; our hearts have
often had most delightful intercourse with Him; through Him our soul has found
her glorious Husband, the Lord Jesus; and in Him this day we live, and move,
and have our being; let us, then, dwell in closest fellowship with Him.
Glorious Lord, constrain us that we may never leave Thee, but dwell by the well
of the living God.
Evening
"Whereas
the Lord was there."—Ezekiel 35:10.
EdomÕs princes saw the
whole country left desolate, and counted upon its easy conquest; but there was
one great difficulty in their way—quite unknown to them—"The
Lord was there"; and in His presence lay the special security of the
chosen land. Whatever may be the machinations and devices of the enemies of
God's people, there is still the same effectual barrier to thwart their design.
The saints are God's heritage, and He is in the midst of them, and will protect
His own. What comfort this assurance yields us in our troubles and spiritual
conflicts! We are constantly opposed, and yet perpetually preserved! How often
Satan shoots his arrows against our faith, but our faith defies the
power of hell's fiery darts; they are not only turned aside, but they are
quenched upon its shield, for "the Lord is there." Our good works
are the subjects of Satan's attacks. A saint never yet had a virtue or a grace
which was not the target for hellish bullets: whether it was hope bright and
sparkling, or love warm and fervent, or patience all-enduring, or zeal flaming
like coals of fire, the old enemy of everything that is good has tried to
destroy it. The only reason why anything virtuous or lovely survives in us is
this, "the Lord is there."
If the Lord be with us
through life, we need not fear for our dying confidence; for when we come to
die, we shall find that "the Lord is there"; where the
billows are most tempestuous, and the water is most chill, we shall feel the
bottom, and know that it is good: our feet shall stand upon the Rock of Ages
when time is passing away. Beloved, from the first of a Christian's life to the
last, the only reason why he does not perish is because "the Lord is
there." When the God of everlasting love shall change and leave His
elect to perish, then may the Church of God be destroyed; but not till then, because
it is written, JEHOVAH SHAMMAH, "The Lord is there."