Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
May 23
Morning
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me."—Psalm 138:8.
Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here expressed was a divine
confidence. He did not say, "I have grace enough to perfect
that which concerneth me—my faith is so steady
that it will not stagger—my love is so warm that it will never grow
cold—my resolution is so firm that nothing can move it; no, his
dependence was on the Lord alone. If we indulge in any confidence
which is not grounded on the Rock of ages, our confidence is worse than
a dream, it will fall upon us, and cover us with its ruins, to our sorrow and
confusion. All that Nature spins time will unravel, to the eternal confusion of
all who are clothed therein. The Psalmist was wise, he
rested upon nothing short of the Lord's work. It is the Lord who has
begun the good work within us; it is He who has carried it on; and if he does
not finish it, it never will be complete. If there be one stitch in the
celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then
we are lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has
done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence
must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but
entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates—"You
will never be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never
conquer sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that
beset you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray." Ah! yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If
we had alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well
give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to God, He will perfect that
which concerneth us, and bring us to the desired
haven. We can never be too confident when we confide in Him alone, and never
too much concerned to have such a trust.
Evening
"Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with
money."—Isaiah 43:24.
Worshippers at the temple
were wont to bring presents of sweet perfumes to be burned upon the altar of
God: but Israel, in the time of her backsliding, became ungenerous, and made
but few votive offerings to her Lord: this was an evidence of coldness of heart
towards God and His house. Reader, does this never occur with you? Might not
the complaint of the text be occasionally, if not frequently, brought against
you? Those who are poor in pocket, if rich in faith, will be accepted none the less because their gifts are small; but, poor
reader, do you give in fair proportion to the Lord, or is the widow's mite kept
back from the sacred treasury? The rich believer should be thankful for the
talent entrusted to him, but should not forget his large responsibility, for
where much is given much will be required; but, rich reader, are you mindful of
your obligations, and rendering to the Lord according to the benefit received?
Jesus gave His blood for us, what shall we give to Him? We are His, and all
that we have, for He has purchased us unto Himself—can we act as if we
were our own? O for more consecration! and to this
end, O for more love! Blessed Jesus, how good it is of Thee to accept our sweet
cane bought with money! nothing is too costly as a
tribute to Thine unrivalled love, and yet Thou dost
receive with favour the smallest sincere token of
affection! Thou dost receive our poor forget-me-nots and love-tokens as though
they were intrinsically precious, though indeed they are but as the bunch of
wild flowers which the child brings to its mother. Never may we grow niggardly
towards Thee, and from this hour never may we hear Thee complain of us again
for withholding the gifts of our love. We will give Thee the first fruits of
our increase, and pay Thee tithes of all, and then we will confess
"of Thine own have we given Thee."