Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
July 21
Morning
"The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her
head at thee."—Isaiah 37:22.
Reassured by
the Word of the Lord, the poor trembling citizens of Zion grew bold, and shook
their heads at Sennacherib's boastful threats. Strong faith enables the
servants of God to look with calm contempt upon their most haughty foes. We
know that our enemies are attempting impossibilities. They seek to destroy
the eternal life, which cannot die while Jesus lives;
to overthrow the citadel, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.
They kick against the pricks to their own wounding, and rush upon the bosses of
Jehovah's buckler to their own hurt.
We know
their weakness. What are they but men? And what is man but a worm? They roar and swell
like waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame. When the Lord ariseth, they shall fly as chaff before the wind, and be
consumed as crackling thorns. Their utter powerlessness to do damage to the
cause of God and His truth, may make the weakest soldiers in Zion's ranks laugh
them to scorn.
Above all, we
know that the Most High is with us, and when He dresses Himself in arms,
where are His enemies? If He cometh forth from His place, the
potsherds of the earth will not long contend with their Maker. His rod
of iron shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel, and their very
remembrance shall perish from the earth. Away, then, all fears, the kingdom is
safe in the King's hands. Let us shout for joy, for the Lord reigneth, and His foes shall be as straw for the dunghill.
"As true as God's own word is true;
Nor earth, nor hell, with all their crew,
Against us shall prevail.
A jest, and by-word, are
they grown;
God is with us, we are his own,
Our victory
cannot fail."
Evening
"Why go I mourning?"—Psalm 42:9.
Canst thou
answer this, believer? Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often
mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told thee
that the night would never end in day? Who told thee that the sea of
circumstances would ebb out till there should be nothing left but long leagues
of the mud of horrible poverty? Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent
would proceed from frost to frost, from snow, and ice, and hail, to deeper
snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes
after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter? Hope thou then! Hope thou
ever! For God fails thee not. Dost thou not know that thy God loves thee in the
midst of all this? Mountains, when in darkness hidden, are as real as in day,
and God's love is as true to thee now as it was in thy brightest moments. No
father chastens always: thy Lord hates the rod as much as thou dost; He only
cares to use it for that reason which should make thee willing to receive it,
namely, that it works thy lasting good. Thou shalt yet climb Jacob's ladder
with the angels, and behold Him who sits at the top of it—thy covenant
God. Thou shalt yet, amidst the splendours of
eternity, forget the trials of time, or only remember them to bless the God who
led thee through them, and wrought thy lasting good by them. Come,
sing in the midst of tribulation. Rejoice even while passing through the
furnace. Make the wilderness to blossom like the rose! Cause the desert to ring
with thine exulting joys, for these light afflictions
will soon be over, and then "for ever with the Lord," thy bliss shall
never wane.
"Faint not nor fear, His arms are near,
He changeth not, and thou
art dear;
Only believe and thou shalt see,
That Christ is all in all to thee."