Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
October 17
Morning
"And
David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of
Saul."—1 Samuel 27:1.
The thought of David's
heart at this time was a false thought, because he certainly had no
ground for thinking that God's anointing him by Samuel was
intended to be left as an empty unmeaning act. On no one occasion had
the Lord deserted His servant; he had been placed in perilous positions very
often, but not one instance had occurred in which divine interposition had not
delivered him. The trials to which he had been exposed had been varied; they
had not assumed one form only, but many—yet in every case He who sent the
trial had also graciously ordained a way of escape. David could not put his
finger upon any entry in his diary, and say of it, "Here is evidence that
the Lord will forsake me," for the entire tenor of his past life proved
the very reverse. He should have argued from what God had done for him,
that God would be his defender still. But is it not just in the same way that we
doubt God's help? Is it not mistrust without a cause? Have we ever had
the shadow of a reason to doubt our Father's goodness? Have not His lovingkindnesses been marvellous?
Has He once failed to justify our trust? Ah, no! our
God has not left us at any time. We have had dark nights, but the star of love
has shone forth amid the blackness; we have been in stern conflicts, but over
our head He has held aloft the shield of our defence.
We have gone through many trials, but never to our detriment, always to our
advantage; and the conclusion from our past experience is, that He who has been
with us in six troubles, will not forsake us in the seventh. What we have known
of our faithful God, proves that He will keep us to
the end. Let us not, then, reason contrary to evidence. How can we ever be so
ungenerous as to doubt our God? Lord, throw down the Jezebel of our
unbelief, and let the dogs devour it.
Evening
"He
shall gather the lambs with His arm."—Isaiah 40:11.
Our good Shepherd has in
His flock a variety of experiences, some are strong in the Lord, and others are
weak in faith, but He is impartial in His care for all His sheep, and the
weakest lamb is as dear to Him as the most advanced of the flock. Lambs are
wont to lag behind, prone to wander, and apt to grow weary, but from all the
danger of these infirmities the Shepherd protects them with His arm of power.
He finds new-born souls, like young lambs, ready to perish—He nourishes
them till life becomes vigorous; He finds weak minds ready to faint and
die—He consoles them and renews their strength. All the little ones He
gathers, for it is not the will of our heavenly Father that one of them should
perish. What a quick eye He must have to see them all! What a tender heart to
care for them all! What a far-reaching and potent arm, to gather them all! In
His lifetime on earth He was a great gatherer of the weaker sort, and now that
He dwells in heaven, His loving heart yearns towards the meek and contrite, the
timid and feeble, the fearful and fainting here below. How gently did He gather
me to Himself, to His truth, to His blood, to His love, to His church! With
what effectual grace did He compel me to come to Himself! Since my first conversion,
how frequently has He restored me from my wanderings, and once again folded me
within the circle of His everlasting arm! The best of all is, that He does it
all Himself personally, not delegating the task of love, but condescending
Himself to rescue and preserve His most unworthy servant. How shall I love Him
enough or serve Him worthily? I would fain make His name great unto the ends of
the earth, but what can my feebleness do for Him? Great Shepherd, add to Thy
mercies this one other, a heart to love Thee more truly as I ought.