Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
July 13
Morning
"God said to Jonah, Doest
thou well to be angry?"—Jonah 4:9.
Anger is not always or
necessarily sinful, but it has such a tendency to run wild that whenever it
displays itself, we should be quick to question its character, with this
enquiry, "Doest thou well to be angry?" It
may be that we can answer, "YES." Very frequently anger is the
madman's firebrand, but sometimes it is Elijah's fire from heaven. We do well
when we are angry with sin, because of the wrong which
it commits against our good and gracious God; or with ourselves because we
remain so foolish after so much divine instruction; or with others when the
sole cause of anger is the evil which they do. He who is not angry at
transgression becomes a partaker in it. Sin is a loathsome and hateful thing,
and no renewed heart can patiently endure it. God himself is angry with the wicked every day, and it is written in His Word,
"Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." Far more frequently it is to be
feared that our anger is not commendable or even justifiable, and then we must
answer, "NO." Why should we be fretful with children, passionate with
servants, and wrathful with companions? Is such anger honourable
to our Christian profession, or glorifying to God? Is it not the old evil heart
seeking to gain dominion, and should we not resist it with all the might of our
newborn nature. Many professors give way to temper as though it were useless to
attempt resistance; but let the believer remember that he must be a conqueror
in every point, or else he cannot be crowned. If we cannot control our tempers,
what has grace done for us? Some one told Mr. Jay that grace was often grafted
on a crab-stump. "Yes," said he, "but the fruit will not be
crabs." We must not make natural infirmity an excuse for sin, but we must
fly to the cross and pray the Lord to crucify our tempers, and renew us in
gentleness and meekness after His own image.
Evening
"When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies
turn back: this I know; for God is for me."—Psalm 56:9.
It is impossible for any
human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase, "God
is for me." He was "for us" before the worlds were made; He
was "for us," or He would not have given His well-beloved son; He was
"for us" when He smote the Only-begotten, and laid the full weight of
His wrath upon Him—He was "for us," though He was
against Him; He was "for us," when we were ruined in the
fall—He loved us notwithstanding all; He was "for us," when we
were rebels against Him, and with a high hand were bidding Him defiance; He was
"for us," or He would not have brought us humbly to seek His face. He
has been "for us" in many struggles; we have been summoned to
encounter hosts of dangers; we have been assailed by temptations from without
and within—how could we have remained unharmed to this hour if He had not
been "for us"? He is "for us," with all the infinity of His
being; with all the omnipotence of His love; with all the infallibility of His
wisdom; arrayed in all His divine attributes, He is "for
us,"—eternally and immutably "for us"; "for us"
when yon blue skies shall be rolled up like a worn out vesture; "for
us" throughout eternity. And because He is "for us," the voice
of prayer will always ensure His help. "When I cry unto Thee, then
shall mine enemies be turned back." This is
no uncertain hope, but a well grounded
assurance—"this I know." I will direct my prayer unto
Thee, and will look up for the answer, assured that it will come, and that mine
enemies shall be defeated, "for God is for me." O believer, how happy
art thou with the King of kings on thy side! How safe with such a Protector!
How sure thy cause pleaded by such an Advocate! If God be for thee, who can be
against thee?