Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
June 9
Morning
"The Lord hath done great things for us,
whereof we are glad."—Psalm 126:3.
Some Christians are sadly
prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more
upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them. Ask for
their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual
conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of
their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose
soul is in a healthy state, will come forward joyously, and say, "I
will speak, not about myself, but to the honour of my
God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay,
and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings: and He hath put a new
song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for
me, whereof I am glad." Such an abstract of experience as this is the very
best that any child of God can present. It is true that we endure trials, but
it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have
our corruptions, and mournfully do we know this, but it is quite as true that
we have an all-sufficient Saviour, who overcomes
these corruptions, and delivers us from their dominion. In looking back, it
would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and have
crept along the Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wicked to forget
that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not
remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us
"out into a wealthy place." The deeper our troubles, the louder our
thanks to God, who has led us through all, and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise, we reckon them
to be the bass part of our life's song, "He hath
done great things for us, whereof we are glad."
Evening
"Search the Scriptures."—John 5:39.
The Greek word here
rendered search signifies a strict, close, diligent, curious search,
such as men make when they are seeking gold, or hunters when they are in
earnest after game. We must not rest content with having given a superficial
reading to a chapter or two, but with the candle of the Spirit we must
deliberately seek out the hidden meaning of the word. Holy Scripture requires
searching—much of it can only be learned by careful study. There is
milk for babes, but also meat for strong men. The rabbis wisely say that a
mountain of matter hangs upon every word, yea, upon every title of Scripture.
Tertullian exclaims, "I adore the fulness of the
Scriptures." No man who merely skims the book of God can profit thereby;
we must dig and mine until we obtain the hid treasure. The door of the word
only opens to the key of diligence. The Scriptures claim
searching. They are the writings of God, bearing the divine stamp
and imprimatur—who shall dare to treat them with levity? He who despises
them despises the God who wrote them. God forbid that any of us should leave
our Bibles to become swift witnesses against us in the great day of account.
The word of God will repay searching. God does not bid us sift a
mountain of chaff with here and there a grain of wheat in it, but the Bible is
winnowed corn—we have but to open the granary door and find it. Scripture
grows upon the student. It is full of surprises. Under the teaching of the Holy
Spirit, to the searching eye it glows with splendour
of revelation, like a vast temple paved with wrought gold, and roofed with
rubies, emeralds, and all manner of gems. No merchandise like the merchandise
of Scripture truth. Lastly, the Scriptures reveal Jesus: "They are
they which testify of Me." No more powerful
motive can be urged upon Bible readers than this: he who finds Jesus finds
life, heaven, all things. Happy he
who, searching his Bible, discovers his Saviour.