Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
August 12
Morning
"The
Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice."—Psalm 97:1.
Causes for
disquietude there are none so long as this blessed sentence is true. On
earth the Lord's power as readily controls the rage of the wicked as the
rage of the sea; His love as easily refreshes the poor with mercy as the earth
with showers. Majesty gleams in flashes of fire amid the tempest's horrors, and
the glory of the Lord is seen in its grandeur in the fall of empires, and the
crash of thrones. In all our conflicts and tribulations, we may behold the hand
of the divine King.
"God is
God; He sees and hears
All our troubles, all our tears.
Soul, forget
not, 'mid thy pains,
God o'er all
for ever reigns."
In hell, evil spirits own, with
misery, His undoubted supremacy. When permitted to roam abroad, it is with a
chain at their heel; the bit is in the mouth of behemoth, and the hook in the
jaws of leviathan. Death's darts are under the Lord's lock, and the grave's
prisons have divine power as their warder. The terrible vengeance of the Judge
of all the earth makes fiends cower down and tremble, even as dogs in the
kennel fear the hunter's whip.
"Fear
not death, nor Satan's thrusts,
God defends
who in Him trusts;
Soul,
remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all
for ever reigns."
In heaven none doubt the sovereignty
of the King Eternal, but all fall on their faces to do Him homage. Angels are
His courtiers, the redeemed His favourites, and all
delight to serve Him day and night. May we soon reach the city of the great
King!
"For
this life's long night of sadness
He will give
us peace and gladness.
Soul,
remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all
for ever reigns."
Evening
"The bow
shall be seen in the cloud."—Genesis 9:14.
The rainbow, the symbol of
the covenant with Noah, is typical of our Lord Jesus, who is the Lord's witness
to the people. When may we expect to see the token of the covenant? The
rainbow is only to be seen painted upon a cloud. When the sinner's
conscience is dark with clouds, when he remembers his past sin, and mourneth and lamenteth before
God, Jesus Christ is revealed to him as the covenant Rainbow, displaying all
the glorious hues of the divine character and betokening peace. To the
believer, when his trials and temptations surround him, it is sweet to behold
the person of our Lord Jesus Christ—to see Him bleeding, living, rising,
and pleading for us. God's rainbow is hung over the cloud of our sins, our
sorrows, and our woes, to prophesy deliverance. Nor does a cloud alone
give a rainbow, there must be the crystal drops
to reflect the light of the sun. So, our sorrows must not only threaten, but
they must really fall upon us. There had been no Christ for us if the vengeance
of God had been merely a threatening cloud: punishment must fall in terrible
drops upon the Surety. Until there is a real anguish in the sinner's
conscience, there is no Christ for him; until the chastisement
which he feels becomes grievous, he cannot see Jesus. But there must
also be a sun; for clouds and drops of rain make not
rainbows unless the sun shineth. Beloved, our God,
who is as the sun to us, always shines, but we do not always see
Him—clouds hide His face; but no matter what drops may be falling, or
what clouds may be threatening, if He does but shine there will be a
rainbow at once. It is said that when we see the rainbow the shower is over.
Certain it is, that when Christ comes, our troubles remove; when we behold
Jesus, our sins vanish, and our doubts and fears subside. When Jesus walks the
waters of the sea, how profound the calm!