Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
September 22
Morning
"Let
Israel rejoice in him."—Psalm 149:2.
Be glad of heart, O
believer, but take care that thy gladness has its spring in the Lord.
Thou hast much cause for gladness in thy God, for thou canst sing with David,
"God, my exceeding joy." Be glad that the Lord reigneth,
that Jehovah is King! Rejoice that He sits upon the throne, and ruleth all things! Every attribute of God should become a
fresh ray in the sunlight of our gladness. That He is wise should make us glad,
knowing as we do our own foolishness. That He is mighty,
should cause us to rejoice who tremble at our weakness. That he is everlasting, should always be a theme of joy when we know
that we wither as the grass. That He is unchanging,
should perpetually yield us a song, since we change every hour. That He
is full of grace, that He is overflowing with it, and that this grace in
covenant He has given to us; that it is ours to cleanse us, ours to keep us,
ours to sanctify us, ours to perfect us, ours to bring us to glory—all
this should tend to make us glad in Him. This gladness in God is as a deep
river; we have only as yet touched its brink, we know a little of its clear
sweet, heavenly streams, but onward the depth is greater, and the current more
impetuous in its joy. The Christian feels that he may delight himself not only
in what God is, but also in all that God has done in the past. The
Psalms show us that God's people in olden times were wont to think much of
God's actions, and to have a song concerning each of them. So let God's people
now rehearse the deeds of the Lord! Let them tell of His mighty acts, and
"sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously." Nor let them
ever cease to sing, for as new mercies flow to them day by day, so should their
gladness in the Lord's loving acts in providence and in grace show itself in
continued thanksgiving. Be glad ye children of Zion and rejoice in the Lord
your God.
Evening
"When my
heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."—Psalm 61:2.
Most of us know what it is
to be overwhelmed in heart; emptied as when a man wipeth
a dish and turneth it upside down; submerged and
thrown on our beam ends like a vessel mastered by the storm. Discoveries of
inward corruption will do this, if the Lord permits the great deep of our
depravity to become troubled and cast up mire and dirt. Disappointments and heart-breaks will do this when billow after billow rolls
over us, and we are like a broken shell hurled to and fro by the surf. Blessed
be God, at such seasons we are not without an all-sufficient solace, our God is
the harbour of weather-beaten sails, the hospice of
forlorn pilgrims. Higher than we are is He, His mercy
higher than our sins, His love higher than our thoughts. It is pitiful to see men
putting their trust in something lower than themselves; but our confidence is
fixed upon an exceeding high and glorious Lord. A Rock He is since He changes
not, and a high Rock, because the tempests which overwhelm us
roll far beneath at His feet; He is not disturbed by them, but rules them at
His will. If we get under the shelter of this lofty Rock we may defy the
hurricane; all is calm under the lee of that towering cliff. Alas! such is the confusion in which the troubled mind is often
cast, that we need piloting to this divine shelter. Hence the
prayer of the text. O Lord, our God, by Thy Holy Spirit, teach us the
way of faith, lead us into Thy rest. The wind blows us out to sea, the helm
answers not to our puny hand; Thou, Thou alone canst steer us over the bar
between yon sunken rocks, safe into the fair haven. How dependent we are upon
Thee—we need Thee to bring us to Thee. To be wisely directed and steered
into safety and peace is Thy gift, and Thine alone.
This night be pleased to deal well with Thy servants.