Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
January 21
Morning
"And so
all Israel shall be saved."—Romans 11:26.
When Moses sang
at the Red Sea, it was his joy to know that all Israel were safe. Not a drop of
spray fell from that solid wall until the last of God's Israel had safely
planted his foot on the other side the flood. That done,
immediately the floods dissolved into their proper place again, but not till
then. Part of that song was, "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the
people which thou hast redeemed." In the last time, when the elect shall
sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb, it shall be the
boast of Jesus, "Of all whom thou hast given me, I have lost none."
In heaven there shall not be a vacant throne.
"For all
the chosen race
Shall meet
around the throne,
Shall bless
the conduct of His grace,
And make His
glories known."
As many as God hath chosen,
as many as Christ hath redeemed, as many as the Spirit hath called, as many as
believe in Jesus, shall safely cross the dividing sea. We are not all safely
landed yet:
"Part of
the host have crossed the flood,
And part are
crossing now."
The vanguard of the army
has already reached the shore. We are marching through the depths; we are at
this day following hard after our Leader into the heart of the sea. Let us be
of good cheer: the rear-guard shall soon be where the vanguard already is; the
last of the chosen ones shall soon have crossed the sea, and then shall be
heard the song of triumph, when all are secure. But oh! if
one were absent—oh! if one of His chosen family
should be cast away—it would make an everlasting discord in the song of
the redeemed, and cut the strings of the harps of paradise, so that music could
never be extorted from them.
Evening
"He was
sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great
deliverance into the hand of Thy servant: and now shall I die for
thirst?"—Judges 15:18.
Samson was thirsty and
ready to die. The difficulty was totally different from any
which the hero had met before. Merely to get thirst assuaged is nothing
like so great a matter as to be delivered from a thousand Philistines! but when the thirst was upon him, Samson felt that little
present difficulty more weighty than the great past difficulty out of which he
had so specially been delivered. It is very usual for God's people, when they
have enjoyed a great deliverance, to find a little trouble too much for them.
Samson slays a thousand Philistines, and piles them up in heaps, and then
faints for a little water! Jacob wrestles with God at Peniel,
and overcomes Omnipotence itself, and then goes "halting on his
thigh!" Strange that there must be a shrinking of the sinew whenever we
win the day. As if the Lord must teach us our littleness, our nothingness, in
order to keep us within bounds. Samson boasted right loudly when he said,
"I have slain a thousand men." His boastful throat soon grew hoarse
with thirst, and he betook himself to prayer. God has many ways of humbling His
people. Dear child of God, if after great mercy you are laid very low, your
case is not an unusual one. When David had mounted the throne of Israel, he
said, "I am this day weak, though anointed king." You must expect to
feel weakest when you are enjoying your greatest triumph. If God has wrought
for you great deliverances in the past, your present difficulty is only like
Samson's thirst, and the Lord will not let you faint, nor suffer the daughter
of the uncircumcised to triumph over you. The road of sorrow is the road to
heaven, but there are wells of refreshing water all along the route. So, tried
brother, cheer your heart with Samson's words, and rest assured that God will
deliver you ere long.