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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Monday, July 28, 2008
MORNING:
"So foolish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before
thee."
-- Psalms 73:22
Remember this is the confession of the man after God's own heart; and
in telling us his inner life, he writes, "So foolish was I, and
ignorant." The word "foolish," here, means more than it signifies in
ordinary language. David, in a former verse of the Psalm, writes, "I
was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked,"
which shows that the folly he intended had sin in it. He puts himself
down as being thus "foolish," and adds a word which is to give
intensity to it; "so foolish was I." How foolish he could not tell. It
was a sinful folly, a folly which was not to be excused by frailty, but
to be condemned because of its perverseness and wilful ignorance, for
he had been envious of the present prosperity of the ungodly, forgetful
of the dreadful end awaiting all such. And are we better than David
that we should call ourselves wise! Do we profess that we have attained
perfection, or to have been so chastened that the rod has taken all our
wilfulness out of us? Ah, this were pride indeed! If David was foolish,
how foolish should we be in our own esteem if we could but see
ourselves! Look back, believer: think of your doubting God when he has
been so faithful to you-think of your foolish outcry of "Not so, my
Father," when he crossed his hands in affliction to give you the larger
blessing; think of the many times when you have read his providences in
the dark, misinterpreted his dispensations, and groaned out, "All these
things are against me," when they are all working together for your
good! Think how often you have chosen sin because of its pleasure, when
indeed, that pleasure was a root of bitterness to you! Surely if we
know our own heart we must plead guilty to the indictment of a sinful
folly; and conscious of this "foolishness," we must make David's
consequent resolve our own-"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel."
EVENING:
"Who went about doing good."
-- Acts 10:38
Few words, but yet an exquisite miniature of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are not many touches, but they are the strokes of a master's
pencil. Of the Saviour and only of the Saviour is it true in the
fullest, broadest, and most unqualified sense. "He went about doing
good." From this description it is evident that he did good personally.
The evangelists constantly tell us that he touched the leper with his
own finger, that he anointed the eyes of the blind, and that in cases
where he was asked to speak the word only at a distance, he did not
usually comply, but went himself to the sick bed, and there personally
wrought the cure. A lesson to us, if we would do good, to do it
ourselves. Give alms with your own hand; a kind look, or word, will
enhance the value of the gift. Speak to a friend about his soul; your
loving appeal will have more influence than a whole library of tracts.
Our Lord's mode of doing good sets forth his incessant activity! He did
not only the good which came close to hand, but he "went about" on his
errands of mercy. Throughout the whole land of Judea there was scarcely
a village or a hamlet which was not gladdened by the sight of him. How
this reproves the creeping, loitering manner, in which many professors
serve the Lord. Let us gird up the loins of our mind, and be not weary
in well doing. Does not the text imply that Jesus Christ went out of
his way to do good? "He went about doing good." He was never deterred
by danger or difficulty. He sought out the objects of his gracious
intentions. So must we. If old plans will not answer, we must try new
ones, for fresh experiments sometimes achieve more than regular
methods. Christ's perseverance, and the unity of his purpose, are also
hinted at, and the practical application of the subject may be summed
up in the words, "He hath left us an example that we should follow in
his steps."
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