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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Friday, May 23, 2008
MORNING:
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me."
-- Psalms 138:8
Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here expressed was a
divine confidence. He did not say, "I have grace enough to perfect that
which concerneth me-my faith is so steady that it will not stagger-my
love is so warm that it will never grow cold-my resolution is so firm
that nothing can move it; no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If
we indulge in any confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of ages,
our confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall upon us, and cover
us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion. All that Nature spins
time will unravel, to the eternal confusion of all who are clothed
therein. The Psalmist was wise, he rested upon nothing short of the
Lord's work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it
is he who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never
will be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of
our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost;
but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has
done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must
not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but
entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates- "You will never
be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never conquer
sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that
beset you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray." Ah!
yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had
alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well
give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to God, he will perfect
that which concerneth us, and bring us to the desired haven. We can
never be too confident when we confide in him alone, and never too much
concerned to have such a trust.
EVENING:
"Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money."
-- Isaiah 43:24
Worshippers at the temple were wont to bring presents of sweet perfumes
to be burned upon the altar of God: but Israel, in the time of her
backsliding, became ungenerous, and made but few votive offerings to
her Lord: this was an evidence of coldness of heart towards God and his
house. Reader, does this never occur with you? Might not the complaint
of the text be occasionally, if not frequently, brought against you?
Those who are poor in pocket, if rich in faith, will be accepted none
the less because their gifts are small; but, poor reader, do you give
in fair proportion to the Lord, or is the widow's mite kept back from
the sacred treasury? The rich believer should be thankful for the
talent entrusted to him, but should not forget his large
responsibility, for where much is given much will be required; but,
rich reader, are you mindful of your obligations, and rendering to the
Lord according to the benefit received? Jesus gave his blood for us,
what shall we give to him? We are his, and all that we have, for he has
purchased us unto himself -can we act as if we were our own? O for more
consecration! and to this end, O for more love! Blessed Jesus, how good
it is of thee to accept our sweet cane bought with money! nothing is
too costly as a tribute to thine unrivalled love, and yet thou dost
receive with favour the smallest sincere token of affection! Thou dost
receive our poor forget-me-nots and love-tokens as though they were
intrinsically precious, though indeed they are but as the bunch of wild
flowers which the child brings to its mother. Never may we grow
niggardly towards thee, and from this hour never may we hear thee
complain of us again for withholding the gifts of our love. We will
give thee the first fruits of our increase, and pay thee tithes of all,
and then we will confess "of thine own have we given thee."
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
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