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Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions
Morning, May 3
"I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the
earth."
- Ecclesiastes 10:7
Upstarts frequently usurp the highest places, while the truly great pine in
obscurity. This is a riddle in providence whose solution will one day gladden
the hearts of the upright; but it
is so common a fact, that none of us should murmur if it should fall to our own
lot. When our Lord was upon earth, although he is the Prince of the kings of
the earth, yet he walked the footpath of weariness and service as the Servant
of servants: what wonder is it if his followers, who are princes of the blood,
should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible persons? The world
is upside down, and therefore, the first are last and the last first.
See how the servile sons of Satan lord it in the earth! What a high horse they
ride! How they lift up their horn on high! Haman is in the court, while
Mordecai sits in the gate; David wanders
on the mountains, while Saul reigns in state; Elijah is complaining in the cave
while Jezebel is boasting in the palace; yet who would wish to take the places
of the proud rebels? and
who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints? When the wheel
turns, those who are lowest rise, and the highest sink. Patience, then,
believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time.
Let us not fall into the error of letting our passions and carnal appetites
ride in triumph, while our nobler powers walk in the dust. Grace must reign as
a prince, and make the members of the body instruments of righteousness. The
Holy Spirit loves order, and he therefore sets our powers and faculties in due
rank and place, giving the highest room to those spiritual faculties which link
us with the great King; let us not disturb the divine arrangement, but ask for
grace that we may keep under our body and bring it into subjection. We were not
new created to allow our passions to rule over us, but that we, as kings, may
reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit, soul, and body, to the
glory of God the Father.
Evening, May 3
"And he requested for himself that he might die." - 1 Kings 19:4
It was a remarkable thing that the man who was never to die, for whom God had
ordained an infinitely better lot, the man who should be carried to heaven in a
chariot of fire, and be
translated, that he should not see death-should thus pray, "Let me die, I am no
better than my fathers." We have here a memorable proof that God does not
always answer prayer in kind, though he always does in effect. He gave Elias
something better than that which he asked for, and thus really heard and
answered him.
Strange was it that the lion-hearted Elijah should be so depressed by Jezebel's
threat as to ask to die, and blessedly kind was it on the part of our heavenly
Father that he did not
take his desponding servant at his word. There is a limit to the doctrine of
the prayer of faith. We are not to expect that God will give us everything we
choose to ask for.
We know that we sometimes ask, and do not receive, because we ask amiss. If we
ask for that which is not promised-if we run counter to the spirit which the
Lord would have us cultivate-if we ask contrary to his will, or to the decrees
of his providence-if we ask merely for the gratification of our own ease, and
without an eye to his glory, we must not expect that we shall receive. Yet,
when we ask in faith, nothing doubting, if we receive not the precise thing
asked for, we shall receive an equivalent, and more than an equivalent, for it.
As one remarks, "If the Lord does not pay in silver, he will in gold; and if he
does not pay in gold, he will in diamonds. " If he does not give you precisely
what you ask for, he will give you
that which is tantamount to it, and that which you will greatly rejoice to
receive in lieu thereof. Be then, dear reader, much in prayer, and make this
evening a season of earnest intercession, but take heed what you ask.
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Daily devotions for 05-02-2005:
Devotion: Morning and Evening
Morning Title: As Sweet Flowers
Evening Title: The Eternal Rose
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Morning: As Sweet Flowers
"His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers." --Song of Solomon 5:13
Lo, the flowery month is come! March winds and April showers have done their
work, and the earth is all bedecked with beauty. Come my soul, put on thine
holiday attire and go forth to gather garlands of heavenly thoughts. Thou
knowest whither to betake thyself, for to thee "the beds of spices" are well
known, and thou hast so often smelt the perfume of "the sweet flowers," that
thou wilt go at once to thy well-beloved and find all loveliness, all joy in
Him. That cheek once so rudely smitten with a rod, oft bedewed with tears of
sympathy and then defiled with spittle--that cheek as it smiles with mercy is
as fragrant aromatic to my heart. Thou didst not hide Thy face from shame and
spitting, O Lord Jesus, and therefore I will find my dearest delight in
praising Thee. Those cheeks were furrowed by the plough of grief, and crimsoned
with red lines of blood from Thy thorn-crowned temples; such marks of love
unbounded cannot but charm my soul far more than "pillars of perfume."
If I may not see the whole of His face I would behold His cheeks, for the least
glimpse of Him is exceedingly refreshing to my spiritual sense and yields a
variety of delights. In Jesus I find
not only fragrance, but a bed of spices; not one flower, but all manner of
sweet flowers. He is to me my rose and my lily, my heart's-ease and my cluster
of camphire. When He is with me it is May all the year round, and my soul goes
forth to wash her happy face in the morning-dew of His grace, and to solace
herself with the singing of the birds of His promises. Precious Lord Jesus, let
me in very deed know the blessedness which dwells in abiding, unbroken
fellowship with Thee.
I am a poor worthless one, whose cheek Thou hast deigned to kiss! O let me kiss
Thee in return with the kisses of my lips.
Evening: The Eternal Rose
"I am the rose of Sharon." --Song of Solomon 2:1
Whatever there may be of beauty in the material world, Jesus Christ possesses
all that in the
spiritual world in a tenfold degree. Amongst flowers the rose is deemed the
sweetest, but
Jesus is infinitely more beautiful in the garden of the soul than the rose can
in the gardens of
earth. He takes the first place as the fairest among ten thousand. He is the
sun, and all others
are the stars; the heavens and the day are dark in comparison with Him, for the
King in His
beauty transcends all. "I am the rose of Sharon."
This was the best and rarest of roses. Jesus is not "the rose" alone, He is
"the rose of Sharon," just as He calls His righteousness "gold," and then
adds, "the gold of Ophir"--the best of the best. He is positively lovely, and
superlatively the loveliest. There is variety in His charms.
The rose is delightful to the eye, and its scent is pleasant and refreshing; so
each of the senses of the soul, whether it be the taste or feeling, the
hearing, the sight, or the spiritual smell, finds appropriate gratification in
Jesus. Even the recollection of His love is sweet. Take the rose of Sharon, and
pull it leaf from leaf, and lay by the leaves in the jar of memory, and you
shall find each leaf fragrant long afterwards, filling the house with perfume.
Christ satisfies
the highest taste of the most educated spirit to the very full. The greatest
amateur in perfumes
is quite satisfied with the rose: and when the soul has arrived at her highest
pitch of true
taste, she shall still be content with Christ, nay, she shall be the better
able to appreciate
Him. Heaven itself possesses nothing which excels the rose of Sharon. What
emblem can fully set forth His beauty? Human speech and earth-born things fail
to tell of Him. Earth's choicest charms commingled, feebly picture His
abounding preciousness. Blessed rose, bloom in my heart for ever!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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