Friday, June 08, 2007

Deeper and Louder

The family is reading in Spurgeon's Morning and Evening for our devotions, and often we're twelve hours ahead of ourselves, reading the same passage our son and elder brother is for the day. This evening we were reading the section for tomorrow morning, June 9, and it just felt like balm tonight:
Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through that upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state, will come forward joyously, and say, "I will speak, not about myself, but to the honour of my God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings; and He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad." ...

It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them ... The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through all, and preserved us until now.

-- Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, June 9: "The Lord hath done great things for us, where of we are glad", Psalm 126:3 (Cf Psalm 40:2-3).

Incidentally, I noticed the counter on the site at Calvin College says that just this particular online version of the book has been accessed more than 6.5 million times in the past two years.

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