"A Peculiar People"
(No. 2530)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, AUGUST 15, 1897.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, APRIL
6, 1884.
"But know that the LORD has set apart him that is godly for Himself:
the Lord will hear when I call to Him." Psalm 4:3.
If you read this Psalm through, you will notice that when David wrote
it, he had been pestered and troubled by certain ungodly men who had
made a mockery of that which was his greatest delight. They had turned
his glory into shame and had proved that they loved folly and
falsehood. So he said to them, "O you sons of men, how long will you
turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after
leasing"–or, "lying?" In order that he might stop them from angering
him, he reminded them of two great facts. "But know"–he
said–understand, do not doubt it, rest assured of it, "know that
Jehovah has set apart him that is godly for Himself: Jehovah will hear
when I call to Him." Why did David want these men to know those two
facts?
Well, first, that they might cease to oppose him, for, if they did but
know that the man whom they mocked was really a child of God, set apart
by the Most High by a Divine choice to be His own peculiarly favored
one, surely they would not go on with their persecution! Those who put
Christ to death did it in ignorance, "for had they known, they would
not have crucified the Lord of Glory." And we are persuaded that there
are many men who now oppose the servant of God who would not do so if
they did but know that he really was a servant of God, and that God
looked upon him with delight. Therefore David, to stop the cruel
mocking of his persecutors, said to them, "Know that Jehovah has set
apart him that is godly for Himself: Jehovah will hear when I call to
Him."
He may also have had a still better motive and I think that he
had–namely, to draw these men towards his God. There is no better way
of taking flies than with honey and no better way of getting men to
Christ than by drawing them to Him by a display of the privileges and
advantages which belong to a godly life. "Know, then," he said, "you
who are saying, 'Who will show us any good?' And who are seeking after
mere vanities that never can satisfy you–know you that in true
religion there is to be found that which will delight you, and which
will give you rest and peace. Know this, 'that Jehovah has set apart
him that is godly for Himself.'" I would to God that some to whom we
describe the choice privileges of the people of God may be moved to
cry–
"With them numbered may we be, Now and through eternity!"
But, whether this Truth of God has either or both of these effects upon
the minds of men, or whether it shall have no effect at all, still it
is a Truth never to be denied, "that Jehovah has set apart him that is
godly for Himself." So, as God may help me at this time, I shall
briefly speak, first, upon a peculiar character "Him that is godly."
Secondly, upon a peculiar honor. "Jehovah has set apart him that is
godly for Himself." And, thirdly, upon a peculiar privilege. "Jehovah
will hear when I call to Him." Oh, that every one of us may possess the
character, receive the honor and enjoy the privilege of which our text
speaks!
I. First, then, let us notice A PECULIAR CHARACTER–"him that is
godly."
On reading the Psalm, it is very clear that this is a man
misunderstood, or, not understood on earth. The ungodly cannot
comprehend the godly! They scoff at them, they turn their glory into
shame because they, themselves, love vanity and seek after lying. The
godly man is not understood by the people among whom he dwells–God has
made him to be a stranger and a foreigner in their midst. They who are
born twice have a life which cannot be comprehended by those who are
only born once! Those who have received the Spirit of God have a new
spirit within them which is so amazing that the carnal mind cannot
perceive what it is! Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned.
When a man has become a new creature in Christ Jesus, the old creatures
round him cannot make heads or tails of him. They look at him, they see
him actuated by motives which they cannot understand! They see that he
is kept in check by forces which they do not acknowledge, that he is
constrained by energies of which they are not partakers and that he
looks for a something which they do not desire. So the Christian
becomes, in a measure, like Christ, Himself, of whom the poet sings–
"The Jewish world knew not their King,
God's everlasting Son."
"Therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not." "You are a
very peculiar person," said one to a Christian. "I thank you for that
testimony," answered the Christian, "for that is what I desire to be,
as Peter says, 'You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an
holy nation, a peculiar people.'" "Ah," said the other, "but there is a
strangeness about you that I do not like. I feel, sometimes, that I
cannot endure your company." "I thank you again," replied the
Christian, "for you only fulfill our Lord's words, 'Because you are not
of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you.'"
Yes, dear Friends, it is so, and if you never strike the worldling as
being a strange person. If you never get the mocking laughter of the
ungodly. If they never slander you. If you never detect any difference
between yourself and them–and they never discover any between
themselves and you–it must be because you are not a genuine child of
God. Ishmael will mock Isaac. It is not possible that the two
seeds–the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman–should agree
together if they act according to their nature. Do not wonder,
therefore, if you, like David, have to bear persecution from those who
cannot comprehend your new life, "for you are dead," and the world
says, "Bury the dead out of sight." "You are dead, and your life is hid
with Christ in God." "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the
brethren." But the worldling does not understand the peculiar character
of the godly, or delight in it.
But notice that, according to our text, this peculiar character is
understood in Heaven. God knows what godliness is, for He has created
it, He sustains it, He is pledged to perfect it and His delight is in
it! What matters it whether you are understood by your fellow men or
not, so long as you are understood by God? If that secret prayer of
yours is known to Him, seek not to have it known to anyone else. If
your conscientious motive is discerned in Heaven, mind not though it is
denounced on earth. If your designs–the great principles that sway
you–are such as you dare plead in the Great Day of Judgment, you need
not stop to plead them before a jesting, jeering generation. Be godly
and fear not! And if you are misrepresented, remember that should your
character be dead and buried among men, there will be "a resurrection
of reputations" as well as of bodies! "Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father." Therefore be not
afraid to possess this peculiar character, for though it is
misunderstood on earth, it is well understood in Heaven!
Let us inquire what this character is which is misunderstood on earth,
but understood in Heaven. What does the text mean when it mentions,
"him that is godly"?
Well, it means, first, a God-fearing man. This is a common term, "a
God-fearing man." There are many who have not the fear of God before
their eyes. Whether there is a God or not, is a matter of small
consideration to them. They do not care which way the discussion
terminates, for God is not in all their thoughts and, as long as He is
not there, it does not matter to them whether He is anywhere! There are
some who are not afraid of the terrors of God even with regard to the
world to come! At any rate, they flatter themselves that they shall die
at ease even if they live in wickedness and, for the present, they even
dare to defy the Most High! They have been heard–and our blood has
chilled as we have heard them–they have been heard to invoke
condemnation from His hand as they have blasphemed His holy name!
The godly man is one who fears God. He would not take God's name in
vain, he would not willfully violate God's Law, he would not do
anything that would grieve the Most High. And when he does so through
infirmity, or sudden temptation, he is, himself, grieved that he should
have grieved his God, for the fear of the Lord is upon him! He would
not wish to stand at the judgment-bar of God, to be judged according to
his works, apart from Jesus Christ, his Lord. He would dread such a
thing! The name of God, the Person of God–the Character of God–these
are matters of holy awe with him. His soul is filled with hallowed
trembling while he thinks thereon–and everything that has to do with
God is sacred to him. Heaven is no trifle and Hell is no trifle to him.
The Book of God is no fable to him, the Day of God is hallowed by him
and the Church of God is dear to him, for he is a God-fearing man!
Often would he have done this or that, but he said, with Nehemiah, "So
did not I, because of the fear of God." When he is sorely tempted to
evil, he asks, with Joseph, "How, then, can I do this great wickedness,
and sin against God?"
Now, dear Friend, if you go no further than that, and are a God-fearing
man, I have great hopes for you and I ask you to look at my text with
hope–"Know that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for Himself."
But, advancing another step, a godly man is a God-trusting man. He is
one who has learned to entrust his soul to the hands of God as unto a
faithful Creator, one who has trusted his sin with God, beholding it
laid upon the Divine Substitute. He has trusted his eternity with God.
He believes that he shall die the death of the righteous and that his
last end shall be like His. He is resting in the living God, he trusts
God about the present, he takes his troubles to God, yes, and if the
day opens without trouble, he will not enter upon it without taking his
day to God, nor will he fall asleep without committing his night to
God. He trusts in God for little things, saying, "Give us this day our
daily bread." He trusts in God for great things, saying, "Lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One."
So, dear Friend, if you are a God-trusting man, as well as a
God-fearing man, take my text–for it tastes like a wafer made with
honey–lay it on your tongue and let it dissolve into your soul and
sweeten your whole life! "Know that the Lord has set apart him that is
godly for Himself."
Then advance still further and understand the word, "godly," as meaning
a God-loving man. A godly man loves God! He is one whose heart has gone
out after God. He loves his dear ones here below, but his God he loves
more than all of them! He loves them in God and loves God the more for
giving them to him, but God, Himself, has become his great object of
delight! I am sure that he is a saved man who can follow David in
saying, "God, my exceeding joy." When one comes to joy in God, it is a
sure evidence of godliness! The hypocrite has no delight in God. He may
have a delight in the outward parade of religion, or in the name of
godliness–possibly he has a delight in the bliss of Heaven which he
sometimes hopes that he may enjoy–but in God, Himself, he has no
delight. Whereas, to the true Believer, God is Heaven–
"Were I in Heaven without my God, 'Twould be no Heaven to me." "Delight
yourself, also, in the Lord," says David, and the genuine Believer
does! He can say of his God–
"You are the sea of love, Where all my pleasures roll. The circle where
my passions move, The center of my soul." So that he is a godly man who
is a God-loving man.
And, assuredly, he is a godly man who is a God-knowing man. He does not
merely fear and trust and love God but he has come into personal
acquaintance with God. The other day I saw a book entitled, "Is God
Knowable?" Well, dear Friends, that is a question that can be answered
by some of us. We can say, "We know Him. We have spoken to Him and He
has spoken to us. Our spirit has come into actual contact with the
Divine Spirit! We do not need anybody to prove this Truth of God to us,
for it is a matter of faith, no, ofjoyous, ecstatic, delicious
experience!–
'My God, the spring ofall my joys, The life of my delights, The glory
of my brightest days, And comfort of my nights.
"My God, it is a fact that I have touched You and that You have touched
me–that I have spoken to You and that You have spoken to me–and it is
that fact which has forever made me glad." O Beloved, if you know not
God, what do you know? How are you a child of God if you do not know
your Father? How are you saved if you do not know your Savior? How can
you come to the Table to remember Him whom you never knew? And must you
not expect to hear Him say at the last, "Depart from Me; I never knew
you"? If we know Him, we are known of Him–the two things go together
and are much the same–but, if we know Him not, then He knows us not in
the sense of acquaintance and of love.
Once more, a godly man is a God-like man. We reach this point, you see,
by steps–the man is God-fearing, God-trusting, God-loving, God-knowing
and then, God-like. Can a man be like God? Ah, me, what a wide
discrepancy there must always be between God and the best of men! We
are unlike God even in our likeness to Him! He who is most like
God is only like He as a dewdrop is like the sea, or as a glowworm is
like the sun! Yet Grace does make us like God in righteousness, true
holiness and especially in love. Has the Holy Spirit taught you, my
dear Friend, to love even those that hate you? Have you a love that
leaps out like the waters from the smitten rock so that every thirsty
one may drink? Would you gladly love the poorest and the most depraved
into the wealth and glory of your Master's love? Do you love even those
that render you no love in return, as He did who gave His life for His
enemies? Then are you, to that extent, made like God. And do you choose
that which is good? Do you delight yourself in peace? Do you seek after
that which is pure? Are you always gladdened with that which is kind
and just? Then are you like your Father who is in Heaven! You are a
godly man and this text is for you–"Know that the Lord has set apart
him that is godly for Himself."
II. This leads me to dwell with pleasure upon A PECULIAR HONOR which
has been conferred upon this peculiar character. "The Lord has set
apart him that is godly for Himself."
You see, then, that God discerns godliness in men. There is a great
deal of dross in all of us, but God spies whatever gold there may be.
If there is any gold in the ore, God preserves the lump because of the
precious metal that is in it. I know, my dear Brother, that you are not
perfect. Perhaps you are, at this moment, grieving over a great fault.
If so, I am glad you have the godliness that makes you grieve over sin.
I know, my dear Friend, that you are not what you want to be, or wish
to be, or ought to be. Still, you do fear the Lord and you do trust Him
and you do love Him. Now, the Lord can spy all that out and He knows
about the good that is in you. He casts your sin behind His back, but
that which is of His own Grace, He sets apart for Himself–and He sets
you apart for Himself because of the good which is in you. I like to
notice, in Scripture, that although God's people are described as a
very faulty people, and although the Lord is never tender towards sin,
yet He is always very gentle towards them. If there is any good point
about them, He brings it out and He is most gracious to them–and His
love casts a mantle over a thousand of their mistakes and errors! If
God's people mentioned in the Old and New Testaments had all been
perfect, I should have despaired, but, because they seem to have just
the kind of faults that I grieve over in myself, I do not feel any more
lenient toward my faults, but I have the more hope that I, also, am
among those whom the Lord sets apart for Himself because they are
godly.
And, dear Friends, know yet further that God makes those who are really
godly to differ from the world. He will not let them be like the world.
Some of them try to be so, but they must not. And the world sometimes
gets the victory over them for a time and makes them like itself–but
they soon get out of its power. Poor Samson told the secret of his
great strength and the Philistines cut off all that long hair of his
which used to hang down his back till he seemed to be like a wild man
of the woods! The Nazarite told his secret and then they clipped away
his hair and set him to grind in the mill when they had put out his
eyes! They should have had a razor drawn over his head every morning,
but they forgot to do that–and when his hair had grown, again, he
pulled the pagan temple down upon his enemies and, in his last moments,
won a glorious victory for his nation, Israel!
If the devil ever does cut the Nazarite locks of a true child of God,
they will grow again in time. They must grow again and they grow when
the devil is not noticing them–and then the old strength of Grace
comes back again. I have known a child of God fall, like Peter did,
when he denied his Master. Yet, when the locks of his consecration had
grown, again, in a short time there was Peter preaching a sermon that
brought 3,000 to Christ! And the devil had not made much of a gain of
Peter, after all, when once he came back to his Lord. But, oh, what a
mercy it is to be kept so as never to lose those locks of consecration!
Oh, that we may differ from the world in a thousand respects, so that
we may go through it as Mr. Bunyan pictures his pilgrim going through
Vanity Fair! "Buy, buy, buy," the merchants cried, but he did not buy
any of their wares. And when they pressed him very hard, he said, "We
buy the truth and sell it not." All he had to do was to go through the
fair–and that is what you and I have to do. Let us go through the
world as those who are in it but not of it–the Lord always, by His
Grace, making us to differ from other men! There is no need to take off
the collar of your coat, or to talk differently or to dress differently
from ordinary folk. Dress and talk like other people who act as they
should, but let your difference from the world be spiritual–real,
true, not merely indicated by some outward emblem or badge–but seen in
the deportment and carriage of your entire life!
Further, the Lord sets apart him that is godly for Himself by dealing
with His people differently from others. I fancy that I hear somebody
say, "I stoutly deny that!" Well, deny away, brother, if you like, for,
apparently the Lord does not deal with His people differently from what
He does with others, and it says, even in Scripture, "All things come
alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and the wicked." Here
is a man of God, but the Sabeans steal his oxen and his asses.
The Chaldeans carry away his camels, the fire of God burns up his sheep
and his servants. And his children are destroyed by a great wind from
the wilderness. Yes, yes, yes! But read the whole of Job's story and
see that when God turns, again, his captivity and gives him twice as
much as he had before, and enables him to gain a great victory over the
devil, after all, God did not deal with Job as He dealt with others!
"Oh," says another, "but whom the Lord loves, He chastens!" Yes, and
that is one of the ways in which He differs in His dealings with them
and with others, for, sometimes, He does not chasten the ungodly, but
lets them have no trouble in their lives and no pangs in their death.
He lets them have as much pleasure as they can have, for what they get
here is all they will ever have! Whereas He chastens His own people for
their present and eternal good. My dear Friend, there is never exactly
the same Providence to the ungodly as to the godly. There is a
difference, somewhere. There is a difference in the end, if nowhere
else, for to you and to me, as God's people, "all things work together
for good." But they do not work together for good to the ungodly! There
may, apparently, be the same causes at work, but they do not produce
the same results.
So God doesmake a difference between the godly and the rest of mankind.
And there is one peculiar point of difference–He has set them apart
for Himself! For what purpose? That they may be His Friends, and that
He may converse with them. God does not usually come to this earth to
talk with kings and princes–the greatest king is but a brother-worm
like the rest of us–but God has often been here to converse and
commune with His poor people. If men are godly, whether they are rich
or poor, God has fellowship with them! It seems amazing to me that God
should so often be unknown in His own world. The great majority of His
creatures never hear His voice and never give a response to His call!
But the godly, when they hear the voice of their God saying to them,
"Seek you My face," cry out at once, "Your face, Lord, will we seek!"
There are thousands at this moment speaking with God, but all of them
are godly people. And God is speaking to them. The Holy Spirit is
holding high communion with many of the sons and daughters of Adam, but
only with those who are godly! Even now there is a great gulf between
God and the ungodly–their backs are turned to Him and, at the last He
will bid them keep on doing what they have been doing, for He will say
to them, "Depart from Me, you cursed."
But His people are always coming, coming, coming to Him and, at the
last He will bid them continue to do what they are now doing, for to
them He will say, "Come, you blessed of My Father." Oh, yes, amazing as
it is, it is true that we do have conversation with God, for "the Lord
has set apart him that is godly for Himself to be His friend and His
constant companion!
Moreover, God has also set apart him that is godly that He may use him.
If you are a godly man, God will make you His own servant and He will
send you on His errands. And He will be with you all the while. He will
employ you to carry messages of comfort, messages of warning, messages
of invitation to those who need them. If you are godly, God will use
you! He will not use dirty vessels, but when we are clean, washed by
His own hands in the cleansing Fountain, then He will use us for His
own purposes. He has reserved us, He has monopolized us for Himself
alone! We sometimes sing–
"Take my hands, and let them be, Consecrated, Lord, to Thee."
We say to God, "Take my lips, my eyes, my ears, my feet, my whole
being; reserve me for Yourself." That is exactly what the Lord has done
with the godly! You sometimes see certain things marked, "Reserved."
That is the label that God has put on every Christian–"The Lord has
set apart him that is godly for Himself." Nobody but your God is to
have you in His possession or control, for you belong wholly unto the
Most High!
Know this, Beloved, for, at the last, God will acknowledge you as His.
Before astonished worlds, when ungodly men shall not dare to lift up
their faces, God will acknowledge you in that day as belonging to Him
if you are godly. Your righteousness shall come forth as the light and
your judgment as the noonday, for God has made you His own and set a
hedge about you! And none shall destroy you, or separate you from His
Son. "They shall be Mine, says the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I
make up My jewels," for He has set apart the godly for Himself!
III. Now I must close by speaking briefly of a peculiar privilege. "The
Lord will hear when I call to Him."
This means, first, "He will grant me an audience. He will hear what I
have to say." There were certain princes of Media and Persia who had
the right to come to the king whenever they pleased. Such is the right
of all the godly–whenever you desire to speak with God, God is waiting
to hear you. Oh, what a privilege is this! There are none of us who
could go to see earthly kings and queens whenever we liked–we would
have to be properly introduced and go through all manner of forms and
ceremonies. But through the one Mediator between God and men, we have
the right at any moment of the day or night to have an audience with
the King of kings and Lord of lords!
It means, next, "The Lord will not only hear, but He will answer me. "
Answer is intended in the word, "hear"– "The Lord will hear when I
call to Him." Ask what you will, O you children of the King, and it
shall be done unto you! Ask Him not merely for the half of His Kingdom,
but for the whole of it, and you shall have it. "No good thing will He
withhold from them that walk uprightly." "He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not, with Him, also
freely give us all things?"
I am not going to preach about that part of my subject, I only want to
apply it. Many of you, dear Brothers and Sisters, desire to commune at
the Lord's Table, yet I hear one say, "I feel so dull, I do not know
whether I dare come to the Table. I seem as if I were dead and I cannot
get out of this cold, lethargic state." Let me whisper this message in
your ear–"The Lord will hear you when you call to Him."Now, then,
pray, "Lord, quicken me."–
"DDear Lord! And shall we ever lie At this poor dying rate? Our love so
faint, so cold to You And You to us so great? Come, Holy Spirit,
heavenly Dove, With all Your quickening powers, Come, shed abroad a
Savior's love, And that shall kindle ours."
You need not be dull, you need not be lethargic–up with you, for you
have wings! Ask the Lord to help you to stretch them out that you may
rise superior to everything earth-born and groveling, up into communion
with the Most High. Try the power of prayer now!
"Ah," sighs another, "but I feel so desponding, I am as heavy as lead.
If I were thrown up, I should fall down again. I have so many doubts, I
have such a sinking of spirit that I often question whether I am a
child of God at all."Now listen to our text–"The Lord will hear when I
call to Him." Call unto Him, "Lord, bring my soul out of prison! Lord,
appear to Your poor servant!"–
"Shine, Lord, and my terror shall cease, The blood of Atonement apply.
And lead me to Jesus for peace, The Rock that is higher than I"
There is no need for you to be "down in the dumps."–
"Why should the children of a King Go mourning all their days?"
Come, Brothers and Sisters, you can get rid of those clouds–
"Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw, Prayer climbs the ladder
Jacob saw, Gives exercise to faith and love, Brings every blessing from
above." Try it now, believing and expecting that the Lord will hear
you! You see, He has set you apart for Himself–you belong to Him, you
are His treasure, His jewel, the signet on His finger, the delight of
His heart! Your name is engraved on the palms of His hands! Do you
think He wishes you to be in this miserable state? Oh, no, He has sent
the Comforter to deal with just such as you are! One Person of the
Divine Trinity has undertaken the office of comforting the people of
God, therefore He must want you to be happy and comfortable. Cry to Him
to bring you up out of your low estate.
But I hear a Brother say, "I have a great trouble on me, I have
sustained a very heavy, a very serious loss in my business." Another
says, "I have lost a dear child and there is another loved one
sickening." "Ah," cries one, "if you were to step into my house, you
would find it like the wards of a hospital! Everybody in it seems to be
ill. I am the man that has seen affliction?" Are you, dear Brother?
Then you are the very man who ought to pray and to say, "The Lord will
hear when I call to Him." He will either take your trouble away, or
else make you glad that it ever came. He will either take your burden
off, or else He will give you a strong back to bear it! I do not think
it matters much which it is–whether He takes off the burden or
strengthens the back. You know, the deeper your troubles, the louder
shall be your song at the last–and God will get more glory out of you
by a life of trial than if you had a smooth path all the way. Come,
then, call to Him!
"The Lord will hear when I call to Him." This seems a very wonderful
sentence. What is there in me which is a reason why the Lord should
hear me when I call to Him? Let me explain this marvel. There is a
little boy who lives at your house and I say to him, "I have called to
see your father, but he will not see me." "Oh," says the lad, "he
always sees me." "Your father will not let me speak to him." "He always
lets me speak to him," says the boy. What is there in that little child
that makes the man hear himwhen he will not hear me? Why, you see, it
is his own boy! And the father will, of course, see and hear his own
child. And you are the Lord's own child, so He will hear you! Therefore
take your troubles to Him. If the father will not hear his boy in
ordinary times, yet when the lad cries, "O father, I feel so ill!" the
loving parent says, "Come here, my child, and tell me all about it."
That is what the Lord says to you now, my poor, weary, heavy-laden
Brother. The Lord will hear you, I am quite sure of it. Therefore call
on Him and get rid of those burdens.
"Ah," says one, "but my trouble is that I want to have my children
converted." Then, pray for them, pray for them! "Oh, but it is my
husband who is not a Christian!" says another. Then, pray for him. "I
have prayed," says one. Pray on, dear Sister, and the Lord will hear
you! "I am afraid my husband will not be saved." Well, you must not be
afraid, but say with David, "The Lord will hear when I call to Him."
"Ah," says another, "but I have to go back tomorrow into business and I
shall have to work with so many ungodly men–my life is one long
struggle." Well, never mind about that tonight–it is not Monday, yet.
Let us get Monday's Grace when Monday comes! And let us now enjoy
ourselves as we repeat this precious text, "The Lord will hear when I
call to Him."
He will either stop those wicked men's mouths, or else He will open
yours. He will give you the right word by way of reply, or else He will
not let them say anything that needs a reply. Only tell the Lord about
them! You would like to come and see me and tell meabout them, but I do
not particularly want to hear it and I cannot do you much good if I
dohear it. Go and tell my Master about it! "I want to speak with some
Christian friend." Well, do so, if you like, but remember that–
"Were half the breath thus vainly spent, To Heaven in supplication
sent, Your cheerful song would oftener be, 'Hear what the Lord has done
for me!'"
"The Lord will hear when I call to Him." Call unto Him now and He will
hear and answer you! And so let us come to His Table, happy and joyful,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM119:25-32.
Verse 25. My soul cleaves unto the dust quicken me according to Your
Word. "I feel heavy, unhappy, dull. 'My soul cleaves unto the dust.' Or
I feel worldly, lethargic, lifeless. 'My soul cleaves unto the dust.'
There is nothing but the power of new life that can separate me from
that dust! 'Quicken me according to Your Word.'" Divine life is the
great cure for most spiritual evils. When a man has vigorous life in
his constitution, he throws off many diseases. And when the soul is
full of spiritual life, it masters a great number of evils. "My soul
cleaves unto the dust: quicken me according to Your Word." That is good
pleading–"according to Your promise, for You have promised to quicken
me. It is the nature of Your Word to be quick and quickening;
therefore, Lord, 'quicken me according to Your Word.'"
26. I have declared my ways, and You heard me: teach me Your statutes.
"I have confessed my wrong; now, O Lord, teach me what is right! I have
acknowledged my sin; now, O Lord, lead me in the paths of holiness!
'Teach me Your statutes.'"
7. Make me to understand the way of Your precepts: so shall I talk of
Your wondrous works. He who fully understands the way of God's precepts
must talk of His wondrous works. There is a power about that Truth of
God in the heart to unloosen the most stammering tongue! We are bound
to speak of that which God teaches us. "Make me to understand the way
of Your precepts: so shall I talk of Your wondrous works."
28. My soul melts for heaviness: strengthen me according to Your Word.
Are any of you, dear Friends, in that condition? Do your hearts melt
within you? It is a sore trouble, as I know full well. "The spirit of a
man will sustain his infirmity," but when his very soul melts for
heaviness, what is he to do, then? Why, even then he may pray! No, then
he mustpray and this may be the burden of his prayer, "Strengthen me
according to Your Word." Notice, Beloved, how the Psalmist keeps
harping upon that string–"according to Your Word." If your prayer is
according to God's Word, you may expect a comfortable answer, sooner or
later. We know that God will not act contrary to His Word. He who is
not a man of his word is despised and if there could be One who was not
a God of His Word, what would be said of Him? But, my tried Friend, He
will make His Word true to you to the very letter! Therefore still cry
to Him, "Strengthen me according to Your Word."
29. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me Your Law graciously.
"Lord, let me not be pestered by liars, and let me never fall into any
measure of falsehood myself." There is a way of thinking better of
yourself than you deserve, which is a form of lying. There is a method
of supposing that you have experienced what you never have experienced
and that you have attained to what you never have attained–that also
is a way of falsehood. May God remove it from us and may we have the
Law of the Lord written on our hearts! "Remove from me the way of
lying: and grant me Your Law graciously."
30. I have chosen the way of Truth ' 'I want to be true, I want to know
the Truth of God, I want to feel the Truth, I want to practice the
Truth–'I have chosen the way of Truth.'"
30. Your judgments have I laid before me. "Like a map, so that I might
follow the way of Truth as I see it drawn out in letters of light in
Your Word." The man who spreads out God's Word before him, like a map
of the road, is not likely to make a mistake in his journeying!
31. I have stuck to Your testimonies. I like that word, "stuck." "I
have stuck to Your testimonies." "I could not be drawn or dragged away
from them. Some have told me of some fine new ideas and modern grand
discoveries, but 'I have stuck unto Your testimonies.' They came before
me with something very artistic and scientific, but 'I have stuck unto
Your testimonies'"
31. O LORD, put me not to shame. You may rest assured that He never
will! If a man clings to God, God will cleave to him. If we are not
ashamed of God, He will never put us to shame, but we shall go from
strength to strength glorying in His Truth and Grace.
32. I will run the way of Your commandments, when You shall enlarge my
heart There is an enlargement of the heart that is very dangerous, but
this kind of enlargement of the heart is the most healthy thing that
can happen to a man! A great heart, you see, is a running heart. A
little heart goes slowly, but an enlarged heart runs in the way of
God's Commandments. Oh, for a heart full of love to God! And then to
have that heart made larger, so as to hold more of God's love! Lord.
enlarge my heart in that sense! Let me feel at home and at liberty with
You! Let the last link of my bondage be snapped. Amen.