Enquiring of God

Enquiring of God

(No. 2996)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1906.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MAY
10, 1863.

"And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORRD,
saying, Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?" 2 Samuel 2:1.

You perceive, dear Friends, that, although David knew that he was
anointed to be king over Israel, yet he would not take a step towards
his rightful position without first asking guidance from God and,
moreover, he was not content with a general direction, but wanted to
have a particular and special indication as to where he was to go. It
was not enough for God to say to him, "Go up"–he wants to know
precisely to which town of Judah he shall go!

Nor, mark you, was this an exception to David's usual habit. From his
youth up, he had been accustomed to ask the Lord's direction in all
cases of difficulty. When he fled from Saul and went to Nod, to
Abimelech the priest, Doeg told Saul that Abimelech enquired of the
Lord for David. It was not enough for David that he had Goliath's
sword, he must also have guidance from God. When he was in the town of
Keilah, which he had rescued from the Philistines, after he had twice
enquired of the Lord whether he should do so, he asked whether the men
of Keilah would deliver him up to Saul and, as a result of the oracular
response which he obtained from God, he was able to make good his
escape. Afterwards, when David had become king over Israel in Hebron,
before he fought with the Philistines, he enquired of the Lord, "Shall
I go up to the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?" The
Lord's answer was favorable and David gained a great victory. But when
the Philistines came up again, David did not go out to fight with them
until he had once more enquired of the Lord–and then it was that God
gave him that memorable answer, "And let it be when you hear the sound
of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then you shall
bestir yourself; for then shall the Lord go out before you, to smite
the hosts of the Philistines." David was a man who always needed to see
God's finger pointing out the right road, to hear God's voice, saying,
"This is the way, walk you in it." And he never seemed to be satisfied
unless he could hear the sound of his Master's feet close behind him,
or see a clear indication that his Master was just in front of him, or
walking by his side!

I hold up David to you as a model for your imitation in this respect,
although I am going to leave David and talk more generally of the duty
of enquiring of God as to what we shall do when we are in any
difficulty and, indeed, of enquiring of Him at all times, whether we
are in difficulty or not!

I. My first remark is that TO ENQUIRE OF THE LORD AND TO SEEK GUIDANCE
AT HIS HANDS IS THE DUTY OF ALL CHRISTIANS.

This may be inferred from God's relationship to them. God is their
Father and they are His children–minors who have not yet come of age.
When a son is of age, it is respectful and often very prudent for him
to still consult his experienced sire, but the child in his minority
should venture upon nothing of importance without first going to tell
his father. And if that child is beset by many false friends–by those
who would mislead and ruin him–it will be his privilege as well as his
duty to be often running to his parent and saying, "Father, what shall
I do in this matter? What is true and what is not? Show me what you
would have me do." If God is our Father, we are His children. And if we
do not consult Him, surely we are but sorry children. We lose a great
blessing and incur no small guilt if, professing to be the sons and
daughters of our Father who is in Heaven, we never ask Him to direct
our way!

We also talk of God as our Shepherd. And an important part of a
shepherd's duty is that of guiding his flock. What would you think if,
in the East, where the shepherd leads the way, the sheep should all
think themselves wise enough to find the road alone? Why, the flocks
would soon be broken up and the pastoral relationship would become mere
farce! If

God is your Shepherd, follow Him. Often say to Him, "Show me the
footsteps of the flock." Desire always to hear the Shepherd's voice,
for this is the mark of God's sheep! "My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me." How can you call God your Shepherd if
you do not follow Him and never consult Him?

Do you not know also, dearly Beloved, that Christ calls us His spouse?
But what sort of spouse would she be who never entrusted any of her
secrets to her husband and who asked no counsel of him even when she
came into dire distress? There may be some women who are wiser than
their husbands and who can give advice rather than require to ask it,
but it is not so in this case, for never did any other husband have so
weak and foolish a spouse as Jesus Christ has! In fact, her only wisdom
is to confess her folly and to throw herself into her Husband's arms,
and cry–

"Lead me all my journey through!'

What can be our reason for calling God our Lord if we refuse to consult
Him? Do not even the heathen always conclude that a god is to be
consulted? Though their lying oracles have deluded them, yet have they
always been right in the idea that the very thought of godhead implied
guidance! And shall we turn away from Jehovah who really can guide us?
While the heathen look to stocks of wood and stone, shall we confide in
human oracles and neglect to consult God who knows all things?

I find an argument for this Truth of God in the offices of the Lord
Jesus Christ What is our blessed Lord to us? He is a Prophet. But how
can He be a Prophet to us if we never go to Him? What does the sacred
mantle that He wears mean if He is never consulted? Is not His office a
mere name, an empty title, an office which has no value, if we call Him
Prophet and yet never seek His face, nor say to Him, "What is the way
that I am to take? Be pleased to direct me in it." He is a Priest–but
is it not part of a priest's duty to use the Urim and the Thummim upon
His breastplate and to show to those who go to Him what is the proper
path for them to take? But how can I call Christ my Priest if I never
consult Him? He is neither Prophet nor Priest to me if I choose my own
way or cut out my own path for myself.

In one place, at least, Christ is called a Counselor–"His name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace." But how is He your Counselor if you never consult
Him? I cannot think that Christ takes upon Himself empty names and
titles! I read in a Preface to our Bible, "James, by the Grace of God,
King of Great Britain, France and Ireland." There is an empty title,
for he was never king of France, though he was called so. But Christ
has no empty titles! He is called King because He reigns! And He is
called Counselor because He gives advice to His people and pleads their
cause! If you would not, therefore, make out Christ's offices to be
worthless, and His glorious titles to be but empty words, go and
consult Him, for thus you shall make His heart glad and magnify His
name and prove your love to Him!

But, dear Friends, there is an argument which comes closer home than
this. Our own character should teach us the duty of enquiring of the
Lord. If you know yourself rightly, you know that you are very far from
being wise. If I understand myself rightly, I was born like the wild
ass colts–with strong passions and much willfulness, but with no
knowledge, or experience–and needing much guidance for the whole of
life. What is the experience of the most experienced of men worth? I
can conceive that in the eyes of God, the greatest wisdom of Solomon
was the greatest folly, and that the experience of Job was but as the
knowledge of a day! One of Job's friends said, "We are but of
yesterday, and know nothing." And when we think we know the most, we
generally know the least.

You have probably noticed that good men usually fail just where they
think they are strongest, yes, and where they really are strongest!
Noah was a preacher of righteousness, yet did he fail in righteousness
when his sons saw him in a state of drunkenness. Moses was exceedingly
meek, yet did he lose his temper and say, "Hear now, you rebels! Must
we fetch you water out of this Rock?" Look, too, at Job, one who
excelled in patience, yet he failed in patience. And you and I will
find that the devil will carry our hearts by storm, not where we think
the walls are weak, or the fortress is dismantled, but just where the
flag waves defiantly over the strongest and loftiest part of our
bastion, for Satan delights to pull down our lofty things of which we
are so proud–just as God loves to pull down the lofty things of sin!
See to it then, Christian, since you are so weak and since you cannot
see a day, nor a minute before you, that you often enquire of your God!
I think, too, your past indiscretions and the distresses into which
your willfulness has driven you might teach you henceforth to wait only
upon God.

I shall give only one other argument, here, because I need not prove
what all admit, but what so few practice. The Christian should enquire
of his God for his own avowed objective in life. We profess, though we
do not carry it out as we

ought, that we are living for God. Is there a man living who could
truly say, with Paul, "For to me to live is Christ"? I believe there
are hundreds and thousands of such men, but I do not believe that
anything like one-half of the professing Christians of today know what
that test really means. "For to me to live is Christ." If they
truthfully wrote their own commentaries upon it, many of them would
say, "We cannot say that. We never could be so enthusiastic or so
fanatical as to say that." And they would almost as soon give up their
profession of Christianity as attempt to carry out that text as it
ought to be carried out! Yet this is what we profess–and if we profess
to live for God's Glory and for the extension of Christ's Kingdom, how
can we do it except in God's strength? And how will God give us His
strength without also giving us His wisdom with which to use it? A man
clothed with Divine energy, unaccompanied by Divine wisdom, would be
one of the most dangerous persons in the whole world! A man who can
speak so as to move the multitude and to stir the souls of men, is a
very dangerous person unless piety fills his heart and the Grace of God
controls his tongue. Suppose that man to have Divine power given to
Him, as Judas had in a certain sense, but without the wisdom of God to
guide him? We might as well have a devil on earth as have such a man as
that! No, if we could succeed in attaining our avowed objective in
life–the glorifying of God–we must enquire of Him!

II. Now I come to a second remark which is this. IF CHRISTIANS ASK GOD
TO GUIDE THEM IN EVERYTHING THEY DO, THEY OUGHT TO SEE TO IT THAT THEY
NEVER DO ANYTHING ABOUT WHICH

THEY CANNOT ASK GOD'S GUIDANCE.

This Truth of God comes close to home to some people. For instance,
unlawful pleasures are manifestly forbidden to the Christian. Those
which the worldling may indulge in without any very great injury to
himself are forbidden to the true Christian because he cannot enquire
of the Lord about them. I have heard of people who say that they can go
to the theater and yet are Christians. Well now, I would like somebody
to write a form of prayer to be used by Christians in theatres,
something to this effect–"O Lord, lead me not into temptation, but be
pleased to bless the play tonight to my soul's welfare. Grant that if
it is Your will that I should die here, I may enter into eternal life
having gone from the pleasures of this life to the pleasures that are
to be hereafter!" If I were to write such a prayer as that, you would
say, "Oh, that is shocking! It is shocking for anybody even to thinkof
praying there!" Ah, it is shocking–not shocking to think of praying,
but shocking to go where you dare not pray Should a Christian ever be
anywhere where he would be ashamed to die? I heard a lady once say that
religion ought to be confined to places of worship and that it ought
not to be talked about anywhere else. So I suggested to her that we
ought to have our places of worship made larger, for, of course, people
would want religion when they came to die–so they had better die where
religion would be in its proper place!

A Christian knows that he should not go to such places of amusement as
worldlings frequent–they may go without any very great mischief, but
he may not. He could not feed on the fare that is provided there, for
it is not to his taste and, moreover, he would not go there because he
could not expect to have communion with Christ there. And he could not
ask God's blessing upon his going there. There are many amusements in
the world–and you can always tell which are right and which are wrong
by this text. You may do anything upon which you can ask God's
blessing–but if you cannot ask God's blessing upon it, have nothing to
do with it! If there are any things about which you have any doubt,
leave them alone! Another man who has no doubt about the matter, may do
without sin what you must not do if you have any doubt about it. If you
feel, in your conscience, that you can expect the Lord's blessing and
maintain communion with Christ in what you do, then you may do it. But
if not, it is at your peril that you will do it.

Then there are unlawful avocations in which Christians must not be
engaged. I could not ask the Lord's blessing if I were selling gin and
other liquors all day long. I do not know how some men may feel, but if
I had pocketed the fools' pence, I could not pray, "Lord, be pleased to
guide me where I shall open the next devil's-house and set traps to
catch poor drinking men." I should expect, if I went to ask God's
guidance about that matter, that I should receive a very sharp rebuke
from Him for having the impudence to ask Him about any such thing!
There are also other trades and employments which you must not touch,
as you know that they are so beset with evil customs that you cannot
ask the Lord's blessing upon them. I am sure that man up in the gallery
did not ask the Lord to bless him when he was taking his shutters down
this morning–and as he could not ask God's blessing upon it, he ought
not to have done it! There are some of you here who still have your
shops open. Your daughter hates the business, but she is chained to the
counter while you are here. How can you come to the House of God and
yet violate the Day of God? Have you any conscience or have you drugged
it to sleep? If you should have your house full of silver and gold
gained by such trading as that, it will be a curse to you and a curse
to your children–and to your children's children! It is a curse to
have that which has not God's blessing upon it–and ill-gotten gains
never can have it. Old Hard-Fists cannot ask God's blessing upon his
action when he takes his brother by the throat, and says, "Pay me what
you owe, even to the uttermost farthing." And the man who grinds down
the poor needlewomen who work for him cannot ask God's
blessing–neither can the man who pays his employees barely enough to
get a crust of bread, yet spreads out his money and says, "Thank God
that He has given me wealth!" No, the curse of the Almighty rests upon
them and God will one day avenge the blood of those whom they have
cruelly put to death that they might increase their ill-gotten gains!

I pray you, members of this Church, and members of Christ's body
everywhere, touch nothing upon which you cannot ask God's blessing! The
moment you perceive that God cannot be consulted about a thing, turn
your back upon it and say, "Let those who mean to damn their souls do
the devil's work! But a Christian must not and will not touch it." I am
aware that in my saying these things, I may strike some persons who are
engaged in trades which they conduct lawfully. My censure is not
intended for those persons who, though in a trade which I might not
choose, yet do their best to conduct it honorably. Still, I would make
the censure as sweeping as it ought to be, for there are far too many
men merely for gain following that which they know is damnable–and
must in the end ruin their own souls!

I think this rule may help guide you through life–Do nothing upon
which you cannot ask God's blessing. Young woman, if you can ask the
Lord's blessing upon your contemplated marriage, you may enter upon it.
Young man, if you can ask the Lord's blessing upon the taking of that
new shop, you may do it. You who already have plenty of business and
who now give some of your time to God's cause, but who know that if you
take that next shop, you cannot continue to do so, ought not to give up
the service of God's House in order to increase your worldly business.
I am not always sorry when men do not get on in business as fast as
they wish, for I remember the case of good Jehoshaphat who "made ships
of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not, for they were
broken at Eziongeber." And a great mercy that they were, for if they
had gone and had brought the gold to the king, I do not know what
Jehoshaphat might have done with it! Was it not Mr. Cecil, who, on
hearing that one of his friends had come in for a great deal of money,
went to sympathize with him and to pray for him, "under the trying
circumstances"? Doubtless, the more a man has, the more is he tempted
not to use it rightly. And while it is, in some senses, a high
privilege to have wealth, yet it involves such solemn responsibilities
that a man should never have it without enquiring of God how he can
rightly use it.

III. Now, thirdly, THIS DIVINE GUIDANCE IS AS NECESSARY, NOW, AS IT
EVER WAS, AND IT IS

NECESSARY IN ALL THINGS.

Some people say, "Yes, we believe that the Lord's guidance would be a
great blessing to us, and that it is our duty to seek it. But how can
we get it? There is no priest to whom we can go for direction and we
cannot go to our minister and say, 'What shall we do?' He is not able
to give us the Infallible answer we need." Your minister does not wish
to do it, for he thinks he is better employed in preaching the Gospel
to you and giving you Infallible directions concerning your immortal
souls! I certainly do not approve of the practice by which some people
say they can tell the Lord's will by just opening the Bible and
noticing the first text which catches their eye. I know that Mr. Wesley
frequently practiced this plan, but, like some other good men, he had
his faults and I know that others have imitated him. But I should think
myself no more justified in seeking guidance in that way than I should
in shuffling a pack of cards! I could no more expect to be guided by a
text of Scripture, picked out in that haphazard style, than by a
Norwood Gypsy. No, no! We are above all that kind of thing!

How, then, does God guide His people? Well, there are several ways
which are very clear, and the first is, God guides them by His Word. I
will suppose there is a young woman here who is contemplating marriage
and she wants to know whether it would be right. She turns to her Bible
and she finds this text–"Be you not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers." The young man in question is an unbeliever, so she does
not need to turn to any other passage of Scripture, for this one is
decisive. If she really wants to know God's will, here it is–and she
could not have it more clearly even if God were to flash it in
lightning across the sky, or roll it out in tones of thunder! This is
the way plainly marked out for her and I would that she and all other
young Christians–before they ruin their prospects, before they bring
upon themselves lifelong misery–would hear the voice of God saying to
them, "Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." The case
is as plain as possible. Nobody need be consulted. You need not go to
friends. You need not come to me and ask, "What ought I do?" If you are
disobedient and are afterwards made miserable, it is nothing more than

you ought to expect. I single that case out because it happens to be
one that often comes up, especially in a large congregation like the
present, with so many in it who are young. And here, I say, God's Word
becomes a faithful and unerring guide!

I have heard of a poor Christian man who was in great difficulty. One
day, when his wife and children were almost starving, and were
shivering with cold, and he had nothing with which to make a fire, the
devil said to him, "Your rich neighbor has a good stack of wood and you
may go and take some of it, for the Bible says that, "all things are
yours.'" He was going to take it, but, all of a sudden, that old
command came into his mind, "You shall not steal." That was quite
enough for him–he did not need anything else. He turned back at once,
for God's Word was to him a sufficient guide.

The next guidance is our own spiritual profit and God's Glory. You need
to know whether you shall move to such-and-such a town. Well, is there
a good Evangelical minister there? Can you hear the Word to profit in
that town? If not, unless there are some very strong reasons why you
should go there, you ought to remain where your soul can be best
profited. A man would often be better off with less earnings where he
could hear a faithful minister than with more money in a place where
the Gospel is not preached! Ask the question, too, "Can I serve God
there?" If you cannot, what right have you to go there? If you have to
give up a sphere of usefulness and there is no other sphere open to
you, then pause. You will always know which way to go if you have this
compass in your hand, for it will always point you to the right pole.
And if you use it, you will always be guided to the paths of
righteousness–Can I serve God there? Will my soul be in a more healthy
state if I go there?

Then another way of guidance is by the leadings of Divine Providence.
This is nothing as clear as the rules I have already given you, because
when you want to do a thing, you can always find a Providence which
seems to be in favor of it. It is remarkable how many ministers leave
salaries of £200 a year in places where they might still have been
comfortable and useful, to go where they would get £250 a year–they
have said it was Providence–but it is equally remarkable how very few
of them ever move from £250 to £200. I have but little faith in
"Providence" of this sort! I believe in Divine Providence, but I do not
always believe in what people speak of as Providence. They say, "There
is such-and-such a thing. I know it is not quite right, but I would
like to have it. And then, you see, there is so-and-so, and so-and-so,
and so-and-so, and–it looks quite like Providence." Nonsense! God's
Providence never permits you to do wrong! But when you wish to act for
the Glory of God, a path cleared before you and an open door will help
you to feel that you are being Infallibly led by the Providence and the
Word of God–and by His Spirit in your heart.

Beside this, I think that young people would do well to seek advice
from experienced and consistent Christian friends. By stating their
difficulty, it may be that God's servant will be helped to tell them
just what they need and, often, you may receive through the lips of a
preacher who knows nothing of your case, guidance from God. Many and
many a time have I seen this to be the case! God has told the preacher
what to say about a certain person's case although he did not even know
who the person was to whom he was unconsciously speaking–and who was
rightly guided by what the preacher was moved to say.

Sometime, too, but rarely, God guides us by very vivid impressions. I
have seen so much of people who have been impressed this way and that
way, and the other way, that I do not believe in impressions except in
certain cases. I was once in conversation with two friends, one of whom
was guided by his judgment, while the other was swayed by impressions,
and I could not help noting that the man who was guided by impressions
was, as such people will always be, "unstable as water." If I am
impressed in one way one day, I may be impressed in another way the
next day, so impressions are unreliable guides. There was a young man
who was impressed with the idea that he ought to preach for me one
Lord's-Day. But as I was not impressed to let him do so, he lost out
and probably will continue to lose out for some little time! He had no
gifts of speech, but he thought his impression was quite sufficient.
When I receive a similar impression, the Revelation will be a proper
one and you will have the pleasure of listening to his voice, but
certainly not before that!

Occasionally, impressions do guide a man right. A Quaker, one night,
could not sleep and he had a very strong impression that he must get up
and saddle and mount his horse. He did so and rode along the streets,
his horse's hoofs noisily clattering in the silence of the night. He
did not know where he was to go, but there was a light in one house,
and something seemed to say to him, "This is the house to which you are
to go." He dismounted and knocked at the door. A

man came down and asked why he was there at that time of night.
"Perhaps, Friend," answered the Quaker, "you can tell me, for I do not
know, but I have been moved to come here." "I can tell you, indeed,"
said the man, with much emotion, and he took him upstairs and showed
him a short halter with which he was about to hang himself when the
Quaker came to his door! Such strong impressions are not to be despised
and I have no doubt that highly spiritual minds do become like the
photographer's sensitive plate and receive impressions. What another
man may be a fool for talking of, such men may truly speak of, for God
does sometimes reveals His will in that way.

IV. And now, to close, let me say that WHEN WE HAVE RECEIVED COUNSEL
FROM GOD ABOUT

ANYTHING, LET US ACT ACCORDING TO IT.

If you go and ask God about anything, do not, as some people do when
they consult their minister, make up your mind beforehand as to what
you will do. But having consulted your God and learned what is His
will, mind that you do it. If all the devils in Hell stand in your way,
mind that you do it. If friends oppose and foes assail you, still do
it. There may be a point on which I differ from you, but I shall do
what I believe is right and shall not hesitate, whoever may oppose.
When God moves us, we are not to be turned aside by any man's words, or
by a thousand men's words. If once we have, "Thus says the Lord," we
must and will go on over the mountains and through the seas if God so
wills it.

I will finish with an instance of what I mean. There was a missionary,
who is still living, who had given himself to God's cause and had gone
out without purse or scrip, simply depending on the bounty of Heaven.
He was called, in the Providence of God, to go in a vessel to one of
the guano islands where a great number of ships were congregated to
take away that valuable manure. He found very little opportunity of
serving his Master for some time until a mutiny broke out on the
island. The mariners rebelled. They fought with the men employed in
moving the manure and the most fearful scenes ensued–the men being
drunk from morning till night. The ship-masters did not know what to
do, but at last they sent for one of Her Majesty's men-of-war. It came
and when the captain had landed with the marines, he told the mutineers
that unless they submitted at once, he would fire upon them. They
appeared to be very humble and seemed to be subdued at once. The vessel
could not stay long, for she was looking out for slavers on the African
coast, and as soon as the ship was out of sight, the mutineers were as
wild and ferocious as they were before.

There was one man there–no very extraordinary man in his own
esteem–he sits behind me now. He was the missionary of whom I spoke.
He felt in his heart that he had a call from God to speak to those men,
so he begged the captain to send him on shore in a boat. But the
captain said he was not such a fool, for the missionary would be killed
directly. He asked again, but received a similar refusal. He found
another captain and persuaded him to plead his cause and, at last,
after much talking, it was agreed that he should go, though the captain
said, "You will surely not go and preach the Gospel to those
devils–they ought to be hung, everyone of them." The missionary said
that he felt that God had called him to do it and he would go. So he
was rowed ashore and down came these fiends in human shape to meet him.
He felt some little apprehension, but he was sure that he was doing the
right thing. He had asked counsel of God and he knew that God would
help him, so he pulled out of his pocket a Bethel flag.

The great, rough fellows came crowding round him, but, holding up the
Bethel flag, he began talking to them as if he had been the coolest and
most collected man in the world, though I expect his heart was beating
fast all the time. He said, "My good fellows, they tell me that you are
like devils, that you won't work, and that it is no use for me to come
to talk to you. But I believe that some of you had pious mothers who
used to teach you the Gospel. And I know that when you were in England,
you were not what you are now. Besides, I have heard you sing your
songs and I should like you to sing with me now." Then he gave out the
hymn–

"O God of Bethel by whose hand Your people still are fed Who through
this weary pilgrimage Have all our fathers led."

After they had sung the hymn, he went on talking to them. And when some
big fellows, a little way off, looked as though they were meditating
mischief, he pointed to them and said, "If any of you attempt to
disturb me, there are plenty of good fellows round me who will stop
you, so you had better come and listen to what I have to say." The men
came near and he preached to them with fervency and power–and his
Master's blessing was upon him, for, the next day, all the men were at
their work again–and many of them were ready to do as they had done in
their better days! And what Her Majesty's ship, with so many guns,
could not do, the poor preacher's word did, for it turned the lions
into lambs!

Whenever any of you have anything to do which you know is right, do it!
After you have enquired of God, do not stop to consult friends, but go
and do it! Take your sling and your stone and, in God's name, sling the
stone into the giant's forehead and, like David, come back victorious,
for that shall be your last answer to those who would persuade you not
to do it! Never ask God to guide you and then, when He says, "This is
the way," stand still, and say, "That way is too hard, too stern, too
difficult, I will not walk in it." Go forward, for, if Hell, itself,
were before you, God would divide it even as he divided the Red Sea for
His ancient people! Only have faith in God, for "all things are
possible to him who believes." There is one short message that God
gives for guidance to everyone of us and more especially to you who are
not converted! It is this, "Seek you My face." This very moment,
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved," for, "now is
the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation!" When you have
taken God's advice concerning your poor soul's eternal welfare. When
you have believed in Jesus to the salvation of your soul–then go to
Him about your temporal concerns and about everything–and you will
then be able to say, with the Psalmist, "You shall guide me with Your
counsel, and afterward receive me to Glory."

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM 63.

"A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah."

Shall we praise God in the garden and not praise him in the wilderness?
No! We will sing a new song when we come into the desert, for, even if
we are in a desert, that is no reason why there should be a desert in
us, so let us praise God even in our wilderness experience!

Verse 1. O God. Two very solemn words. Never use them, I pray you, as
hasty, thoughtless expressions. God's name must never be taken in vain.
I fear that there are some who do this and are not rebuked for it. When
we say, "O God," there ought to be something solemn to follow.

1. You are my God. The second word, "God," signifies, "my strong one,
my mighty one, to whom I can bring all my weakness and all my care; for
You are strong enough to take care of me even in the wilderness."

1. Early will I seek You. That is, "at once." "I will not delay, but
immediately will I seek You. I will not so much seek to get out of the
wilderness, or seek for comfort in the wilderness, as seek for
everything in You."

1. My soul thirsts for You.This is a blessed experience. It is a sad
thing to be without God in any degree, but it is a blessed thing when
we cannot rest without Him.

1. My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.
' 'My flesh"–that lowest part of me–even that has been awakened and
quickened! "My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land, where no
water is." "Where there is no water, no well, no cloud, no rain, I am
longing for You, my God." "My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty
land, where no water is"

2. To see Your power and Your Glory, so as I have seen You in the
sanctuary. David remembers better times that he had enjoyed in the past
and he longs to have them back. He wants again to know, and feel, and
enjoy all he has ever known, and felt and enjoyed. And, blessed be God,
He will grant us that gift!

3. 4. Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall
praise You. Thus will I bless You while I live. "Whether I live in a
sterile wilderness or in a fertile land, I will bless You while I
live."

4. I will lift up my hands in Your name. "I will pluck up my spirit. I
will begin to pray. I will begin to work. I will look toward Heaven–'I
will lift up my hands in Your name.'"

5. My soul shall be satisfied with marrow and fatness, and my mouth
shall praise You with joyful lips. There is everything that is
satisfactory in God. If we do but enjoy His Presence, we cannot lack
anything. Are we not put, as it were, into Heaven itself when we are
brought near to God? Are we not willing to remain for a while on earth
and to stay out of Heaven, if we may but have the Lord with us and
constantly enjoy His company?

6. When I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the night
watches. When one is living near to God, he is not afraid of
sleeplessness. He would be glad of the rest that sleep brings, but if
he cannot sleep, he finds a sweeter rest in God! I remarked, one day,
to one who lives very near to God, that it was a weary and sad thing to
lie sleepless. And he said to me something that stuck by me. "I do not
think so," he said, "for when I wake in the night, my Heavenly Father
talks so sweetly to me that I do not want to go back to sleep. And when
He does not want to speak to me, I speak to Him in prayer, and so the
hours glide away most happily."

7. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings
will I rejoice. "If I cannot look up and see the light of Your face,
the very shade of Your wings shall make me glad, and I will sing like a
nightingale in the dark."

8. My soul follows hard after You. The Hebrew is, "My soul is glued to
You." "I am like a dog that keeps close to his master's heels and will
not leave him."

8. Your right hand upholds me. We could not follow the Lord if His hand
were not still underneath us to keep us going.

9, 10. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the
lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a
portion for foxes. The jackal is the creature meant here, for he haunts
the battlefield and devours the slain. So it came to pass with many of
David's foes. They fell in battle and the wild beasts devoured them.

11. But the king shall rejoice in God: everyone that swears by Him
shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. If
they cannot be stopped by reason or by repentance, they shall be
stopped with a shovelful of earth, for God will stop the mouths of all
liars in one way or another.