WRITTEN WHEN AWAY FROM HIS PEOPLE,
BY C. H. SPURGEON.
"David's place was empty." 1 Samuel 20:27.
IT was quite right that David's place should be empty because Saul
sought to slay him and he could not safely sit in the presence of an
enemy who had twice before cast a javelin at him to "smite him even to
the wall with it." Self-preservation is a law of Nature which we are
bound to obey–no man should needlessly expose himself to sudden death.
It were well if many a seat were empty for this reason, for there are
places exceedingly dangerous to the soul from which men should rise and
flee at once. Where Satan sits at the head of the table, no man should
tarry. There is the seat of the scorner, of which the Psalmist
spoke–God grant that those who have occupied it may leave it in
trembling haste. There is the settle of the drunkard, the chair of the
presumptuous and the bench of the sluggard from each of which it were
wisdom to depart.
May the Grace of God make such a change in all who have frequented the
gatherings of the frivolous and the assemblies of the wicked that they
may never be found in them again, but may be missed by their old
companions who shall ask, "Why did the son of Jesse come not, neither
yesterday nor today?" The javelin of temptation may soon destroy
character, prospects and life, itself, and he is guilty of the grossest
folly who exposes himself to it by placing himself where the arch-enemy
finds chosen opportunities to work his deadly will.
At this time I shall use David's empty place for quite another purpose
and shall note, first, that in your assemblies at this time there are
SEATS EMPTIED BY DEATH. Before I had left the shores of England for the
space of two days I received the grievous intelligence that two out of
the membership of my Church had been called Home in one day. Of a
Sister, the wife of an earnest and well-beloved Deacon it must be
said–her place is empty. And of a Brother who had been her friend and
mine, the same expression must be employed. Our sympathies must now
flow forth to a bereaved husband and also to a widow in whose hearts
there are places sorrowfully emptied and in whose homes there will be
an empty chair and an empty couch which will force from their eyes
rivers of tears whenever they look upon them.
It is our firm hope and confident belief that in these cases the loss
of the House of God below is the gain of the House of God above–they
fill other and better places and even those who loved them best and
miss them most would not wish to call them back again. Jesus wills that
His own should be with Him where He is and we cannot deny that He has a
right to have them. Do not their eyes behold the King in His beauty?
Would we deprive them of the vision? May the thought of the bliss of
the departed yield solace to the surviving and may Divine consolations
be richly given by the Holy Spirit in the hour of painful bereavement.
Our places will be empty soon and we shall be missed from our
accustomed pews in the House of Prayer–let the seats which have been
just vacated remind us of this and silently call to our remembrance the
precept–"Be you also ready." Use well your places for hearing the
Gospel, for gathering at the Communion Table and for meeting for prayer
while yet the opportunities remain to you, for the time is short and an
account will have to be rendered. Love well those who are spared to you
and do them all the good you can, for their places will not hold them
forever. Cheer the aged, console the desponding, help the poor, for
they will soon be beyond your reach and when you look for them you will
be told that David's place is empty.
Permit me also to remind you that among your assemblies there are SEATS
EMPTIED BY SICKNESS for a while. You will not forget one place, the
most conspicuous, which would be empty were it not filled by willing
ministers who supply our lack of service. The Providence which empties
that place is so wise and good that, though we cannot understand its
object, we are sure that it will work for good and for the Glory of
God. May I ask that, often as I am missed, I may have a fresh interest
in your prayers, for these are a minister's wealth and a pastor's
portion. Many others of the Lord's family are also sick and detained at
home. They sigh as they remember the happy days when they went up to
the House of God in company and mingled in the solemn feasts of
Zion–but for them there are now no more the thunders of our united
shouts of praise, nor the deep Amens of our forms of prayer–and they
envy the very swallows that build their nests under the eaves of the
sanctuary.
Many of us have such afflicted ones in our own families and God forbid
that we should cease to sympathize with them in their deprivations. Yet
long continuance of health may dry the fountains of pity and lead to
forgetfulness of the sorrows of others. Therefore it is no superfluity
when we remind the healthy that there are others far less favored to
whom it is one of their sharpest sorrows that their places at public
worship are empty. Let us pray that a portion may be sent to their
homes, according to the old Law of David, "as his part is that goes
down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarries by the stuff:
they shall part alike." Let us try to make this rule of battle a matter
of fact by carrying home to the Lord's prisoners as much of the sermon
as we can.
Jacob did not go down at the first to Egypt, for he was aged and
infirm, but his sons brought back corn for him, none the less. In
telling the sick and bedridden the Truths of God which we have heard,
our own memories will be refreshed. We are bound with those who are in
bonds and we suffer with the suffering and, therefore, if we are living
members of our Lord's mystical body, it is to us a matter of personal
interest that David's seat is empty. In every well-ordered congregation
there are SEATS EMPTIED BY HOLY SERVICE. Many Christian professors
appear to think that their entire religious duty begins and ends with
attendance upon the means of Grace–no village station receives their
ministry, no ragged school enjoys their presence, no street corner
hears their voice–but their pew is filled with commendable constancy.
We do not condemn such, yet show we unto them a more excellent way. We
know scores of Brothers and Sisters who come to one service on the
Sabbath for spiritual food and then spend the rest of the day in active
labor for their Lord. They are not so unwise as to leave their own
vineyard untended by neglecting personal edification, but when this is
earnestly attended to, they hear their Master's call and go forth into
the great harvest and use the strength which their spiritual meal has
given them. In this way they are even more benefited than if they were
always "feeding," for holy exercise helps their mental digestion and
they all the more completely assimilate their sacred food! And, in
addition, they have struck a blow at the spiritual selfishness which
tempts us to enjoy religious feasts and to make ourselves comfortable
while sinners are perishing around us.
Many are the Christians whose places ought to be empty during part of
the Lord's Day–they are able-bodied and gifted and they ought not to
eat the fat and drink the sweet all day long but should be engaged in
carrying portions to those for whom otherwise nothing would be
prepared. When the great king made a wedding feast for his son, he sent
forth his servants into the highways and hedges to compel the
wanderer's to come in. Did he starve those servants? Assuredly not! Yet
he was not content to invite them to the table and leave the outsiders
to hunger and faint. His servants found it to be their meat and their
drink to do the will of him that sent them and to finish his work. Even
so will Believers receive edification while they are seeking the good
of others–like swallows, which feed on the wing–they shall find
heavenly meat while they fly in the ways of service.
The Holy Spirit delights to give more "oil for the light" to those who
are diligently shining amid the darkness. Yet, let me add a warning
here–I have known some young Believers who have lacked prudence and
have carried a good thing too far. Before they have well learned, they
have been eager to teach and to do so they have ceased learning! Their
multiplied engagements have left them no time for their own instruction
and they have left an edifying ministry to enter upon labor for which
they were not qualified. Wisdom is profitable to direct. The most of
Christians need to fill their seats for a part of the Sabbath to hear
the Word of God and very few can afford to spend the whole day in
seeking the good of others. We grieve to meet with some who are absent
from the Lord's Table for months because of their zealous occupations.
This is presenting one duty to God stained with the blood of another!
It is the positive duty of every disciple to obey the Lord's command,
"This do you in remembrance of Me" and efforts which necessitate
neglect of the Divine precept must be curtailed. Often ought we to show
His death until He comes. School teaching, street preaching, visiting
the sick and so forth cannot be regarded as a substitute for hearing
the Word and commemorating the death of the Redeemer! We must have time
to sit at the Master's feet with Mary, or soon, like Martha, we shall
be cumbered. Nevertheless, despite this word of caution, I am often
glad to hear that "David's place was empty."
It is to be feared that too easily we could find SEATS EMPTIED FOR NO
GOOD REASON. Ministers in many congregations are distressed by the
irregular attendance of their hearers. A little rain, a slight
indisposition, or some other frivolous excuse will keep many at home. A
new preacher has come into the neighborhood and the rolling stones are
moved in his direction for a season to the grievous discouragement of
the pastor. This evil of irregular attendance is most manifest at
weekday services–there, often enough, David's seat is empty. No, not
David's, for he longs to be even a doorkeeper in the house of his
God–we mean the seat of Didymus, who was not with the Apostles when
Jesus came–of Demas, who loved this present evil world and of many a
Hearer who is not also a doer of the Word of God!
In many a congregation those who gather at meetings for prayer are
shamefully few. I have no reason to complain of this as a fault among
my own beloved people to any large extent and yet I cannot shut my eyes
to the fact that there are some members of the Church who would have to
carry their memories a long way back to remember what a Prayer Meeting
is like. Little do they know what they have lost by their neglect. Ah,
my Friend, does that refer to you? Is David's place empty? Then mend
your ways and fill it! Of all soul-refreshing seasons, I have often
found week-night services to be the best. Like oases in a desert, these
quiet periods amid the cares of the week wear a greenness peculiar to
themselves. Come and try whether your experience will not tally with
mine. I believe you will find it good to be there.
Children, it is said, should be fed like chickens, "little and often,"
and to my mind, short, lively services coming frequently, on Sundays
and week-days, are more refreshing than hearing two or even three long
sermons on one day in the week only. At any rate it is good for us to
keep the feast with our Brethren and not to make them ask, "Why did not
the son of Jesse come either yesterday or today?" I must take the
liberty of being very personal to the usual attendants at the
Tabernacle. Dear Friends, do not let your seats be empty during my
absence. I shall be distressed beyond measure if I hear that the
congregations are declining!
The best preachers we can obtain are selected to address you and,
therefore, I hope you will see no need to forsake your usual place. If
you do so, it will reflect but small credit upon your pastor's
ministry, for it will be manifest that you are babes in Grace,
dependent upon one man for edification. "All are yours, whether Paul,
or Apollos, or Cephas," and if you are men and women in Christ Jesus,
you will get good out of them all and will not say, "Our own blunt
Cephas is away and we cannot hear anyone else."
I beseech you be very regular in your attendance during my absence,
lest those who preach to you should be discouraged and ourselves, also.
Above all, keep up the Prayer Meetings. Nelson said, "England expects
every man to do his duty" and, at this time, which is an emergency in
our Church history, I would say–the Church expects every member to
sustain all meetings, labors and offerings with unflagging energy–and
especially to keep up the Prayer Meetings. There, at any rate, let it
not be said of any of you, "David's place was empty."
Grace, mercy and peace be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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The Poor Man's Prayer