"The Time of Jacob's Trouble"
(No. 2645)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DRY, OCTOBER 22, 1899.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE
29, 1882.
"It is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of
it." Jeremiah 30:7.
GOD here calls the Jews by the name of Jacob. These were His people in
a very special sense, for He had chosen them from among all the nations
of the earth and had brought them near Him that they might be His own
portion, His inheritance. Yet upon these people He laid many stripes
and visited them with sore chastisements. It is true that they were a
sinful people, though they were, in many respects, better than other
nations who were, for a long while, allowed to go unpunished. Year
after year, the heathen prospered in war and had success in other
ways–but as for God's own people, waters of a full cup were wrung out
to them. As soon as the Lord had a people, they began to suffer. We
learn this very early in their history, for, after Isaac, the child of
promise, was born, it was not very long before Ishmael–"he that was
born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit."
And, as that persecution began early, it has continued late, for the
Apostle adds, "Even so it is now." There is still an enmity between the
seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman–and the seed of the
woman is made to feel the serpent's malice so that, what with a
chastising God and a biting serpent, the children of God are pretty
sure to be often in trouble! And when, by Grace, you see them in their
glittering ranks above, and ask, "Who are these which are arrayed in
white robes, and from where did they come?" This will be the summary of
the answer concerning them all, "These are they which came out of great
tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb." "The sacramental host of God's elect," in its march
through the world, may be tracked by its own blood! Read both ancient
and modern history and what will you find but an account of the
suffering and the triumphs of the people of God? Even to this day we
have to cut a lane through the enemy and fight our way to Heaven in a
stern hand-to-hand conflict. God has not yet prepared "flowery beds of
ease" for any of us, nor shall we be "carried to the skies" in
ambulances of luxury. We shall have to fight if we are to reign and we
shall have to suffer if we are to ultimately reach the land of perfect
blessedness!
This is "the time of Jacob's trouble," even this day, this present
life! Thank God it is but a day and will come to an end. But this is
not the time of Jacob's joy. He does have some delights, even here, but
his great joy is reserved for the hereafter. This is rather the time in
which the sinner rejoices and fattens himself as for the slaughter. But
God's people must expect to find that this is "the time of Jacob's
trouble."
But, dear Friends, the other Truth in our text is equally attested by
history–"he shall be saved out of it." How gloriously God's people
have been saved all along their line of march! Their campfires still
show their trail and those camp-fires have been the burnings of the
furnace that God has set up for the trying and purifying of His chosen
people. But nowhere have they been destroyed, though everywhere they
have been in affliction! They had a very narrow escape from destruction
in Haman's day–the enemy then thought that he would utterly cut off
the people of God from the face of the earth. Haman thought that he had
managed everything so well that his wicked scheme had to succeed. The
king's mandates had already gone out and on a certain day all the Jews
would be put to death. But you know how Esther, at the peril of her
life, went into the king's presence to plead for her nation and, soon,
new edicts were sent out and the chosen people put their enemies to
death! And they, themselves, were not destroyed.
Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had fixed for Mordecai, for the
hated Jew belonged to the seed which cannot be crushed, to the immortal
race which can never die out! God's people may be often trodden down,
like the grass of the field, but, as the grass springs up again and
even outlive the men who tread upon it, so will it be with God's people
even to the end! This is "the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be
saved out of it." Christ's Church shall live and flourish when her
persecutors lie in ignominious graves! Herod thought that he could
crush the chosen seed, but he was eaten by worms–while the Church of
God still lived on. The tyrant was soon swept away and so shall all be
who lift their puny hands against the people of the Most High!
It would be a very profitable subject, if one had the time to work it
out, to see how true this verse is in relation to the Jewish people and
to God's own elect ones. "It is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but
he shall be saved out of it." But I want at this time, to get at
individuals. You know that God's Truth, in Scripture, is like a
crystal. You may take a great mass of it and if you break that crystal
into fragments, every little piece will be of the same form, for every
division of the crystal is crystallized after the same fashion! In like
manner, you can split God's Truth up so as to apply it to individuals,
and then you can further divide it and apply it to each separate
incident in the life of every man–and it will still hold good–for the
Truth of God is always true and the faithful promise of God is
applicable to every part of the Christian's life.
I am going to speak to persons who are in trouble and I thought I would
take up a series of trials as illustrated by the life of Jacob–not so
much referring to his descendants, who are here called, Jacob, but
speaking concerning Jacob, himself. He was a much-tried man and one
reason for that was that he had a great deal in him that had to be
driven out. And much of it could not be gotten out of him except with a
severe shaking. Abraham, the father of the faithful, was a far grander
man in every way. Isaac was of a calm and quiet spirit, but Jacob was
naturally a worldly man. He is the father of the Jews, a business man,
a scheming man, a man who is determined not to be overreached, but who
is, perhaps, more likely to overreach others. Jacob was too much of a
man until God broke him down–he certainly was a man of a very distinct
type–and he has perpetuated that type in the whole Jewish nation to
this day. I sometimes think that the Jews seem rather to have descended
from Jacob than from Abraham, though, of course, they have really come
from Abraham, throughJacob. I have already reminded you that Jacob was
a man who had great trouble. There was a great deal of husk to that
corn and, therefore, it needed a good deal of threshing.
I. Now, looking at Jacob's career in detail, I note that he began his
life as an individual apart from the family by a trial which must have
been a very heavy one–HE HAD TO LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER. It must
have been especially painful to him to go away from his mother,
Rebekah, who had had so much of the handling of him, so much of the
making of him and, I must add, so much of the spoiling of him. And now,
because he has treated his brother Esau unfairly and has robbed him of
his blessing, coming before his father with a lie in his right hand, he
must leave his home and go among strangers. Possibly I am addressing
some who are now undergoing that experience. To leave home for the
first time, whatever your age may be, is usually very painful. Some of
us have known what it was to lie awake at night, when we had said
good-bye to father and mother and were far away from them. Some of you
have, perhaps, crossed the sea and left dear ones behind–that first
night on board ship, away from all you loved–you sobbed yourself to
sleep. These changes must come. We cannot always live in the family
nest–we must go out of it and make nests of our own. But when the
parting comes, it is often a hard task–not to coarse, rough
natures–but then I do not suppose such people are here. Gentle, kind,
delicate souls–these are they who most feel the separation from those
who are dear to them!
In Jacob's case there was a bitter ingredient which I hope is absent
from yours. The separation came very much as the result of his own
fault and his mother's fault. They must have felt it very keenly when
they were caused to part from one another. Their scheming had won the
blessing away from Esau, but now they had the shady side of the
blessing–and the shady side of a blessing is, for a while, not
materially different from a curse. Yet, by-and-by, that very shady side
becomes a marvelous blessing to the soul! When Jacob started off alone
upon his weary way, he journeyed on till, at night, he lighted upon a
certain place and took of the stones of that place for his pillow, for
that was "the time of Jacob's trouble." But, ah, dear Friends, how
sweet was the second part of our text to him! May it be equally
precious to you–"but he shall be saved out of it."
He lies down to sleep and he is saved out of his troubles as soon as he
has fallen asleep, for, in his dream, he sees a mystic ladder, the foot
of which is on earth, but the top reaches to Heaven–a marvelous vision
of that way by which we shall ascend to God–the Lord, Himself, having
first come down to us in the Person of His dear Son. It was worth while
being away from home and having such lodgings as that–to have such a
dream! Jacob did not mind the cold and heavy night dews, for there was
a dew from the Lord that refreshed his spirit! It mattered little to
him that the beasts of prey might be round about him, for the angels of
God were ascending and descending between him and the Throne of the
Infinite One! Let it be the same with you, also, dear Friend. If it is
with you, "the time of Jacob's trouble" because you are separated from
those you love, now get into all the closer union with your God! Now
begin to use that ladder, that wondrous means of communication between
your immortal spirit and the immortal God! Through Christ Jesus, look
up to your Father who is in Heaven–carry on a sacred commerce between
your soul and the heavenly world and seek to be spiritually enriched
thereby!
It would be a blessed thing if you were no longer able to rely upon an
arm of flesh, that you might be obliged to come and rest upon the
unseen arm of God. It shall be a gainful loss to you to have lost your
mother's care, but to have come nearer to the Most High! I grieve,
sometimes, when I see how God's people manage to live a great way off
from Him and yet appear to be quite comfortable, and to have all that
they could wish. But I am glad when any one of them is thrust right out
of all harmful associations and so is drawn nearer to God, for when God
says, "Come you out from among them, and be you separate," if we do not
at once obey His command, He has many ways of making us come out and it
may be that we have to come out in a fashion that is exceedingly
painful. Yet, however trying it is, it matters little if we but get
nearer to Him! We may even sing–
"Nearer, my God, to Thee–
Nearer to Thee!
Even though it be a cross
That raises me,
Still all my song shall be,
'Nearer, my God, to Thee —
Nearer to Thee!'"
Dear young Friend, you who are just now all alone, in trouble and have
come in here in the hope of receiving some comforting message, I trust
that God has meant this part of the sermon to be a word especially for
you.
II. Jacob's next trouble was that HE GOT TO HIS UNCLE LABAN.
"Laban"–read his name backwards and it is "Naball" There was not a
great deal of difference between the two men, for they were both of a
churlish disposition. La-ban was a hard, grinding taskmaster to Jacob.
He cheated him whenever he could, robbed him in all manner of ways,
changed his wages when he thought his remuneration was too large,
while, by night, the cold devoured the poor shep-herd–and by day, the
heat was most trying. Yet Laban never had such a faithful servant as
his nephew Jacob–and God blessed Laban for Jacob's sake. I really
think that I may say of that period in the Patriarch's life, "This is
the time of Jacob's trouble," for it is a very hard thing to work for
an unthankful master and, after all your trouble and pains, to get no
word of gratitude or love. Laban ought to have loved Jacob, for he was
both his nephew and his son-in-law. Jacob's wives were the daughters of
Laban and their father ought to have been kindly disposed towards him.
But both the father and the sons seem to have treated him rather as an
enemy than as a friend and so he had hard times all the while he was
with them. Perhaps some of you are saying, "Ah, Sir, you do not know my
circumstances! Mine is hard and grinding labor. I am bowed down by it
and I seem to have no sympathy whatever, even from those who ought to
be kind to me." Well, dear Friend, Jacob, you see, went that way, and
you may be content to endure, for a while, the same lot as that eminent
Patriarch. But, truly, it is a bitter grief and I can understand your
saying, "Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents
of Kedar!" "Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away
and be at rest."
Now listen to the second half of our text and believe that as it came
true to Jacob, it shall also come true to you–"It is even the time of
Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." And he was saved out
of it! He might have never left Padanaram if he had not been forced out
of it–and it was his duty to get back, as soon as he could, into the
promised land–and there live the separated life. The very hardness of
the burdens that were put upon him weaned him from the house of Laban
and made him willing to bear the hardships of a wandering life–which
must have seemed little compared with those which he endured with
churlish Laban. My dear tried Friend, God is working out some great end
for you through your troubles! It is good for young people to bear a
certain amount of burden–not that this excuses those who oppress them
and exact more than is right from them, but, "it is good for a man that
he bears the yoke in his youth."
I believe that the drinking out of the bitter cup early in life is
often followed by a long stretch of peaceful rest, besides teaching us
many a useful lesson which, otherwise, we might never have learned!
You would like to have all things arranged according to your own
wishes, would you not? And then you would grow up and be like a bull
unaccustomed to the yoke! But that is not God's method. You have to be
tamed and trained while you are young–you have to bear the yoke and,
oftentimes, you may cry to God because it seems to gall your unwilling
shoulders. But then, in later years, you will be of a tender spirit,
yourself, and so you will be the more ready and able to sympathize with
those who are down-trodden and persecuted. And you will often have to
bless God for those early afflictions which taught you wisdom and
fitted you to be the helper of others. Be always more earnest to do
your duty than to be at ease. Be more concerned to be right than to be
happy! Be more determined to act uprightly than to secure the rewards
of your work. God will lay them up in store for you and you shall have
them in due season. Bear, and forbear, and still bear–remember how the
saints of God have often had to endure harsh usage from those who ought
to have loved them–and be content to bear the cross which they carried
before you.
III. Now I must pass on to notice Jacob's next trouble. He has got away
from Laban and he starts off with his family and his flocks and herds.
Now HE REMEMBERS HIS BROTHER ESAU whom he had treated so badly and,
behold,
Esau is coming to meet him with 400 armed men! Now, if it were "the
time of Jacob's trouble" when he was under La-ban's power, surely this
is even worse than any trial that went before, for will not Esau come
with his armed men and smite Jacob and destroy the mothers and the
children? Is he not full of wrath against him for what he did long ago?
And has he not just causefor that wrath?
This is, indeed, "the time of Jacob's trouble." He sends all that
belong to him across the brook and he spends the night in prayer–not
sweet and tranquil prayer such as is our privilege to often enjoy, but
we read, "There wrestled a Man with him until the breaking of the day."
We generally lay the stress upon the thought that Jacob wrestled with
the Angel. No doubt he did, but the Bible does not say so–it says,
"There wrestled a Man with him." There was a great deal in Jacob that
needed to come out and this Angel came and wrestled with him in order
to get it out! And Jacob's victory was not won until the Angel had
touched the hollow of his thigh so that he should always need to lean
upon a staff even till he died. His weakness had been proven and he had
been overcome–and then it was that heovercame and became a prevailing
prince, having power with God and with men!
But, oh, that was a dark night for Jacob! Try to put yourselves into
his position, when, even in his prayers, he was disturbed, "and there
wrestled a Man with him until the breaking of the day." His heart,
surely, must have been ready to break within him, yet the whole of our
text is true of that memorable night, "This is the time of Jacob's
trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." And was he not? Ah, yes, and
the joys of Peniel shall always exceed the sorrow with which the
wrestling of Peniel is commenced! When he went, limping upon his thigh,
to join his family, his grief was gone and his fear was removed. God
had appeared to him, so all would be well, all was safe, all must be
right, for God had heard his cry and he had obtained the blessing!
He was delivered out of his trouble, but how strangely it came about!
When Esau came, he was full of love. Instead of war being in his heart,
sweet words were upon his lips! If he had not altogether forgiven
Jacob, yet, at any rate, he was willing to say nothing about the past
and he spoke like a true and noble brother! This is a Truth of God
which we often forget–that God has absolute power over men's hearts.
You say that somebody is going to betray you–that is more than he can
do unless God letshim. Somebody threatens to do a very dreadful thing
to you and you feel that you are quite in his power. Yes, but so is
that man quite in God'spower–and God can turn him whichever way He
likes! You are afraid to meet him, you say. Well, just pluck up your
courage and go to him–and you shall, perhaps, find that he is now your
friend–the very person that you have looked upon as your worst enemy!
This has frequently happened. God, who struck down Saul of Tarsus when
he was about to destroy the saints at Damascus, is quite as able to
strike down the most violent person when he is about to do mischief to
any of His children. Never mind about Esau–be more concerned to give
up what the Angel intends to wrestle out of you and to hold Him fast,
and say, "I will not let You go, except You bless me." God will speak
to Esau and He will take care of you and you shall yet go on your way
rejoicing!
IV. Jacob goes on till he gets to Succoth and he is so pleased to be
quiet, and at rest, that HE SEEMS TO FORGET HIS GOD, for he builds a
house for himself and booths for his cattle, and does not continue to
live the wandering life that he should! Therefore God soon sends him a
trouble. His sons, in the most brutal manner, destroy the men of
Shechem, taking them at unawares and murdering them, so that Jacob's
name was made to stink, as he said, among all the tribes. And any oneof
those tribes was quite able to come and destroy him–but if they had
banded together, they would have swept him and his family off the face
of the earth! Jacob is very much afraid concerning this and now, I
think, when he is going into the midst of the Canaanites and all the
inhabitants of the land are justly indignant against his sons, we may
again say, "This is the time of Jacob's trouble.'" It is a trouble and
no mistake about it. There might be some senti-mentalism about his
sorrowing on leaving home. There might be some compensation for his
hard treatment by Laban. We may suppose that there was too much
suspicion of Esau in his third trouble–but now this is a real
trial–"I shall be destroyed, I and my house."
"It is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of
it." And, oh, how wonderfully was he saved out of it, for the Lord put
a fear on all the people round about! He seemed to say to them, "Touch
not My anointed" and, though willing enough to fall upon Jacob, and to
slay his wives and children, and take his property, they left them all
alone! It is truly marvelous how God can make our enemies to be at
peace with us! There are more people than Daniel who have slept in the
lions' den–yes, and found soft pillows on the lions' manes and slept
soundly among them! "My God has sent His angel, and has shut the lions'
mouths, that they have not hurt me," said Daniel, and often have others
of God's servants felt that they have been delivered in the same way! I
remember a poor man who used to preach and who, in a sermon, once gave
a description of Daniel in the lions' den. He said, "I do not think the
painters make the lions look as fierce as they really were. In most of
the pictures, they look as if they could not possibly have eaten
Daniel, they are so meek and mild, as if they had padlocks on their
jaws. But they were real lions and hungry lions, too, as was proved by
the way in which they ate up Daniel's enemies." He said he believed
that when Daniel was thrown into the den, they all came rushing towards
him to devour him, but an angel flew down from Heaven and said to them,
"Hush!" And they all lay as still as possible at the Prophet's feet.
No doubt it was something like that and, sometimes, when the enemies of
God's people are most infuriated, He seems to say to them, "Hush!" and
they cannot touch them. Why did the Romanists not burn Luther? I never
could make that out. If I had been the Pope, I think I would have got
rid of him someway or other. Yet nobody could touch Luther! They made
short work of John Huss and Jerome of Prague, but, even when the
princes and prelates had Luther before them at the Diet of Worms, they
did not destroy him! It could not be, for God meant that Luther should
die in his bed, notwithstanding all the rage of the enemy! Therefore,
if it is a time of trouble with us, let us rest and be quiet, for
surely we shall be saved out of it.
V. Was this the end of Jacob's troubles? Oh, dear, no! All his life he
must have troubles of one sort or another. HE HAS A DEAR SON WHOM HE
FAVORS and he has made a coat of many colors for him, such as young
princes wear. This young man is different from all his brothers. He has
a gentle spiritual nature. God has spoken to him and worked upon him
most graciously. The Lord is evidently with him and his father's heart
goes out to the young dreamer and he dotes upon him. You know the story
of how his brothers, after a while, bring Joseph's coat dipped in sheep
blood and hold it up before the poor old father. And they say, "This we
have found: know now whether it is your son's coat or not." Oh,
this–this is "the time of Jacob's trouble"!
All those other troubles are nothing at all compared with this one
which will surely break the old man's heart! Joseph! Dear Joseph, worth
more than all the others, is taken away, "an evil beast has devoured
him. Joseph is, without doubt, torn in pieces." Jacob will go to his
grave sorrowing because his beloved Joseph is taken away from him. Now
shout it to the ends of the earth–"This is the time of Jacob's
trouble!" If any of you have had a favorite child and you have allowed
all the tendrils of your heart to entwine themselves about it. And if
that child is suddenly taken away, it leaves a mark upon the heart that
will never be erased in time. I have known the father, if he has been
an ungodly man, become rebellious against God from that time
forth–there is a bitterness infused into his unbelief that was never
there before. But even a gracious man has gone sorrowfully and sadly
all his days after some dear child has been taken away–a child of so
much promise–a child who was so gracious and who seemed to be such a
help to the father, and likely to lift the family up to a better
condition of things. Yet, Joseph is gone, and this is "the time of
Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."
And was he not? It took a long time for him to see it, but when he wept
on Joseph's neck and when he saw him as the second ruler over all the
land of Egypt–and when Joseph came down to him and brought his two
sons, and Jacob said,
"I had not thought to see your face: and, lo, God has showed me, also,
your seed"–then did he know that God had delivered him out of his
trouble and multiplied the blessing exceedingly abundantly above what
he asked or even thought!
Now, dear Friends, if this is your case, be satisfied about the dear
child whom the Lord has called Home to Himself. "Ah," you say, "there
is no mistake about it. I know that my child is dead." Yes, but I also
know that your child is alive! Come, shall we quarrel over it? You say
that he is dead–I say that he lives. God knows that that dear one,
taken away in infancy, or taken away as a gracious child, lives! Did
you ever notice that passage which says that God gave Job twice as much
as he had before? "Yes," you say, "but He did not give him twice as
many children, did He? He gave him exactly the same number again, did
He not? Then how did He give him twice as much as he had before?" Why,
because those first ones that were dead were still his! You know how
Wordsworth puts it, "We are seven." Though some were gone, yet they
were still seven–and Job counted all those that were gone as his–and
then, with the others, he didhave twice the number in his family than
he had before!
So, Beloved, count your dear ones as though they were still with you,
and wait patiently till you meet them again. Refrain from undue
weeping, for they shall come again from the land of their captivity.
Your dead ones shall live again! Mother of mortals, you did well to
weep, but your children live, so you are the mother of immortals Then
why do you sorrow? Dry your eyes and bless God that you have another
link with Heaven and that you have helped to fill the choirs that, day
without night, circle the Throne of God with hallelujahs!
VI. Is Jacob through with his troubles yet? No, no, no! He has got out
of one trouble, but he has got into another–
"A Christian man is never long at ease–
When one trouble's gone, another does him seize," which, if it is not
good poetry, was written by John Bunyan, and is good sound truth!
JACOB'S NEXT TIME OF TROUBLE AROSE THROUGH A FAMINE IN THE LAND. The
death of Joseph, as his father thought, seemed a dreadful thing, but a
famine of bread that will kill the whole family is a great deal worse
trouble! There is nothing to eat, so what will become of them? There is
corn in Egypt, however, and the good old man sends his sons down there
to buy food. And on the back of that comes another trouble, for when
they return home, they say that the lord of the land will not let them
have any more corn unless they take Benjamin back with them. But Jacob
cannot spare Benjamin and, depend upon it, this is the last ounce that
will break the camel's back! Says the old man, "Joseph is not, and
Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin away? All these things are
against me." This, this has to be "the time of Jacob's trouble."
Surely, he is now in the very depths of it! But Benjamin must go,
notwithstanding all that his father may say. Jacob must part with his
last idol and God will make us part with our last idols, too. Therefore
mind what you set up in your house as idols, for it is written, "The
idols He shall utterly abolish."
That was "the time of Jacob's trouble," but the Lord delivered him out
of it! You need not that I should stay to tell you how sweetly the Lord
was working on Jacob's behalf all the while. Joseph was in Egypt to
keep the whole family alive in the time of famine. Benjamin came back
all right and they all went down into Egypt and sojourned there. And
just as surely as Jacob was delivered, so shall you be. When the worst
comes to the worst, then the best of the best will come. When the whole
store of bread seems gone, then shall you find this promise true,
"Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure."
VII. Well, that is the end of Jacob's trouble unless I add what I
hardly think I dare call a trouble. JACOB HAD TO
GATHER UP HIS FEET IN BED AND DIE. I do not think that it was a trouble
to him. The few and evil days of his pilgrimage were now over and he
was to meet his fathers, and his fathers' God. Yet still, it matters
not who we are, if we look only at the earthlyside of death, it isa
trouble to die. No one can go down into the disembodied state without
having some sort of fear. The immortal tenant, however badly lodged,
still seems to love the house of clay. But whether it was a trouble to
Jacob, or not, certainly he was saved out of it. He dies with
benedictions on his lips and he falls asleep to awake in Glory and
there to sit down with Abraham and Isaac at the feast of everlasting
blessedness! It was well with Jacob and it shall be well with you who
believe in Jesus! You, also, shall say, "I have waited for Your
salvation, O Lord." And that salvation will come at exactlythe right
time! You have tarried till the fourscore years are ended. You are
getting somewhat weary amidst the toil and infirmities of a body that
is inclining to the tomb. Be of good courage! To such as you are–
"It is not death to die."
If you are in Christ, you shall fall asleep in Him and then you shall
be "forever with the Lord."
But perhaps there is some poor soul here saying, "I have not got any
comfort out of the sermon because all my trouble is about my sin. I
have not lost a child. I am not suffering through a famine. My great
sorrow is concerning my sin, my sin, my sin! It haunts me. It eats like
a canker into my spirit. It withers all my joys. It turns my life
almost into a Hell." I know where you are, dear Friend, for I have been
that way myself. "This is the time of Jacob's trouble." There is no
trouble like genuine conviction of sin! Racks, scorpions, death–these
are troubles to be laughed at compared with the weight of guilt
pressing on the conscience, the sight of an angry God and the fear of
the wrath to come! "This is the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall
be saved out of it." The Lord Jesus Christ has come to save just such
as you are! To you He extends His pierced hand. He waits to receive you
just as you are. Look to Him! Look to Him! Look to Him, you lost and
ruined! Look and live, for in a look at Him there is life for you! Your
trouble is great, but you shall be saved out of it though your sins
were more numerous than the stars and each one more weighty than the
world! Do but look to Him–take your eyes off yourself and fully gaze
on Him who bore your sins in His own body on the Cross!
Do you trust Him? Then you are saved! Your sin is gone–it is buried in
His sepulcher. God has forgiven you all your transgressions for Jesus'
sake! Go on your way rejoicing! "This is the time of Jacob's trouble;
but he shall be saved out of it." God bless you, for Jesus' sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM31.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
This Psalm was meant to be sung, therefore it was dedicated to the
chief musician. Yet it is a Psalm of which at least half is very
sorrowful. All our hymns were not meant to be joyous ones. God permits
us to take a wide range in our Psalmody and to express the feelings of
our heart whatever they may be. You will see here and there the Light
of Christ shining on this Psalm. If it does not shine on Him, at any
rate He shines on it.
Verse 1. In You, O LORD, do I put my trust. Is that true of you, dear
Friends? Never take your trust upon trust, but be quite sure that you
trust in God. If it is so, acknowledge it and never be ashamed to say,
"In You, O Lord, do I put my trust."
1-3. Let me never be ashamed: deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow
down Your ear to me; deliver me speedily: be You my strong rock for an
house of defense to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress;
therefore for Your name's sake lead me, and guide me. See how logical
David is with his, "for," and, "therefore"? It is the very essence of
prayer to be able to urge pleas with God and to say to Him, "Do it for
this reason," or, "Therefore, do it for such another reason." I would
that we, all of us, studied more fully this blessed art of pleading
with God–bringing forth sound arguments as we approach Him.
4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privately for me: for You
are my strength. How sweetly and blessedly he pleads! "'You are my
strength.' I cannot get out of this net, I am entangled in it, but You
can pull me out, for, 'You are my strength.'"
5. Into Your hands I commit my spirit: You have redeemed me, O LORD God
of Truth. This is a blessed prayer–a holy resolution which we may use
every day in the week all through our lives.
6. I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the
LORD. "In Jehovah." David had no patience with those who trusted in
gods of wood and stone. He knew very little, indeed, of that spurious
charity which leads some men to speak respectfully even of idolatry!
David was "a good hater" and there is something gracious about that
when the thing hated is really hateful and something which ought to be
hated!
7. I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy. David makes the cymbals
clash together–"I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy."
7. For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in
adversities. I t is said to be the highest wisdom to know yourself,
but, to my mind, it is a much better thing for God to know you! You may
know yourself and fall into despair–but if God knows you and you know
God, there is abundant room for you to hope in His mercy.
8, And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: You have set my
feet in a large room. "You have given me a broad place to live and You
have given me abundance to eat there." So David praises and blesses his
God. But now see how the note falls. From the highest point of the
scale, he suddenly descends to the very lowest. "We spend our years as
a tale that is told"–and such a tale is sometimes very joyful–but
sometimes it is full of woe.
9, 10. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: my eyes are
consumed with grief, yes, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent
with grief and my years with sighing. Sighing is better than sinning,
any day. Though we may deplore that our life melts away in sighs, it is
better that it should go so than that it should be wasted in sins.
10, 11. My strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones are
consumed. I was a reproach among all my enemies, but especially among
my neighbors, and a fear to my acquaintance: they that did see me
outside fled from me. He was in such a sorry plight that men would not
acknowledge him! They were afraid that they should be disgraced by
being found in his company! It is a sad condition for a man of God,
like David, to be found in–for others to be afraid to be seen speaking
to him.
12, I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken
vessel. An old pot, flung on the dunghill, as of no further use.
13, 14. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: a
while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away
my life. But I trusted in You, O LORD. Now the strain will mount again!
It is faith that tunes the royal singer so that he rises to heights
ofjoy though just now he had sunk so low!
14, 15. I said, You are my God. My times are in Your hands. He had put
his spirit there–"Into Your hands I commit my spirit." And now he
says, "My times are in Your hands."
15-19. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from them that
persecute me. Make Your face to shine upon Your servant: save me for
Your mercies' sake. Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called
upon You: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the
grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence which speak grievous things
proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Oh how great is Your
goodness, which You have laid up for them that fear You. If he was not
tasting of it, just then, he blessed God that it was laid up for him,
put by in store.
19, 20. Which You have worked for them that trust in You before the
sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret of Your Presence from
the pride of man: You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the
strife of tongues. What a blessing that is–to be separated from the
noise and strife and the malignant calumny of wicked men! God has a
blessed way of keeping His servants away from all such evils.
21, 22. Blessed be the LORD: for He has showed me His marvelous
kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from
before Your eyes: nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
when I cried unto You. "If we believe not, yet He abides faithful: He
cannot deny Himself." The Psalmist was full of doubts and he said, "I
am cut off," but, nevertheless, God heard the prayer of His poor
mistrusting servant and brought him out of his distresses!
23, 24. Olove the LORD, allyou His saints: for the LORD preserves the
faithful, and plentifully rewards theproud doer. Be of good courage,
and He shall strengthen your heart, allyou that hope in the LORD.