The Truth Of God’s Salvation

The Truth Of God's Salvation

(No. 2356)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, APRIL 15, 1894.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
FEBRUARY 16, 1888.

"O God, in the multitude of Your mercy hear me, in the Truth of your
salvation." Psalm 69:13.

I WOULD have you admire the educational power of prayer, for prayer is,
in itself, an education for a saint. God might have given us every
blessing at once without our asking Him for anything, but He says, even
of that which He has promised to His people, "I will yet for this be
enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them," the reason
being that, sometimes, the prayer for the blessing is as beneficial to
us as the blessing, itself, and thus we are twice blessed–first in
asking–and then in receiving! Prayer brings the mercy, but in fetching
it for us, prayer, itself, gives us an additional blessing. We are,
ourselves, graciously helped of God as we pray, and we grow thereby.

Will you also observe that, usually, when saints plead mightily with
God, they draw their arguments from the Lord Himself? In this case,
David speaks to God of, "Your mercy," and, "the Truth of your
salvation." We do not bring pleas to God from abroad–we find them in
Him with whom we plead. We say to Him, "You are such a One, therefore,
will You not do this for me?" Or, "You have said it, therefore, do as
You have said." Our best pleas lie within the compass of God's
Character and God's promises.

Now, because of this fact, you will at once see why prayer is so
beneficial, for thus it helps us to communion. If we come to God and
plead with Him on account of what He, Himself, is, we have, in that
very pleading, fellowship and communion with Him. We have to think of
Him, to consider Him, to endeavor to understand His attributes, and so
we come into His Presence intelligently and profitably. This is no
small gift, to have our fellowship with the Father fostered by our
prayer to Him.

Out of this communion comes edification. Coming near to God, we learn
more and more of Him, and we get that kind of knowledge which does not
puff us up because it first breeds love, and then builds us up, and we,
knowing more of God, are established in Him. "They that know Your name
will put their trust in You." Thus we grow in faith, love and every
Grace, while prayer leads us to search out the Character of God in
order to find these pleas that we use in our supplication. So that,
praying is communion and praying is edification! I think that you will
grow more in half an hour's prayer than you will in an hour's
sermon-hearing! I am not sure that it will be so in every case, for God
may bless a variety of means to different men and women, but I think
that the most of us make our great advances in the Divine Life when we
are pleading with God–pleading God's own Character with our God, we
are then getting near Him and being built up into Him.

And thus, you see, prayer even becomes a confession of faith. Public
prayer may thus furnish a very useful means of instruction. That is not
its main purpose, but it incidentally happens that, when we are seeking
God, first, then other things are added to us in our public prayer.
David, in this Psalm, instructs us concerning the multitude of God's
mercy and the Truth of His salvation. It does one good to hear a godly
man pray. When he pours out his heart before God, his language may be
very simple–as simple as it is fervent–but there is a kind of
insensible teaching and a force of latent instruction which gets into
our soul, almost unawares, when we are joining in the prayers of devout
persons. Prayer may thus be speaking to the souls of others as well as
unto God and, may be, for some men, the best testimony and witness to
the Gospel which they are able to hear. It was certainly so with David.

But it is not my objective, tonight, to enlarge upon the manifold uses
of prayer. I could not leave this point without notice, so I have given
it to you by way of preface. Let it suggest to you to think still more
how large a blessing has come

to you through prayer, especially when prayer has taken the form of
arguing with God because of the characteristics of His own Nature,
finding pleas with Him in Himself.

In the words before us, David pleads with God the Truth of His
salvation–"Hear me in the Truth of your salvation," upon which I shall
only make these two remarks–first, God's salvation is a great reality
and, secondly, We have proved it to be so.

I. First, GOD'S SALVATION IS A GREAT REALITY, a great Truth of
God–"The Truth of your salvation." There is a substance in it. It is
not a shadow, it is not a myth, it is not a mere type or figure of
speech. It is a substantial thing, there is the Truth of God in
it–"The Truth of your salvation."

And, first, let us view it in reference to the Lord, Himself. To God,
His salvation is, in the highest sense, full of Grace and His Truth.

If I may venture to speak concerning Him of whom we can know nothing
except as He reveals Himself, I may say that the truest and deepest
thought of God is for the salvation of His people. This lies in the
very center of His heart and the drift of His other thoughts and acts
is all towards this point. He has ordained His Son to be the Head of a
great family, of which He is to be the First-Born among many brethren,
and the planning of the whole of creation was arranged in reference to
the saved ones–those who are to be redeemed from among men. At the
present time, the whole scheme of God's Providential working has a
bearing upon the salvation of those whom He gave to His Son to be the
reward of the travail of His soul. God's thoughts are high and not as
our thoughts, but they are directed toward this central idea. They rest
on this foundation principle–the underlying thought of all His works
is the display of the Glory of His Grace in the salvation of the sons
of men. This is the white of the target at which He shoots all His
arrows and He fails not to hit it. In the grand gathering of all the
redeemed, this shall be the loudest note in their song, "Unto Him that
loved us, and that washed us from our sins in His own blood, to Him be
Glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." The display of all the
characteristics of God in the salvation of His people is the subject of
His truest, deepest thought.

This is, also, to Himself, the most solid and lasting of all His works.
I speak with bated breath when I talk of the things of God, but let me
show you, Brothers and Sisters, what I mean. God creates worlds as He
pleases. We speak of them as though they had existed and were to exist
forever, but, Brethren, even among the starry worlds that are visible
to us, many changes have taken place. New stars appear–they are
admired awhile for their brilliance, but soon they are gone from our
sight. As for this round world in which we dwell, we talk of its
"everlasting hills" and so forth, but it shall be burned up and shall
pass away. Yon firmament, which seems like a new piece of azure-tinted
cloth, is wearing out and, by-and-by, it shall be folded up like an old
garment and put away as a worn-out thing. The things that are seen are,
after all, but temporal. Do not suppose that you see anything
solid–you only see shadows! Faith, alone, sees substance, but
everything that the eye is capable of beholding is, of necessity, a
temporal and temporary thing.

Look over the history of the whole world. Empires have arisen, all the
thoughts of great men have been concentrated upon forming armies,
building up enormous establishments and by State-craft consolidating
the power of their realm. A dynasty has been formed, king after king
has sat upon the throne and they thought, as they built their palaces,
and walked in them, that Assyria and Babylon would never pass away!
God's Providence lent itself to the building up of these great
monarchies, but they were not substantial–they were only fading
things, mere leaves upon the bay tree of existence. They came out and
they, in due time, faded and dropped into the soil, again. But there is
permanence in God's salvation–it will never fade–it is not a
temporary work! The salvation of His people shall enlist the wondering
gaze of angels throughout eternity and the songs of cherubim, seraphim
and the hosts of the redeemed by blood shall go up before the Throne of
God forever and forever because of the Truth of His salvation! This
great work, which He has accomplished, He has made to last forever. Oh,
Brothers and Sisters, what a wonderful work is that of the salvation of
the sons of men in its abiding results!

And, further, I ask you to think, still from the God-ward aspect, of
what Truth there is in salvation in this respect– it is that into
which God has thrown His whole Self. When He makes a world, He speaks,
and it is done! He commands and it stands forever fast. The morning
light and all that is seen by it, are produced by His word and, in His
Providence, He just nods and dictates the policies of empires. But in
the work of salvation, He, Himself, comes! Behold the Cross! God, in
the Person of His Son, bleeds and dies to save a soul! He has given
Himself to this stupendous work. The Holy Spirit enters into human
bodies and reigns and rules over human minds, abiding in them,
continuing His gracious, com-

forting, enlightening and sanctifying work–He, Himself, personally
dwelling in the saints! God throws His whole Self into the work of
salvation!

His little finger can create the stars and light them up or quench them
at His will! But even His right arm is not sufficient for the
redemption of His people! Both hands must bear the cruel nails! Both
feet must be fastened to the accursed tree! The heart of the Son of God
must be pierced by the soldier's lance! He, even He, Himself, must come
forth from the bosom of the Father and must descend, and still descend,
and yet further descend till He goes down to the lowest parts of the
earth–there to work out the salvation of His people! Oh, my dear
Friends, when we come to the Truth of God's salvation, we have reached
the rocks! Now we have left the ever-rolling sea and landed on the
Divine terra firma. Here shall you see God, indeed! In other things,
you see only His reflection in a mirror, but, in salvation, you see the
express Image of the Father's Glory! In the work of the redemption of
His chosen, you see God unveiling Himself as far as man is ever capable
of seeing Him.

I should need all night if I were to dwell upon these points. So let me
observe, in the next place, that God's salvation is a great reality to
ourselves as well as to Him. Do you remember when you first grasped the
true idea of God's salvation, when you understood that God had of old
thought out the plan of salvation and, in the fullness of time, had
worked it out? Do you remember when you first saw that Truth of God and
when you felt that it was just the salvation that you needed and that
you must have it–that you must have it then, or else perish
everlastingly? You did not lay hold upon it, in the hour of your
distress, as upon a fiction. You did not grasp it as a thing that might
be or might not be. Souls that have ever been drowning in the sea of
wrath want to clutch at a real salvation and you clutched at it as
real. That day when I saw Christ as my soul's salvation, the great
Sacrifice for sin was, to my soul, the most real thing I had ever seen!
Otherwise it had not staunched the gaping wounds of my poor bleeding
heart! Otherwise it had never brought balm and peace to my tortured
spirit! I was a real sinner–I do not know whether you are–but I was.
I had real pangs of conviction and I saw a real Hell before me–and I
needed a real salvation–and I grasped it as such!

Since then, dear Friends, God's salvation has been wonderfully real to
us. Have we not daily found it more and more so? You have had many
things that you doted on and trusted in, but, after a while, these poor
cobwebs have been unable to bear the weight that you have hung upon
them, and they have all disappeared. But have you not found Christ's
salvation to be very real to you from that first day, even until now?
If you have not, (excuse my putting it very plainly to you), you have
missed your way. If you have not found a real Christ, you certainly
need one! And if you have not found a real salvation and, by personal
experience, known its reality, you are under a delusion and that
comfort which you enjoy, tonight, is a false comfort! I wish that I
could disturb you out of it, that you might find a real comfort.
Remember that life is real, sin is real, death is real, judgment will
be real and the final sentence will carry with it a real punishment!
You need, therefore, to find in Christ Jesus the Truth of His
salvation, a real salvation which, though you cannot touch it, is yet
tangible to your soul, and which, if you cannot see it, is yet to be
surely seen by the eyes of your spirit. But I shall be getting to my
second head too fast if I dwell upon this point, so I will leave it.

I think that we can say, dear Friends, that it is a real salvation to
us in another sense. There is a Truth in God's salvation in the way
that it has operated on us. The way it worked in the change of your
character, at first–was not that very real? And sometimes, now, when
temptation suddenly comes upon you, does not God's salvation pull you
up with a very real check? Yes, and when you get somewhat indifferent
in duty, does it not urge you on with a very real spur? Have not some
of us said, "I will speak no more in the name of the Lord," and have we
not found His salvation to be in us, in the truth of it, like fire in
our bones, so that we could not hold our peace? The most potent force
upon a real Christian's mind is the Truth of God's salvation–it
touches him in a way that nothing else can. We are like music boxes and
the Savior holds the key–and when He winds us up, then every part of
us begins to play, but not till then! The spiritual nature of man is
like a mystic harp upon which only One can play so as to bring out the
fullness of its music! And the hand that can play upon our hearts is
the hand that was nailed to the Cross. The Truth of God's salvation
operates most powerfully upon our minds and so proves to us that it is
real.

Now, beloved Friends, to speak a little in detail of the Truth of this
salvation, if we have really laid hold of the Truth of God's salvation,
we believe in a real Fall. We do not believe that Adam's Fall is a mere
fiction or parable, but we believe it to be a sad and terrible fact,
for if there was not a real Fall, then there is no Truth of God in
salvation! If we have not fallen from our first estate, we do not need
picking up! But, alas, we have grievously fallen!

Next, if you have the Truth of God's salvation, you will believe in
real sin. There are hosts of sham sinners about. They come into our
Chapels and we preach the Gospel to them, but they never get any good
out of it. You may relieve sham beggars, but God never does. He
relieves those who are really in need. Truly needy persons never come
to Him in vain, but your pretended, dressed-up, hypocritical sinners,
who say, "Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable sinners," when they are
neither miserable nor yet consciously sinful, God never relieves them!
If you know the Truth of God's salvation, you must believe in real sin.
"Oh!" says one, "I have more than enough of that." Then come and have
real salvation! You who have really transgressed–you are the men and
women for whom there is Truth in God's salvation–but, if there is no
truth in your sinnership, there is, to you, no Truth in Christ's
salvation.

Once more, if we get to know the Truth of God's salvation, we believe
in a real Atonement. You know the description that is given of the
Atonement as it is preached by some gentlemen of supposed "culture." It
is this–that Jesus Christ did something or other which, in some way or
other, is probably more or less remotely connected with the pardon of
sin. Such a salvation as that would not save a mouse! No, no, we must
have a real Atonement–the Substitution of our Lord Jesus Christ for
guilty sinners–the bearing of our sin in His own body on the tree!
They say that it is unjust that Christ should suffer for us. On the
contrary, I venture to affirm that it was in the highest degree just
that He should die for His people, for He was one with us! His death
was not merely substitution for us, but He had identified Himself with
us. He came here on purpose that He might be one with His people and,
being one with them, as the Second Adam, it behooved Him that He should
suffer. It was right that, having married His Church, He should go with
her for better and for worse, and bear her sins in His own body on the
tree. And He did so, blessed be His name! And I believe that He really
expunged His people's sins, that He truly took away the hand-writing of
ordinances that was against us and nailed it to His Cross that, by His
precious death, He might put away all the transgressions of His people
once and for all. You have not learned the Truth of God's salvation if
you do not believe in a real Atonement.

Next, true faith brings to us a real pardon. If you have received the
Truth of God's salvation, you are really forgiven. It was no fictitious
document that was presented to you in that day when your Savior said to
you, "Go, and sin no more. Your sins, which are many, are all
forgiven." It was a real pardon, signed by the King's own hand, and
your sins are gone–they shall not be mentioned against you any more,
forever. "Do you believe this?"

Now the Holy Spirit is working in you a real sanctification. Have you
that sign and token of Grace? Have you given up evil habits? Have you
quit your vices? Do you hate the very thought of sin? Are you watchful
over all things within you and all things around you? Is "holiness unto
the Lord" inscribed upon your whole life? If not, you have not a real
salvation, and you do not know the Truth of that salvation! But if God
has made you truly holy, by the sanctifying power of His Spirit, then
listen once more.

One part of the truth of this salvation is that there is a real Heaven
for you. The Lord Jesus, Himself, says to you–

"You shall see My glory soon! When the work of Grace is done Partner of
My throne you shall be." And you shall dwell forever in a true Heaven,
with a true Christ, in true Glory and only then shall you know to the
fullest, the Truth of His Salvation!

Thus have I shown you that God's salvation is a great reality to God,
Himself, and also to ourselves.

Further, if you would know the Truth of God's salvation, remember that
the term used, here, signifies that God's salvation is real in its
constancy. It will bear every strain and, therefore, it is that David
uses it as a plea in prayer. He comes to God and he says, "Lord, I am
in great distress. I beseech You, help me in my extremity by the Truth
of Your salvation! Your salvation never fails, but endures every
strain. Therefore, I beseech You, deliver me at this moment!" There are
some times, when you are on your knees, and you need a master plea,
that you can say, "Lord, if it is thus, then I beseech You, deliver
Your servant. If this is a promise of Yours and You have spoken it, now
do as You have said." It is no impertinence to plead with God in this
way–"If this salvation of Yours is a fiction. If you have never spoken
peace to my heart, nor brought me into the new and spiritual life,
then, Lord, You may leave me. But if this is, indeed, as I believe it
is, Your love to me, Your Grace in me, Your work for me–if I have,
indeed, received Your salvation, then I beseech You, help Your servant
and deliver me!"

You will find the value of such pleading if you have but faith to know
that there is Truth in God's salvation, in the fact of its perpetuity,
its constancy, its unfailing power to bear you right through to the end
as surely as it has borne you thus far. Oh, may God grant us Grace to
feel that the truest and most real thing in earth or Heaven is the
salvation of the blessed God! There is no doubt that it is so and that
there is substance and endurance in it–and we do well to use this fact
as a plea when we need a substantial argument in prayer.

That is my first point, God's salvation is a great reality.

II. Now I shall ask your kind attention while, for a few more minutes,
I speak upon the second head. WE HAVE PROVED IT TO BE SO–"The Truth of
your salvation."

We have proved it, first, by our experience of a new life. Now reach
for your diaries. "They are at home," you say. Take out your
pocketbooks, then. You have not brought them with you tonight? Use your
memories, then. Think what has been the experience of the new life in
your soul. If there is Truth in God's salvation, you are not, now, what
you once were, and you are now what you once never dreamed of being!
There is within you, now, a life as much superior to the ordinary life
of man as the life of an angel would be to that of the swine at the
trough! Are you aware of that? Has such a life as that come into you?
If so, that is one of the proofs of the Truth of God's salvation to
you. An ungodly man sitting here may say, "That is no proof to me." No,
of course it is not! You have not experienced it, so it cannot be
evidence to you. Swine that were turned into angels would have, within
themselves, a proof of some Divine operation upon them, would they not?
Have you ever known what it was to be like the beast that perishes?
Perhaps you have, for your thoughts never rose towards God–you were
worldly, sensual, animal, perhaps devilish.

I do not know whether you ever sank so low as that, but if the Grace of
God has come into your heart and made you feel sorrows and joys that
you never knew before, you have a proof of the Truth of God's
salvation! When Luther was talking with the pretended prophets who
claimed to be Inspired, he said to one of them, "Did you ever have
births and deaths within your soul?" The man looked at him in
amazement. "You knew nothing of it," said Luther–"You knew nothing of
it, for he that knows the Lord has had births and deaths, creations and
destructions within his own spirit." It is even so.

My Hearer, do you know anything about this? Ordinary men do not know
it–they are soulish, they have the life of a soul, they are far above
the brutes–but Christian men are as far above them as they are above
the brutes, for they have received a third and higher principle of
life! The Spirit of God dwells in them! The Spirit of God has become
dominant in them and this has elevated them into quite another region.
This world that you see is not the world in which Believers live. You
see mountains and hills–so do they–but you do not hear them break
forth into singing before you, as Believers do. You see the trees of
the field, but you never heard them clap their hands, as saints have
done. There are many things, I guarantee you, which have not entered
into your philosophy unless you have been born again. He who has been
regenerated and has burst the shell that held him, like the unhatched
bird within it, has emerged into new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwells righteousness–and that fact is to him the proof of the truth of
his salvation.

How else do we prove this? There is one sweet proof which we sometimes
have of the Truth of God's salvation and that is, our sense of sonship.
It is a great thing to be able to say, "Abba, Father," to know that God
is our Father, not taking it as an abstract Truth that God is our
Father, but feeling the Spirit of adoption witnessing within us,
regarding Him not as Father in name only, but in reality, so that the
thought of Him draws out emotions of love, delight, trust and nearest
relationship. Oh, if you have that, you have proved the Truth of God's
salvation! By nature you are of your father, the devil, and his works
you do. But if you are now of your Father who is in Heaven, and you
love Him and you grow like He, that is a grand proof to you of the
Truth of His salvation!

Let me tell you one or two other things. Time flies, so I will only
mention them. Sometimes, God gives us proofs of the Truth of His
salvation by our ecstatic joy. This is not a theme that I like to speak
of except in very select company, but, believe me, we do have "high
days and holidays." We have our hard days, sometimes, and you know
about them, but you do not see our joys. Oh, if you did but know them,
you would be willing to live a life of sorrow to have one day with us
on the holy Mount with the transfigured Christ! I have thought,
sometimes, that I never could doubt, again, after an experimental
acquaintance with the banqueting house, and a sight of the banner of
love waving over my head!

Oh, the joy, the overwhelming joy, of the torrents of Divine Love when
they come pouring into the soul! They bear everything away. If a man or
a devil were then to come up and say to us, "There is no Truth of God
in all this," we would

feel as if we could not do him the honor to pour contempt upon him! We
are blessedly sure of the Truth of God's salvation when we get a grip
of Christ, when, with Mary, we sit at His feet! When, with John, we lie
in His bosom! When, like the spouse, we even touch His dear lips and
receive the kisses of His mouth! You who have enjoyed this delightful
experience know the Truth of God's salvation.

Now let me turn to another leaf of the diary of which I spoke. You know
something of the Truth of God's salvation if you have done business in
great waters and have had Divine support in trouble. Were you ever in
this condition, that they said of you, "There is not a second person
who justifies his course of action"? "It was proposed to pass a vote of
approval of his conduct, but there was no one to second it." Did you
ever open letter after letter and find that this friend will never help
you again? That the next is ashamed of you and that the next one
blasphemes God and you, also? You go on being stripped of one thing
after another till you seem to have come to your last rag and then you
say, "Still, I do not falter, I do not mean to budge an inch. I know
whom I have believed and am persuaded that if all men forsake me, He
will help me!" And you find, just then, a flush ofjoy come over you
such as you never felt before, because now you are leaning on God's
bare arm and there is nothing between you and the Almighty!

I admire that saying of Luther, when he looked out of the window and
exclaimed, "There stands the arch of Heaven, without a single pillar
and yet it never falls." That is the way to stand–when all the pillars
are knocked away. So many of us are like ships on the stocks–there we
lie, in the dock, and we shall never do any good as we are! But if the
dogshores are all knocked away and there is nothing left to support us,
we go slipping into the water and so begin our true lifework. God help
you, dear Brothers and Sisters, by His own Presence! And if you have
once known the Presence of God in the utter absence of every form of
comfort or help from mortal man, you will have had a most convincing
proof of His salvation! The Lord can help you when you are in a
fever–He can help you when you have gone, time after time, to the
grave, and now that your last friend is buried. He can help you when
that little income is suddenly taken away. He can bear you up when the
vilest slander is cast upon your spotless reputation. And you can
still, for all that, say, "The Lord is my portion, says my soul and,
therefore, will I hope in Him." These are testing times, but it is then
that you know the Truth of God's salvation!

And then, to turn over another leaf–a bright leaf this time–when all
those troubles are ended and you get out of your difficulties–when God
has worked great deliverances for you–then you know the Truth of His
salvation! Then Miriam takes her timbrel! I do not remember hearing of
her having a timbrel before. Miriam, where was your timbrel when you
came out of Egypt? Why, then, poor Miriam was busy carrying some of her
household goods like the rest who had their kneading-troughs upon their
shoulders! But she found her timbrel when the Lord had triumphed
gloriously and the horse and his rider had been thrown into the sea.
Some of us have our timbrels at home. We are beginning to get our
fingers ready for playing on them, for the Lord will work for His
people, and He will bring forth His chosen, as He has said, "I will
bring again from Bashan, I will bring My people, again, from the depths
of the sea." Then it is that we know the Truth of His salvation.

But if you do not have these ups and downs, beloved Friends, you may
know the Truth of God's salvation, and you ought to know it by the
sweet realizations of faith. Where faith is strong, it has the faculty
of anticipation, and that is a blessed faculty of the Divine Life, the
power of stretching out your hands across the ages and bringing the
far-off distance near. Perhaps you and I may not be in Heaven for
another 20 years–we cannot tell, but Faith sits still and sees Heaven
all round about her–and sometimes she puts on her crown and takes it
off and casts it at her dear Lord's feet. Now and then she gets her
heavenly harp and lays her fingers among the strings. I have known her
put on all her holy array and walk in her white robes down the golden
streets of Paradise–and she has seen and heard things which it were
not lawful for her to utter!

Do you ever have these good times? If you do not and you are a child of
God, you are losing a great deal He is both able and willing to give to
you! There lies, a little to the right of the road to Heaven, a hill
called Mount Clear. Pass it not by in a hurry, but climb to the top of
it and stand there. With a clear faith, believe in all that your God
has told you–stay there till you can see! They say, "Seeing is
believing." That is not true–believing is seeing when you "believe"
fast enough and steadily enough. I say not that every Believer can see
all this at once. If you have good milk–of course you do not all have
it pure–but if you have good milk, there is no cream on it at first.
But if you stand it for a little while and let it be still, there will
come some cream to the top.

So it is with faith. It is good milk, but you must let it stand a while
and then you will find the cream of enjoyment, assurance and
realization which will make you feel, "I know that God's salvation is
true. I am sure of it, for I have as clearly perceived it by faith as
if I had seen it with my natural eyes." If the senses, faulty as they
are, can convey any sort of conviction to the mind, much more can that
higher and truer God-given sense of faith convey to us a conviction
that it is even as God has revealed unto us!

I wish any dear friend, here, who is not yet saved, might be led to
test the Truth of God's salvation. God, through Jesus Christ, can ease
you of your burden at once! It is a cold wintry night. You came in here
and you have had a little shelter, and you are going out, again, into
the cold, but go not away with your burden–leave it in the pew! Better
still, cast your burden upon the Lord! Jesus can give you ease and
rest. Go not away with your foulness–Jesus can wash you! Go not
outside till you, yourself, are whiter than the snow! The Lord grant
you Grace to do so! Your faith will give you God. The longest arm of
the greatest giant can never reach to Heaven, but the finger of faith
can touch the Savior! Believe! Trust, and the work is done and you
shall know the Truth of His salvation!

Let us go our way with just this word of prayer. Lord, let us all know
the Truth of Your salvation! May we all trust You! May we trust You
more, and more, and more, and more, and more! May we trust You
implicitly! May we trust You up to the hilt and glorify You thus by our
childlike faith, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: Psalm 37:1-18.

Let us read, tonight, part of the 37th Psalm. David, here, first of
all, dissuades himself and us from falling into a very common
evil–that of envying the wicked because of their prosperity and
murmuring against God because we, perhaps, are not so highly favored in
our earthly affairs.

Verses 1, 2. Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be you
envious against the workers of inequity. For they shall soon be cut
down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. No one envies the
grass, let it be ever so green. No one envies flowers, let them be ever
so fragrant, for we know that grass must be cut and that flowers must
wither. Let us look upon the wicked in the same light–their time of
perishing shall soon come, their end hastens on–therefore, let all
envying be out of the question since they are such short-lived beings.

3. Trust in the LORD, and do good. There you have the secret of the
active life of the Christian! The root of his activity lies in his
faith–"Trust in the Lord." The outward manifestation of his inner life
is in the good that he does and where there is this faith, proven to be
living faith by good works, there follows the promise–

3. So shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed. It does
not say, "Young man, verily you shall prosper in business." It does not
say, "O ambitious man, you shall dwell in a palace, or revel in
luxuries," but it does say to you, O humble-minded Christian, trusting
in God, "Verily, you shall be fed." You know, when the word, "verily,"
is used, there is something upon which God sets His seal as being
true–"Verily, you shall be fed." God's, "Verilys," are better than
men's oaths. Believe, then, Christians, and let there be no more
fretting about your temporal trials. I know you have come in here,
tonight, very anxious and vexed with care and grief–take this,
"Verily," and lay it, like Isaiah's lump of figs, upon the boil and,
"Verily," you shall soon be healed!

4. Delight yourself, also, in the LORD; and He shall give you the
desires of your heart. Delight is a Christian's duty. To sorrow, to
mourn, to despair–these belong not to the Believer. "Delight yourself
in the Lord." Christians, here is a river to swim in–plunge into it!
Here is a bottomless abyss of delights–the Person, the Grace, the
works, the attributes of our Covenant God! And here is a promise given
to each one of those who carry on this excellent duty, "He shall give
you the desires of your heart."

5. Commit your way unto the Lord; trust, also, in Him; and He shall
bring it to pass. Put the helm of your ship into the hand of the
Almighty Pilot. Leave the guidance of your pilgrimage to Him who has
led many caravans across the desert and who has never suffered any to
perish! What an easy way this is and yet how difficult do we find it to
carry it out! It is to unload ourselves and put our burden on our God.
Oh, that we had the sanctified commonsense to make us fulfill this
duty!

6. And He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your
judgment as the noonday. Leave your character with God–it is safe,
there. Men may throw mud at it, but it will never stick long on a true
Believer–it shall soon come off and you shall be the more glorious for
men's slander.

7-11. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not yourself
because of him who prospers in his way because of the man who brings
wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not
yourself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but
those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a
little while, and the wicked shall not be: yes, you shall diligently
consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the
earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. This is
now a Gospel blessing, for Christ pronounced it upon the mount among
His other benedictions–"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth." Somehow or other, the only persons who truly enjoy life and
get happiness out of this present vale of tears, are the meek spirits,
the men who can say–"Mine are the valleys, and the mountains mine; my
Father made them all." Even the possessions of other men make these
people glad! They are like the man we have heard of in China who met a
mandarin covered with jewels and, bowing to him, said, "Thank you for
those jewels." Doing this many times, at last the mandarin asked the
cause of his gratitude. "Well," said the poor but wise man, "I thank
you that you have those jewels, for I have as good a sight of them as
you have; but I have not the trouble of wearing them, putting them on
in the morning, taking them off at night, and having a watchman keeping
guard over them when I am asleep. I thank you for them–they are as
much use to me as they are to you." This meek man can walk along the
broad acres of a rich man's farm! He can see his noble oaks and other
forest trees and he can say, "Thank God for them all! I have as much
enjoyment from these as the rich man, himself, has, for they are mine
to enjoy as truly as they are his." "The meek shall inherit the earth,
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace," not in the
abundance of wealth, but in the abundance ofpeace! To a meek man, peace
is his wealth, and holy quietness and calm his true riches!

12-18. The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes upon him with his
teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for He sees that his day is coming.
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast
down the poor and needy, and to slay such as are of upright
conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their
bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man has is better than
the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken:
but the LORD upholds the righteous. The LORD knows the day of the
upright: and their inheritance shall be forever. He knows their dark
days and He will be their light–He knows their sunny days and He will
be their shelter. He knows their last day and He will be their
confidence. He knows their resurrection-day and He will be their
glory–"Their inheritance shall be forever."–

"Go, you that boast in all your stores, And tell how bright they shine.

Your heaps of glittering dust are yours, But my Redeemer's mine/'