DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
We thank you now in the retrospect, for the trials which we have endured. Some of us have been brought very low with physical pain and mental weariness, and others have been sore smitten with bereavement, losses and crosses, and persecutions; but there is not one out of all our trials which we could have afforded to have been without.
No, Lord, all has been ordered well; there was a need-be for every twig of the rod, and we desire now to thank you that we can see in looking back, how all things have even now worked together for good, though we know we cannot see the end as yet.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“One who is righteous has many adversities, but the LORD rescues him from them all.” (Psalm 34:19)
Thus are they made like Jesus their covenant Head. Scripture does not flatter us like the story books with the idea that goodness will secure us from trouble; on the contrary, we are again and again warned to expect tribulaion while we are in this body. Our afflictions come from all points of the compass, and are as many and as tormenting as the mosquitoes of the tropics. It is the earthly portion of the elect to find thorns and briers growing in their pathway, yes, to lie down among them, finding their rest broken and disturbed by sorrow.
But, blessed but, how it takes the sting out of the previous sentence! “But the LORD rescues him from them all.” Through troops of ills Jehovah shall lead his redeemed scatheless and triumphant. There is an end to the believer’s affliction, and a joyful end too. None of his trials can hurt so much as a hair of his head, neither can the furnace hold him for a moment after the Lord bids him come forth of it. The same Lord who sends the afflictions will also recall them when his design is accomplished, but he will never allow the fiercest of them to rend and devour his beloved.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Trust in God’s preserving, purifying power through all of your suffering
Today, we prayed a prayer of thanksgiving that God has preserved us (and others) through significant trials. And then, turning to God’s Word in Psalm 34:19, we saw that this is always the case: God is at work in your suffering to preserve you and to purify you.
This was one of the major themes in Spurgeon’s teaching on suffering, but it was not all he had to say on the topic. Spurgeon learned supernatural wisdom from God’s Word and his own pain on how to address our suffering in a God-glorifying, hopeful way.
Spurgeon’s teaching on suffering is very useful, so I compiled a brief collection of it in a short book, Spurgeon on Suffering. This book contains 12 classic sermons from Spurgeon on suffering, pain, and God’s grace through it all.
I hope you’ll buy a copy today, and I hope it will bless you.
(As a side note, purchasing a copy is a great way to support this ministry so that I can continue to send this daily newsletter!)
Buy Spurgeon on Suffering on Amazon (Paperback or Kindle edition)