DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
O God, our God, we praise you this morning, not only with the voice of song, but with the heart. Sometimes our praise takes the form of thankfulness, and, indeed, we have good reason to thank you for mercies more numerous than the sand. “Bless the Lord, O my soul.”
We would learn also to thank you when your hand is heavy and your ways are dark. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” We are persuaded that the sweetest praise that ever comes to you comes from your tried children when, under a smarting rod, they kiss the rod, and him who has appointed it. Help your dear children who are much afflicted, to praise you by a cheerful submission to your will. It must be right, for God has done it; it must be for the best, for God is love. Father, when you stagger us, when we seem at our wits’ end, and know not what to do or what to say, may we still hold to you, and feel it is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“Sing for joy to God our strength; shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.” (Psalm 81:1)
The God of the nation, the God of their father Jacob, was extolled in gladsome music by the Israelite people. Let no Christian be silent, or slack in praise, for this God is our God. It is to be regretted that the niceties of modern singing frighten our congregations from joining lustily in the hymns. For our part we delight in full bursts of praise. We would rather discover the ruggedness of a lack of musical training than miss the heartiness of universal congregational song. The social pride which lisps the tune in whispers or leaves the singing altogether to the choir, is very like a mockery of worship. The gods of Greece and Rome may be worshipped well enough with classical music, but the Lord can only be adored with the heart, and that music is the best for his service which gives the heart most play.
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What would happen if your family read the Bible together every day next year?
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