DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Throughout this year, all of our path has been strewn with mercies, and we desire this morning to record, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,” (Psalm 103:2). 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 sorely 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.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” (Psalm 103:2)
Not so much as one of the divine dealings should be forgotten,they are all really beneficial to us, all worthy of himself, and all subjects for praise. Memory is very treacherous about the best things; by a strange perversity, engendered by the fall, it treasures up the refuse of the past and permits priceless treasures to lie neglected, it is tenacious of grievances and holds benefits all too loosely. It needs spurring to its duty, though that duty ought to be its delight. Observe that the psalmist calls all that is within him to remember all the Lord’s benefits. For our task, all of our energies should be suitably called out. God’s all cannot be praised with less than our all. Reader, have we not cause enough at this time to bless him who blesses us?
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE*
Learning from Spurgeon’s struggle with depression.
When Spurgeon prayed today’s prayer, thanking God for trials, he was most likely thinking about his own struggle with depression. Throughout his life, Spurgeon was plagued with crippling depression.
A great book on Spurgeon’s struggle with depression is Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for Those Who Suffer from Depression by Zack Eswine. This book isn’t just a biography of Spurgeon — it describes lessons that we can learn from his real battle with depression.
Spurgeon’s Sorrows is a great resource for anyone who struggles with depression, and it’s a great Christ-centered Christmas gift that you can buy for someone else.
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