Spurgeon: January PM
* 01/02/PM
"Let the people renew their strength."
--Isaiah 41:1
All things on earth need to be renewed. No created thing
continueth by itself. "Thou renewest the face of the year," was
the Psalmist's utterance. Even the trees, which wear not
themselves with care, nor shorten their lives with labour, must
drink of the rain of heaven and suck from the hidden treasures
of the soil. The cedars of Lebanon, which God has planted, only
live because day by day they are full of sap fresh drawn from
the earth.Neither can man's life be sustained without renewal
from God. As it is necessary to repair the waste of the body by
the frequent meal, so we must repair the waste of the soul by
feeding upon the Book of God, or by listening to the preached
Word, or by the soul-fattening table of the ordinances.How
depressed are our graces when means are neglected! What poor
starvelings some saints are who live without the diligent use of
the Word of God and secret prayer! If our piety can live without
God it is not of divine creating; it is but a dream; for if God
had begotten it, it would wait upon Him as the flowers wait upon
the dew. Without constant restoration we are not ready for the
perpetual assaults of hell, or the stern afflictions of heaven,
or even for the strifes within. When the whirlwind shall be
loosed, woe to the tree that hath not sucked up fresh sap, and
grasped the rock with many intertwisted roots.When tempests
arise, woe to the mariners that have not strengthened their
mast, nor cast their anchor, nor sought the haven. If we suffer
the good to grow weaker, the evil will surely gather strength
and struggle desperately for the mastery over us; and so,
mayhap, a painful desolation, and a lamentable disgrace may
follow. Let us draw near to the footstool of divine mercy in
humble entreaty, and we shall realize the fulfillment of the
promise, "They that wait on the Lord shall renew their
strength."