Spurgeon: March AM
* 03/16/AM
"I am a stranger with thee."
--Psalm 39:12
Yes, O Lord, with Thee, but not to Thee. All my natural
alienation from Thee, Thy grace has effectually removed; and
now, in fellowship with Thyself, I walk through this sinful
world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. Thou art a stranger
in Thine own world. Man forgets Thee, dishonours Thee, sets up
new laws and alien customs, and knows Thee not. When Thy dear
Son came unto His own, His own received Him not. He was in the
world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him
not. Never was foreigner so speckled a bird among the denizens
of any land as Thy beloved Son among His mother's brethren. It
is no marvel, then, if I who live the life of Jesus, should be
unknown and a stranger here below. Lord, I would not be a
citizen where Jesus was an alien. His pierced hand has loosened
the cords which once bound my soul to earth, and now I find
myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these
Babylonians among whom I dwell an outlandish tongue, my manners
are singular, and my actions are strange. A Tartar would be more
at home in Cheapside than I could ever be in the haunts of
sinners. But here is the sweetness of my lot: I am a stranger
with Thee . Thou art my fellow-sufferer, my fellow-pilgrim. Oh,
what joy to wander in such blessed society! My heart burns
within me by the way when thou dost speak to me, and though I be
a sojourner, I am far more blest than those who sit on thrones,
and far more at home than those who dwell in their ceiled
houses.
"To me remains nor place, nor time: My country is in every clime;
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.
While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none: But with a God to guide our way,
'Tis equal joy to go or stay."