Spurgeon: March PM
* 03/29/PM
"I called Him, but He gave me no answer."
--Song of Solomon 5:6
Prayer sometimes tarrieth, like a petitioner at the gate,
until the King cometh forth to fill her bosom with the blessings
which she seeketh. The Lord, when He hath given great faith, has
been known to try it by long delayings. He has suffered His
servants' voices to echo in their ears as from a brazen sky.
They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has remained
immovable, as though it were rusted upon its hinges. Like
Jeremiah, they have cried, "Thou hast covered Thyself with a
cloud, that our prayer should not pass through." Thus have true
saints continued long in patient waiting without reply, not
because their prayers were not vehement, nor because they were
unaccepted, but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign,
and who gives according to His own pleasure. If it pleases Him
to bid our patience exercise itself, shall He not do as He wills
with His own! Beggars must not be choosers either as to time,
place, or form. But we must be careful not to take delays in
prayer for denials: God's long-dated bills will be punctually
honoured; we must not suffer Satan to shake our confidence in
the God of truth by pointing to our unanswered prayers.
Unanswered petitions are not unheard. God keeps a file for our
prayers--they are not blown away by the wind, they are treasured
in the King's archives. This is a registry in the court of
heaven wherein every prayer is recorded. Tried believer, thy
Lord hath a tear-bottle in which the costly drops of sacred
grief are put away, and a book in which thy holy groanings are
numbered. By-and-by, thy suit shall prevail. Canst thou not be
content to wait a little? Will not thy Lord's time be better
than thy time? By-and-by He will comfortably appear, to thy
soul's joy, and make thee put away the sackcloth and ashes of
long waiting, and put on the scarlet and fine linen of full
fruition.