Spurgeon: April PM
* 04/16/PM
"And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun."
--Exodus 17:12
So mighty was the prayer of Moses, that all depended upon it.
The petitions of Moses discomfited the enemy more than the
fighting of Joshua. Yet both were needed. No, in the soul's
conflict, force and fervour, decision and devotion, valour and
vehemence, must join their forces, and all will be well. You
must wrestle with your sin, but the major part of the wrestling
must be done alone in private with God. Prayer, like Moses',
holds up the token of the covenant before the Lord. The rod was
the emblem of God's working with Moses, the symbol of God's
government in Israel. Learn, O pleading saint, to hold up the
promise and the oath of God before Him. The Lord cannot deny His
own declarations. Hold up the rod of promise, and have what you
will.
Moses grew weary, and then his friends assisted him. When at
any time your prayer flags, let faith support one hand, and let
holy hope uplift the other, and prayer seating itself upon the
stone of Israel, the rock of our salvation, will persevere and
prevail. Beware of faintness in devotion; if Moses felt it, who
can escape? It is far easier to fight with sin in public, than
to pray against it in private. It is remarked that Joshua never
grew weary in the fighting, but Moses did grow weary in the
praying; the more spiritual an exercise, the more difficult it
is for flesh and blood to maintain it. Let us cry, then, for
special strength, and may the Spirit of God, who helpeth our
infirmities, as He allowed help to Moses, enable us like him to
continue with our hands steady " until the going down of the
sun ;" till the evening of life is over; till we shall come to
the rising of a better sun in the land where prayer is swallowed
up in praise.