Spurgeon: June PM
* 06/13/PM
"Remove far from me vanity and lies."
--Proverbs 30:8
"O my God, be not far from me." Psalm 38:21. Here we have two
great lessons--what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The
happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state. As there is
the most heat nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness
nearest to Christ. No Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes
are fixed on vanity--he finds no satisfaction unless his soul is
quickened in the ways of God. The world may win happiness
elsewhere, but he cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing
to their pleasures. Why should I? Let them have their fill. That
is all they have to enjoy. A converted wife who despaired of her
husband was always very kind to him, for she said, "I fear that
this is the only world in which he will be happy, and therefore
I have made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it."
Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the
insipid frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain
pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls. We have heard of a
philosopher who, while he looked up to the stars, fell into a
pit; but how deeply do they fall who look down . Their fall is
fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful, and his
God is far from him. Every Christian is always safe as to the
great matter of his standing in Christ, but he is not safe as
regards his experience in holiness, and communion with Jesus in
this life. Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living
near to God. It is when the Christian departs from his God,
becomes spiritually starved, and endeavours to feed on vanities,
that the devil discovers his vantage hour. He may sometimes
stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his
Master's service, but the battle is generally short: he who
slips as he goes down into the Valley of Humiliation, every time
he takes a false step invites Apollyon to assail him. O for
grace to walk humbly with our God!