Spurgeon: July AM
* 07/19/AM
"The Lord our God hath shewed us His glory."
--Deuteronomy 5:24
God's great design in all His works is the manifestation of
His own glory. Any aim less than this were unworthy of Himself.
But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen
creatures as we are? Man's eye is not single, he has ever a side
glance towards his own honour, has too high an estimate of his
own powers, and so is not qualified to behold the glory of the
Lord. It is clear, then, that self must stand out of the way,
that there may be room for God to be exalted; and this is the
reason why He bringeth His people ofttimes into straits and
difficulties, that, being made conscious of their own folly and
weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when
He comes forth to work their deliverance. He whose life is one
even and smooth path, will see but little of the glory of the
Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying, and hence, but
little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God. They
who navigate little streams and shallow creeks, know but little
of the God of tempests; but they who "do business in great
waters," these see His "wonders in the deep." Among the huge
Atlantic-waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and
reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah, because we feel the
littleness of man. Thank God, then, if you have been led by a
rough road: it is this which has given you your experience of
God's greatness and lovingkindness. Your troubles have enriched
you with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: your trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has
set you, as He did His servant Moses, that you might behold His
glory as it passed by. Praise God that you have not been left to
the darkness and ignorance which continued prosperity might have
involved, but that in the great fight of affliction, you have
been capacitated for the outshinings of His glory in His
wonderful dealings with you.