Spurgeon: November AM
* 11/06/AM
"I will pour water upon him that is thirsty."
--Isaiah 44:3
When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling,
he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself
with dark and doleful fears. Such is not the way to rise from
the dust, but to continue in it. As well chain the eagle's wing
to make it mount, as doubt in order to increase our grace. It is
not the law, but the gospel which saves the seeking soul at
first; and it is not a legal bondage, but gospel liberty which
can restore the fainting believer afterwards. Slavish fear
brings not back the backslider to God, but the sweet wooings of
love allure him to Jesus' bosom. Are you this morning thirsting
for the living God, and unhappy because you cannot find him to
the delight of your heart? Have you lost the joy of religion,
and is this your prayer, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy
salvation"? Are you conscious also that you are barren, like the
dry ground; that you are not bringing forth the fruit unto God
which He has a right to expect of you; that you are not so
useful in the Church, or in the world, as your heart desires to
be? Then here is exactly the promise which you need, "I will
pour water upon him that is thirsty." You shall receive the
grace you so much require, and you shall have it to the utmost
reach of your needs. Water refreshes the thirsty: you shall be
refreshed; your desires shall be gratified. Water quickens
sleeping vegetable life: your life shall be quickened by fresh
grace. Water swells the buds and makes the fruits ripen; you
shall have fructifying grace: you shall be made fruitful in the
ways of God. Whatever good quality there is in divine grace, you
shall enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine grace you
shall receive in plenty; you shall be as it were drenched with
it: and as sometimes the meadows become flooded by the bursting
rivers, and the fields are turned into pools, so shall you
be--the thirsty land shall be springs of water.