|
HIS SPECIAL LOVE FOR US!
-Spurgeon, "Gratitude for Deliverance from the Grave"
"The Lord has chastened me severely" --Psalm 118:18
It is well to have grace enough to see that tribulation comes
from God-- he fills the bitter cup as well as the sweet goblet.
Troubles do not spring out of the dust,
neither does affliction grow up from the ground,
like hemlock from the furrows of the field.
The Lord himself kindles the fiery furnace, and sits as a
refiner at the door.
Blame the devil, and blame all of his servants as much as you
will; but still believe in the mysterious and consoling truth that,
in the truest sense, the Lord sends trials upon his saints.
Our afflictions may come distinctly from man, as the result of
persecution or malice; and yet they may come with even
greater certainty from the Lord, and may be the needful
outcome of his special love to us.
God chastens us in the purest love, because he sees that
there is an absolute necessity for it-- "for he does not afflict
willingly nor grieve the children of men."
There is not a more profitable instrument in all God's house
than the rod!
Whenever the Lord mixes a potion for his people,
he weighs each ingredient, measures the bitters, grain by
grain, and allows not even a particle in excess to mingle in the
draught. Like a careful dispenser, he will not pour out a drop
too little or too much.
|