Evening, March 31
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
2 Samuel 21:10
"And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her
upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon
them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest
on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night."
2 Samuel 21:10
If the love of a woman to her slain sons could make her prolong her
mournful vigil for so long a period, shall we weary of considering the
sufferings of our blessed Lord? She drove away the birds of prey, and
shall not we chase from our meditations those worldly and sinful
thoughts which defile both our minds and the sacred themes upon which
we are occupied? Away, ye birds of evil wing! Leave ye the sacrifice
alone! She bore the heats of summer, the night dews and the rains,
unsheltered and alone. Sleep was chased from her weeping eyes: her
heart was too full for slumber. Behold how she loved her children!
Shall Rizpah thus endure, and shall we start at the first little
inconvenience or trial? Are we such cowards that we cannot bear to
suffer with our Lord? She chased away even the wild beasts, with
courage unusual in her sex, and will not we be ready to encounter every
foe for Jesus' sake? These her children were slain by other hands than
hers, and yet she wept and watched: what ought we to do who have by our
sins crucified our Lord? Our obligations are boundless, our love should
be fervent and our repentance thorough. To watch with Jesus should be
our business, to protect his honour our occupation, to abide by his
cross our solace. Those ghastly corpses might well have affrighted
Rizpah, especially by night, but in our Lord, at whose cross-foot we
are sitting, there is nothing revolting, but everything attractive.
Never was living beauty so enchanting as a dying Saviour. Jesus, we
will watch with thee yet awhile, and do thou graciously unveil thyself
to us; then shall we not sit beneath sackcloth, but in a royal
pavilion.