Evening, April 12

Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

"The king's garden."

  Nehemiah 3:15

   Mention of the king's garden by Nehemiah brings to mind the paradise
   which the King of kings prepared for Adam. Sin has utterly ruined that
   fair abode of all delights, and driven forth the children of men to
   till the ground, which yields thorns and briers unto them. My soul,
   remember the fall, for it was thy fall. Weep much because the Lord of
   love was so shamefully ill-treated by the head of the human race, of
   which thou art a member, as undeserving as any. Behold how dragons and
   demons dwell on this fair earth, which once was a garden of delights.

   See yonder another King's garden, which the King waters with his bloody
   sweat--Gethsemane, whose bitter herbs are sweeter far to renewed souls
   than even Eden's luscious fruits. There the mischief of the serpent in
   the first garden was undone: there the curse was lifted from earth, and
   borne by the woman's promised seed. My soul, bethink thee much of the
   agony and the passion; resort to the garden of the olive-press, and
   view thy great Redeemer rescuing thee from thy lost estate. This is the
   garden of gardens indeed, wherein the soul may see the guilt of sin and
   the power of love, two sights which surpass all others.

   Is there no other King's garden? Yes, my heart, thou art, or shouldst
   be such. How do the flowers flourish? Do any choice fruits appear? Does
   the King walk within, and rest in the bowers of my spirit? Let me see
   that the plants are trimmed and watered, and the mischievous foxes
   hunted out. Come, Lord, and let the heavenly wind blow at thy coming,
   that the spices of thy garden may flow abroad. Nor must I forget the
   King's garden of the church. O Lord, send prosperity unto it. Rebuild
   her walls, nourish her plants, ripen her fruits, and from the huge
   wilderness, reclaim the barren waste, and make thereof "a King's
   garden."