Evening, April 15
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
Psalms 28:9
"Lift them up forever."
Psalm 28:9
God's people need lifting up. They are very heavy by nature. They have
no wings, or, if they have, they are like the dove of old which lay
among the pots; and they need divine grace to make them mount on wings
covered with silver, and with feathers of yellow gold. By nature sparks
fly upward, but the sinful souls of men fall downward. O Lord, "lift
them up forever!" David himself said, "Unto thee, O God, do I lift up
my soul," and he here feels the necessity that other men's souls should
be lifted up as well as his own. When you ask this blessing for
yourself, forget not to seek it for others also. There are three ways
in which God's people require to be lifted up. They require to be
elevated in character. Lift them up, O Lord; do not suffer thy people
to be like the world's people! The world lieth in the wicked one; lift
them out of it! The world's people are looking after silver and gold,
seeking their own pleasures, and the gratification of their lusts; but,
Lord, lift thy people up above all this; keep them from being
"muck-rakers," as John Bunyan calls the man who was always scraping
after gold! Set thou their hearts upon their risen Lord and the
heavenly heritage! Moreover, believers need to be prospered in
conflict. In the battle, if they seem to fall, O Lord, be pleased to
give them the victory. If the foot of the foe be upon their necks for a
moment, help them to grasp the sword of the Spirit, and eventually to
win the battle. Lord, lift up thy children's spirits in the day of
conflict; let them not sit in the dust, mourning forever. Suffer not
the adversary to vex them sore, and make them fret; but if they have
been, like Hannah, persecuted, let them sing of the mercy of a
delivering God.
We may also ask our Lord to lift them up at the last! Lift them up by
taking them home, lift their bodies from the tomb, and raise their
souls to thine eternal kingdom in glory.