Evening, August 21
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
Isaiah 45:19
"I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain."
Isaiah 45:19
We may gain much solace by considering what God has not said. What he
has said is inexpressibly full of comfort and delight; what he has not
said is scarcely less rich in consolation. It was one of these "said
nots" which preserved the kingdom of Israel in the days of Jeroboam the
son of Joash, for "the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of
Israel from under heaven." 2 Kings 14:27. In our text we have an
assurance that God will answer prayer, because he hath "not said unto
the seed of Israel, Seek ye me in vain." You who write bitter things
against yourselves should remember that, let your doubts and fears say
what they will, if God has not cut you off from mercy, there is no room
for despair: even the voice of conscience is of little weight if it be
not seconded by the voice of God. What God has said, tremble at! But
suffer not your vain imaginings to overwhelm you with despondency and
sinful despair. Many timid persons have been vexed by the suspicion
that there may be something in God's decree which shuts them out from
hope, but here is a complete refutation to that troublesome fear, for
no true seeker can be decreed to wrath. "I have not spoken in secret,
in a dark place of the earth; I have not said," even in the secret of
my unsearchable decree, "Seek ye me in vain." God has clearly revealed
that he will hear the prayer of those who call upon him, and that
declaration cannot be contravened. He has so firmly, so truthfully, so
righteously spoken, that there can be no room for doubt. He does not
reveal his mind in unintelligible words, but he speaks plainly and
positively, "Ask, and ye shall receive." Believe, O trembler, this sure
truth--that prayer must and shall be heard, and that never, even in the
secrets of eternity, has the Lord said unto any living soul, "Seek ye
me in vain."