Morning, August 12

Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

"The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice."

  Psalm 97:1

   Causes for disquietude there are none so long as this blessed sentence
   is true. On earth the Lord's power as readily controls the rage of the
   wicked as the rage of the sea; his love as easily refreshes the poor
   with mercy as the earth with showers. Majesty gleams in flashes of fire
   amid the tempest's horrors, and the glory of the Lord is seen in its
   grandeur in the fall of empires, and the crash of thrones. In all our
   conflicts and tribulations, we may behold the hand of the divine King.


   "God is God; he sees and hears

   All our troubles, all our tears.

   Soul, forget not, 'mid thy pains,

   God o'er all forever reigns."

   In hell, evil spirits own, with misery, his undoubted supremacy. When
   permitted to roam abroad, it is with a chain at their heel; the bit is
   in the mouth of behemoth, and the hook in the jaws of leviathan.
   Death's darts are under the Lord's lock, and the grave's prisons have
   divine power as their warder. The terrible vengeance of the Judge of
   all the earth makes fiends cower down and tremble, even as dogs in the
   kennel fear the hunter's whip.


   "Fear not death, nor Satan's thrusts,

   God defends who in him trusts;

   Soul, remember, in thy pains,

   God o'er all forever reigns."

   In heaven none doubt the sovereignty of the King Eternal, but all fall
   on their faces to do him homage. Angels are his courtiers, the redeemed
   his favourites, and all delight to serve him day and night. May we soon
   reach the city of the great King!


   "For this life's long night of sadness

   He will give us peace and gladness.

   Soul, remember, in thy pains,

   God o'er all forever reigns."