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 for ever. 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 bodes from the tomb, and raise their souls to Thine eternal kingdom in glory.
From Morning and Evening
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A sweet reminder that we are in desperate need of His grace, but the the grace experience through community. Thank you for the post.
A beautiful meditation for this Easter season. Toby Sumpter preached this Sunday on the related theme of living in light of the resurrection—not wallowing in the grave with our sins, but rising up out of it with our risen Lord.
This also reminds me of the first part of Herbert’s poem “Easter”:
RISE heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delayes,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him mayst rise :
That, as his death calcined thee to dust,
His life may make thee gold, and much more just.
Absolutely beautiful! Just reading it lifted me up!
I’m finally reading Morning and Evening this year (I think you’ve recommended it several times on this blog)and have been richly blessed! 🙂 My Bible study teacher gave me a biography of Spurgeon to read, and his life’s story has been a huge encouragement.
Spurgeon was such a wise man! I read his Lectures to Students not long ago, and was struck quite often by how perfectly some of his advice to pastors could be applied to mothers! We are herding souls in our own way.
Thanks for this one!
Thank you for this wonderful encouragement! I have been reading Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening with the kids each school day this year, after Glenn gave it to me as a Christmas gift. It provides beautiful food for all of us. 🙂