Daily Devotions May 23rd

Faith’s Check Book

By Charles H. Spurgeon

 

FULL RELIANCE ON GOD

 

"For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper" Psalms 72:12

 

The needy cries; what else can he do? His cry is heard of God; what else need he do? Let the needy reader take to crying at once, for this will be his wisdom. Do not cry in the ears of friends, for even if they can help you it is only because the Lord enables them. The nearest way is to go straight to God, and let your cry come up before Him. Straightforward makes the best runner: run to the Lord, and not to secondary causes.

 

"Alas!" you cry, "I have no friend or helper." So much the better; you can rely upon God in both capacities — as without supplies and without helpers. Make your double need your double plea. Even for temporal mercies you may wait upon God, for He careth for His children in these temporary concerns. As for spiritual necessities, which are the heaviest of all, the Lord will hear your cry, and will deliver you and supply you.

 

O poor friend, try your rich God. O helpless one, lean on His help. He has never failed me, and I am sure He will never fail you. Come as a beggar, and God will not refuse you help. Come with no plea but His grace. Jesus is King, will He let you perish of want? What! Did you forget this?

 

Thought’s for the Quiet Hour

Hide thyself by the brook

1 Kings 17:3

Not by the river, but by the brook. The river would always contain an abundant supply, but the brook might dry up at any moment.

What does this teach us? God does not place His people in luxuriance here. The world’s abundance might withdraw their affections from Him. He gives them not the river, but the brook. The brook may be running today, tomorrow it may be dried up.

And wherefore does God act thus? To teach us that we are not to rest in His gifts and blessings, but in Himself. This is what our hearts are always doing—resting in the gift, instead of the Giver. Therefore God cannot trust us by the river, for it unconsciously takes up His place in the heart. It is said of Israel that when they were full they forgot God.

F. Whitfield