LivePrayerSermon 1505. Prayer to God in Trouble an Acceptable Sacrifice
(No. 1505)
DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 9, 1879
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." Psalm 50:15.
THE Lord God in this Psalm is described as having a controversy with His people. He summons Heaven and earth to hear Him whileHe utters His reproof. This indictment will show us what it is that the Lord sets the greatest store by, for His complaintwill evidently touch upon that point. We are informed most plainly that the Lord had no controversy with His people concerningthe externals of His worship. He does not reprove them for their sacrifices and burnt offerings. He even speaks of these symbolicsacrifices and says-"I will take no bullock out of your house, nor he goats out of your folds." His complaint was not concerningvisible ceremony and outward ritual and this shows that He does not attach so much importance to outward things as most mensuppose Him to do.
His complaint was concerning inner worship, soul worship, spiritual worship! His reproof was that His people did not offerthanksgiving and prayer and that their conduct was so inconsistent with their professions that, clearly, their hearts wentnot with their outward formalities. This was the essence of the charge against them. They were faulty, not in visible religiousness,but in the internal and vital part of godliness-they had no true communion with God though they kept up the appearance ofit. We see, then, that heart worship is the most precious thing in the sight of the Lord. We learn what is that pricelessjewel which must be set in the gold ring of religion if the Lord is to accept it.
Nor is it hard to see why it is so, for it is plain that if a man had kept the ritual of the old Law to the very fullest,he still might not be, in sincerity, a worshipper of God at all. He might drive whole flocks of his sheep to the Temple doorfor sacrifice and yet he might feel no spiritual reverence for the Most High. It has been proven times without number thatthe most careful and zealous attention to external ceremonies is quite consistent with the absolute absence of any true apprehensionof God and hearty love for Him. Habit may keep a man outwardly religious long after his mind has forgotten the Lord! Yes,the conscious lack of inward and vital Grace may drive a man to a more intense zeal in formalities in order to conceal hisdefect.
It is written, "Israel has forsaken his Maker and builds temples." You would think if he built temples he must recognize hisGod, but it was not so. Within those buildings he hid himself from Him who dwells not in temples made with hands. Beneaththe folds of vestments, men smother up their hearts so that they come not to God. Fine music drowns the cry of the contritesoul and the smoke of incense becomes a cloud which conceals the face of the Most High! Great sacrifices might often be anoffering made to a rich man's personal pride. No doubt certain kings that gave great contributions to the house of God didit to show their wealth or to display their generosity, somewhat in the spirit of Jehu, who said to Jehonadab, the son ofRechab, "Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord."
A great sacrifice might be nothing more than a bid for popularity and so an offering to selfishness and vanity. With suchsacrifices God would not be well pleased. Alas, how easy it is to defile the worship of God and nullify its quality till,like milk which is soured, it may be utterly rejected. I am sure you know right well that it may be so in the simplest formof public worship such as our own. Bare as is our mode of service, there is room for self. Singers may lift up their sweetvoices that others may hear how charmingly they sing. Ministers may preach with graceful eloquence that they may be admiredas men who are models of exquisite speech. Believers may even pray devoutly that their fellow Christians may see how graciousthey are.
Alas, this blight of self may come into any and every part of outward service and turn the worship of God into an occasionfor self-glorification! Thus does Belshazzar drink out of the vessels of the sanctuary while the buyers and sellers turn thetemple into a den of thieves. Wonder not, therefore, that God looks with but scant complacency-I was about to say with baretolerance-upon the abundance of outward worship because He sees how easy it is for it not to be His
worship at all, but a mere exhibition of man's carnal glorying. Many, too, have performed outward worship with a view to meritsomewhat of the Lord-they have supposed that God would be their debtor if they were zealous in furnishing His altars and frequentingHis courts. If they have not put it in that coarse form, it has certainly come to that, that they hoped to be held worthyof particular regard if they were zealous above others.
Some have superstitiously dreamed of obtaining prosperity in this world by observing holy days and seasons. And many morehave hoped to have it set to their account at the Last Great Day that they have heaped up the offertory, or given a paintedwindow, or built an almshouse, or attended daily service year by year! Now, what is this but an offering to selfishness? Theman performs pious and charitable deeds for his own good and this motive flavors the whole of his life so that the taint ofself is in every particle of it! The Jew might offer bullocks or sheep for his own salvation and what would this be but themanifest worship of self? It brought no glory to God and did not mean His praise. Wonder not, therefore, if the Lord speaksthus slightingly of it all.
What the Lord missed in His people was not temple rites and offerings, for in those they abounded. He missed the fruit ofthe lips giving glory to His name! He missed, first, their thankfulness, for He says unto them, "Offer unto God thanksgiving;and pay your vows unto the Most High." And next He missed in them that holy, trustful confidence which would lead them toresort to Him in the hour of their need-therefore He says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and youshall glorify Me." Brothers and Sisters, have you failed in these two precious things? Do you fail in thankfulness? The Lordmultiplies His favors to many of us-do we multiply our thanks? The earth gives back a flower for every dewdrop-are we, alike,responsive to plenteous mercy? Do the bounties of His Providence and the favors of His Grace teach us how to sing Psalms untothe Ever-Merciful?
Do we not too often permit Divine mercies to come and go in silence as if they were not worthy of a thankful word? Have wea time and season for God's praise? Is it not too often huddled into a corner? We have a closet for our prayers, but no chamberfor our praises! Do we make it a point in life that whatever is neglected, the praises of God shall have full expression?Do you, my Brothers and Sisters, give thanks in everything? Do you carry out to the fullest this sentence- "From the risingof the sun to the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised"? May I also venture to ask whether you pay yourvows to Him? In times of sickness and sorrow you say, "Gracious Lord, if I am recovered, or if I am brought out of this condition,I will be more believing, I will be more consecrated. I will devote myself only to You, O my Savior, if You will now restoreme."
Are you mindful of these vows? It is a delicate question, but I put it pointedly because a vow unredeemed is a wound in theheart. If you have failed in your grateful acknowledgments, remember that these are the things which God looks for more thanfor any ceremonial observance or religions service. He would have you bring your daily thankfulness and your faithful vowsto Him, for He is worthy to be praised and it is meet that unto Him should the vow be performed. It is not to thankfulness,however, that I am going to ask attention, this morning, as much as to the other sacrifice-namely, prayer in the day of trouble.
Let me say at the outset that I am struck with wonder that God should regard it as being one of the most acceptable formsof worship-that we should call upon Him in the day of trouble! Such prayers seem to be all for ourselves and are forced fromus by our necessities-and yet such is His condescending love that He puts them down as being choice sacrifices and placesthem side by side with the thankful paying of our vows. He tells us that our call for His help in the hour of distress willbe more acceptable to Him than the oblations which His own Law ordained-more pleasing than all the bullocks and rams whichliberal princes could present at His altars! Be not backward then, Beloved, to cry to Him in your hour of need! If it pleasesHim and profits you, you ought not to need a single word from me to excite you to do what seems so natural, so comforting,so beneficial!
Are our cries of anguish and our appeals of hope acceptable to God? Then let us cry mightily to Him! Are any of you in theblack waters? Call upon Him! Are you in the hungry desert? Call upon Him! Are you in the lions' dens and among the mountainsof the leopards? Call upon Him! Whether you are in peril as to your souls or your bodies, do not hesitate to pray at once,but say to yourself, "Why should I linger? Let me tell the Lord of my grief right speedily, for if He counts my call a worthysacrifice, assuredly I will present it with my whole heart!" Let us look to this matter and see the value of this form ofadoration.
Our first head shall be that calling upon God in the day of trouble brings honor to God in the very act. Secondly, it bringshonor to God in His answer, for there is coupled with such a prayer the blessed assurance, "I will deliver you." And thirdly,it brings honor to God in our later conduct, for it is written, "You shall glorify Me."
I. May the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, enable us to see that CALLING UPON GOD IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE
BRINGS GLORY TO HIM IN ITSELF. I beg you to notice the time that is specially mentioned. Calling upon God at
any time honors Him, but calling upon Him in the day of trouble has a special mark set against it as peculiarly pleasing tothe Lord because it yields peculiar Glory to His name. Note then, first, that when a man calls upon God, sincerely, in theday of trouble, it is a truthful recognition of God.
Outward devotions suppose a God, but prayer in the day of trouble proves that God is a fact to the supplicant. The tried pleaderhas no doubt that there is a God, for he is calling upon Him when mere form can yield no comfort. He wants practical matter-of-facthelp and he so realizes God that he treats Him as real and appeals to Him to be his Helper. God is not a mere name or a superstitionto him-he is sure that there is a God, for he is calling upon Him in an hour when a farce would be a tragedy and an imposturewould be a bitter mockery. The afflicted supplicant perceives that God is near him, for he would not call upon one who wasnot within hearing. He has a perception of God's Omnipotence by which He can help and of God's goodness which will lead Himto help.
You can see that he believes in God's hearing prayer, for a man does not call upon one whom he judges to be a deaf Deity,or upon one whose palsied hand is never outstretched to help. The man who calls upon God in the day of trouble evidently possessesa real and sincere belief in the existence of God, in His personality, in His power, in His condescension and in His continualactive interposition in the affairs of men. Otherwise he would not call upon Him! Many of your beliefs in God are a sort ofreligious parade and not the actual walk of faith. Many have a holiday faith which enables them to repeat the creed and saywith the congregation, "I believe in God the Father Almighty," but in very deed they have no such belief.
Do you, my Hearer, believe in God, the Father Almighty, when you are in trouble? Do you go to the great Father at such timesand expect help from Him? This is real work and not hypocritical play! There is solid metal about the faith which followsthe Lord in the dark, cries to Him when the rod is in His hand and looks to Him, not for sentimental comforts in prosperity,but for substantial help in bitter adversities! What we need are facts-and trial is the test of fact. Sharp furnace work doesaway with mere pretense and this is one of its great uses, for that Grace which, like the salamander, lives in the fire, isGrace, indeed. I say again, that very many publicly declared creed faiths are mere shams which, like the leaves of autumn'strees, would wither and fall if one sharp winter's frost should pass over them.
It is not so when a man, in the dire hour of his distress, casts himself upon God and believes He is able to succor and tohelp him. Then there is evidence of true reliance and real confidence in a real God, whom the mind's eye sees and rejoicesin. It is this actuality, this making God real to the soul which makes our calling upon God in the day of trouble so acceptableto Him. There is more here, however, than this first good thing. When a man calls upon God in the day of trouble it is becausehe seeks and, in some measure, enjoys a spiritual communion with God.
"Call upon Me in the day of trouble." That call is heart language addressed to God! It is the soul really speaking to thegreat Father beyond all question! How easy it is to say a prayer without coming into any contact with God! Year after yearthe tongue repeats pious language, just as a barrel organ grinds out the old tunes-but there may be no more converse withthe Lord than if the man had muttered to the ghosts of the slain! Many prayers might as well be said backwards as forwards,for there would be as much in them one way as the other. The abracadabra of the magician has quite as much virtue in it asany other set of mere words. The Lord's Prayer, if it is merely rehearsed as a form, may be a solemn mockery. But prayer inthe day of trouble is honest speech with God, or at least a sincere desire in that direction.
Many are the words which pass between the Lord and the afflicted saint. He cries, "Make haste to help me, O Lord, my Salvation.Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. Hide not Your face from me, for I am in trouble. Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer!"With multiplied entreaties does the heart thus hold converse with the Lord and the Lord takes pleasure in it. He loves tohave His people draw near to Him in spirit and in truth. And, because calling upon Him in the day of trouble is an undoubtedform of fellowship, therefore He regards it with complacency. Now, as I have already said, in the sacrifice of bullocks therewas no communion with God in the case of a great many-and in external devotion, whether it is performed in a cathedral orin a humble barn-there is frequently no coming near to God.
But when we believingly call upon God in the day of trouble, then there is no mistake in the matter-we are holding conversewith God-"the righteous cry and the Lord hears." Union with the unseen, spiritual Father, is genuine, indeed, when it is carriedon against wind and tide, under pressure of sorrow and weight of distress. May the Lord give us Divine Grace to carry it onwhatever may happen to us! Yet is there more than this, for the soul not only comes into God's Presence, but in calling uponGod in the day of trouble it is filled with a manifest hope in God. It hopes in God for His goodness, for it is a belief inthat goodness which is the reason why it feels able to pray at all. The soul hopes in His mercy, or it would dwell in silenceand never lift up another cry to Heaven.
Amid a sense of deserved wrath, the heart has a trust in infinite Grace and therefore its call. A soul calling upon God honorsHis condescension. The troubled one says within himself, "I am less than the least of all His creatures, yet He will regardme. When I consider the heavens, the work of His fingers, I am amazed that He should visit man, but I believe that He willdo so and that He will condescend to look upon the contrite and humble and deliver them out of their distresses." There isa hope, then, in such a prayer which honors God's goodness and condescension and equally pays tribute to His faithfulnessand His all-sufficiency. He has promised to help those that call upon Him, therefore do we call upon Him! And He has all powerto keep His promise, therefore do we come to Him and spread our case before Him.
Little as the act of calling upon God in the day of trouble seems to be, it puts crowns upon all the attributes of God inproportion to the spiritual knowledge of the supplicant. I venture to say that if the greatest king of Israel had presentedbefore God, on some solemn day, 10,000 of the fattest of fed beasts and poured out rivers of oil, it might be highly possiblethat God would not be so well pleased with all that royal zeal as with the cry of a poor humble woman whose husband was deadand whose two sons were about to be taken for slaves-who had nothing in the house except a little oil and then in her extremitycried-"O God, the Father of the fatherless and the Judge of the widow, out of the depths deliver me!"
There may be more honoring of the Lord in a plowboy's tears than in a princely endowment! More homage to the Lord in the humblehope of a dying pauper than in the pealing anthems of the cathedral or the great shout of our own mighty congregation! Thepublican's confession and his hope in the mercy of God had more worship in it than the blast of the silver trumpets and theringing out of the golden harps! And the songs of the white-robed choristers who stood in the courts of the Lord's house andled the far-sounding hallelujahs of Israel could not match the publican's prayer! This calling upon God in the day of trouble,again, pleases the Lord because it exhibits a clinging affection to Him. When an ungodly man professes religion, as such menoften do, he is all very well with God as long as God pleases him.
Sunshiny weather makes such a man bless the sun. If God smiles upon him, he says that God is good. Yes, but a true child ofGod loves a chastening God. He does not turn his back when the Lord seems angry with him-it is then that he falls prostratein humble supplication and cries, "Show me why You contend with me! I will not believe You to have any real spite againstme. If You smite me there must be some wise and good cause for it, therefore show me, I beseech You." It is very sweet, Brothersand Sisters, when God sends you a great deal of trouble, to love Him all the more for it. This is a sure way of proving thatours is not a hireling love which abides while it gets its price and disappears when wages fail.
God forbid that we should have Balaam's love of reward and Judas's treacherous greed! A dog will follow a man as long as hethrows him a bone, but that is a man's own dog which will follow him when he strikes him with the whip and will even wag itstail when he speaks roughly to him! Such Christians ought we to be who will keep close to God when He is robed in thunder.It is ours to will that God shall do what He wills and ours to call upon Him in the day of trouble and not to call out againstHim when times are hard.
I would trust my God as unreservedly as Alexander trusted his friend who was also his physician. The physician had mixed amedicine for Alexander, who was sick, and the potion stood by Alexander's bed for him to drink. Just before he was to drink,a letter was delivered to him in which he was warned that his physician had been bribed to poison him and had mingled poisonwith the medicine. Alexander read the letter and summoned the physician into his presence. When he came in, Alexander at oncedrank up the cup of medicine and then handed his friend the letter. What grand confidence was this! To risk his life uponhis friend's fidelity! Such a man might well have friends! He would not let the accused know of the libel till he had provedbeyond all disputes that he did not believe a word of it!
Is not our heavenly Father in Christ Jesus worthy of even a grander faith? Shall I always mistrust Him? The devil tells me,O Master, that this affliction which I am suffering will work me ill. I do not believe it! Not for a moment do I
believe it and to prove that I have no suspicion, I accept it joyfully at Your hands. I joy and rejoice in it because Youhave ordained it and I call upon You to make it work to my lasting good. I will take bitter at Your hand as well as sweetand the gall shall be honey to me! If we act thus we shall be imitating the patience of Job. When his wife told him to curseGod and die, what did he say? "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of Godand shall we not receive evil?" It seems to me we cannot glorify God better than by thus calling upon Him in the day of troubleand thus showing that we do not believe ill of Him, or suspect Him of error or unkindness. We go further and are assured thatInfallible Wisdom and Infinite Love are at the bottom of every trial which afflicts our spirit-thus we glorify the Lord.
There is in connection with this clinging affection a most steadfast confidence. They who call upon God in the day of troublebecome quiet, unshaken and abide in full assurance as to the Lord on whom they rely. O troubled one, do not be agitated! Donot run away to others, but call upon God in calm faith! Do not sit down in silent despair and fretfulness, but call uponGod! Do not be soured into a morose state of mind, nor go into the sulks, but call upon the Lord as one who cannot be drivento curse or to be in a passion, but gives himself to prayer. It is a blessed thing when we can say, "Though He slay me, yetwill I trust in Him" and can feel that whatever happens to us, we never will start aside from our firm conviction that theLord is good and His mercy endures forever.
It was a brave speech of Zwingli when, amid furious persecutions, he said, "Had I not perceived that the Lord was preservingthe vessel, I should long ago have abandoned the helm. I behold Him through the tempest strengthening the cordage, adjustingthe yards, spreading the sails and commanding the very winds. Should I not, then, be a coward and unworthy the name of a man,were I to abandon my post? I commit myself wholly to His sovereign goodness. Let Him govern. Let Him hasten or delay. LetHim plunge us into the bottom of the abyss-we will fear nothing." Those are the words which I admire-"Let Him plunge us intothe bottom of the abyss-we will fear nothing." This is the bravery of a child who knows no dread because he is in his father'shands and his trust in his father cannot admit a fear.
Calling upon God enables men to face trouble and play the man since they doubt not of a blessed outcome from all things, howevercontrary they may seem to be. Our business is to be as confident in God at one time as at another since He is the same evermoreand mere changes in circumstances are matters unworthy to be taken into the estimate. What are circumstances while AlmightyGod has the rule of them? In fine, this it is which God accepts as honoring Him, that in the day of trouble we should takeall our troubles to Him, pour out our hearts before Him and then leave the whole case in His hands! The childlike uncoveringof the heart to God, alone, is very precious to Him. There are times when it is wise to advise a troubled heart to be quietbefore men-
"Bear and forbear and silent be, Tell no man your misery."
But it is always wise to bare the bosom to the Lord's eyes. Is the slander too vile to be communicated even to a single friend?Then follow the example of Hezekiah and spread Rabshakeh's letter before the Lord! Is the trial too severe, inasmuch as othersare obliged to suffer with you and are, therefore, turned to speak bitterly against you? Then imitate David at Ziklag andencourage yourself in the Lord your God! Hide nothing! Reserve nothing! Tell it all and then trust about it all. When youhave once put the burden before the Lord, leave it with Him. Do all that lies in you, that prudence can dictate, or commonsense suggest, or industry effect-but still make the Lord your mainstay, your buckler, your shield, your fortress and hightower. Say to yourself, "My Soul, wait only upon God, for my expectation is from Him."
If you can do this, not once and again, but throughout your whole life, you will glorify the Lord greatly and in your holyconfidence and childlike faith the Lord will take as much delight as in the golden harps which ring out His perfect praisesbefore His eternal Throne! If we could reproduce Job and Enoch in one person, the patient saint continually walking with God,we should, indeed, show forth the Glory of our heavenly Father. And why not? Blessed Spirit of God, You can work us to thisthing! A critic may sneeringly say, "It is a very natural thing for a man to cry out to God in the day of trouble. And certainlya selfish thing to run to the Lord because you need His help." "Besides," says another, "it must be a very distracted prayerthat such a person offers. And anyway, faith under troublous circumstances is a very elementary virtue."
But, my good Sirs, listen! Surely the Lord knows best what pleases Him and if He declares His delight in our calling uponHim in the day of trouble, why should we dispute Him? It is so, for He has said it! As for us who dare not raise such
quibbles, let us not be moved by them, but continue to call upon Him in the day of trouble and we shall certainly glorifyHis name.
II. When we call upon God in the day of trouble IT BRINGS HONOR TO GOD THROUGH THE ANSWER which the prayer obtains. "I willdeliver you." I ask you, troubled saints, to follow me while I repeat the text with variations, for that is about all I shallattempt. "Call upon Me in the day of trouble"-there is the prayer commanded. "I will deliver you"-there is the answer promised.In these words we have a practical answer. It is not merely, "I will think about you, I will hear you, I will propose plansfor you and somewhat aid you in working them out." No, it is, "I will deliver you. You shall have solid, substantial aid.Either I will keep you out of the trouble of which you are afraid-you shall be delivered by never having to endure it-theEgyptians that you see today you shall see no more forever. You dread the stone at the mouth of the sepulcher, but you shallfind it rolled away.
"Or else, if you must come into the trouble, I will deliver you while you are in it. Like Noah, you shall be surrounded bythe deluge, but the floods shall not overflow you. Like the three holy children, you shall be in the furnace, but the fireshall not burn you. You shall go through the trouble triumphantly, as Israel went through the Red Sea on foot. You shall havesuch sustaining Grace that you shall glory in tribulation and rejoice in affliction. I will also bring you out of it altogether-forthese things have an appointed end. Like Joseph, you shall come forth out of prison to sit upon the throne. Like David, youshall leave the caves and the rocks of the wild goats and I will set your feet in a large room. Like Daniel, you shall betaken from among lions and set among princes." The promise may be kept in several forms, but in one shape or another it mustbe carried out, for He who cannot lie has said, "I will deliver you."
Dear Friend, grips those words and never let them go! You troubled ones, the Lord says, "Call upon Me." Have you already beenin much supplication? Now, then, take to yourselves what the Lord Himself gives you-"I will deliver you." Somehow or othera way of escape must be made, for God's Word never fails and He has said, "I will deliver you." Notice, next, that it is apositive answer. It is not, "I may, perhaps, deliver you," but, "I will." It is not, "I will endeavor to do it," but, "I willdeliver you." Did unbelief say, "But how?" Friend, leave the "how" with God! Ways and means are with Him! He says, "I willdeliver you." To turn round and ask, "How?" is to forget that He is God All Sufficient!-
"Remember that Omnipotence Has servants everywhere."
Unbelief is very ready with its questions and too often it enquires, "When?" Friend, leave the "when" with God! He does nottell us when, but the deliverance must come at the right time because if He were not to deliver us till after we had perished,it would be no deliverance at all! If deliverance came too late, it would be a mere mockery. The promise comprehends withinitself the implied condition that it shall be a timely deliverance, for otherwise how should the delivered one live to glorifythe name of the Lord? Again I would say to you, dear Friend, get a grip of this promise, "I will deliver you." Do not letmy Master's promise be blown away like the sere leaves from the trees, but hold it fast as for life! Wave this before youand your foes will flee as from a two-edged sword! Quote the Divine words, "I will deliver you," and legions of devils willflee before you! Remember how Paul put it-"Who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver: in whom we trust; thatHe will yet deliver us."
Notice next, that the promise is personal. "I will deliver you." It is not said, "My angels shall do it," but, "/ will deliveryou." The Lord God Himself undertakes to rescue His people. "I will be a wall of fire round about them." "I the Lord do keepit; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." Then, too, it is personal to its object-itis the same man who calls upon God in trouble who shall be a partaker of the blessing! "Call upon Me in the day of trouble,I will deliver you." It is personal, personal to you! Therefore, dear Friend, personally believe in this personal promiseof your God!
Remember, also, that it is permanent. You pleaded this promise, some of you, 50 years ago-it is as sure today as it was then.If you have a banknote and take it to the bank and get the cash, it is done with. But my Master's banknotes are self-renewing.You can plead His promise hundreds of times over, for His Word abides forever. It is fulfilled only to be fulfilled again!Like a springing well, which is always full and flowing, so my Lord's Grace-words abide and continue in all their wealth ofblessing. God's promise made 2,000 years ago is as valid as if it had been uttered this morning and never yet expended upona single soul. "Call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you" is a word for this very hour.
Where are you at this moment, you troubled, downcast one? You said just now, "I shall never be happy any more." Recall thosewords. Eat them with bitter herbs of repentance-"Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."You said, "That blow has crushed me. I could have borne anything else, but this trial I cannot bear." Tush! Do you know whatyou can bear? What did the Apostle say? "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Only have faith in Godand obey and believe the text-"Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you."
Can you not take God at His Word? If you can, you shall find His promise true and God will be glorified in delivering you.What praise will come to His name if He lifts you up out of the low dungeon! If He snaps your fetters! If He tears away yourentanglements! If He makes plain your intricate path! If He brings you through difficulties which now seem to be impossibilitiesand gives you to rejoice in Him through them all! Why, then, His name will be glorified far more than by the offering of 10,000bullocks and rivers of oil!
III. Lastly, if you trust your God in your distress and are, therefore, delivered, THE LORD WILL BE GLORIFIED IN YOUR CONDUCTAFTERWARDS. When a man prays to God in the hour of trouble and gets deliverance, as he is sure to get it, then he honors hisgreat Helper by admiring the way in which the promise has been kept and by adoring and blessing the loving Lord for such agracious interposition. I know some of you have seen enough of the hand of the Lord in your own cases to make you wonder andadmire forever and ever.
Next, you will honor Him by the gratitude of your heart in which the memory of His goodness will forever be recorded. Thisdevout gratitude of yours will lead you, in due season, to bear testimony to His faithfulness. You will be indignant at unbeliefand will war against it by personal witnessing. You will be very tender towards those who are now in trouble, as you oncewere, and you will long to tell them of the blessed rescue which God is prepared to perform for them as He did for you. Yourmouth will be open; your witness will be enlarged; you will speak as a man who has tasted and handled these things for himself.Others will be impressed as you tell the story of what the Lord has done for your soul.
At the same time, you will personally grow in faith by the experience of your heavenly Father's love and power. And in daysto come you will glorify Him by increased patience and confidence. You will say, "He has been with me in six troubles andHe will be with me in the seventh. I have tried and proven my God and I dare not doubt Him." Your serenity of mind will bemore deep and lasting and you will be able to defy the power of Satan to drive you out of your joy in God. I know, also, thatyou will try to live more to His praise. As you see Him bring you out of one difficulty and then another you will feel boundto His service by fresh bonds. You will become a more consecrated man than you ever have been. You will jealously protectyour remaining days from being wasted by sloth or desecrated by sin.
And let me tell you that even when you die and come up the banks of Jordan on the other side, you will long to glorify yourGod! When the angels meet you, I should not wonder but what one of the first things you will do will be to say, "Bright spirits,I long to tell you what the Lord has done for me!" Even as you are going up towards the celestial gates, as Bunyan pictures,I should not wonder if you began to say to your guide, "Help me to sing! I cannot be silent. I feel I must-
"Sing with rapture and surprise
His loving kindness in the skies." Should the bright spirit remind you that you are climbing to the choirs where all the singersmeet, you may answer, "Yes, but I am a special case! I came through such deep waters! I was greatly afflicted. If one in Heavencan praise Him more than another, I am just that one." The angel will smile and say, "I have escorted many a score up to Glorywho said just the same thing."
We each one owe most to God's Grace and hope to praise Him best. Some of you may think that you are love's deepest debtors,but I know better. I am not going to quarrel with you, but I know one who is so undeserving and yet receives such mercy thathe claims to take the lowest place and most humbly to reverence boundless Grace. Yes, I myself, less than the least of allsaints, claim to have received most at His hands! I would gladly love Him most, for towards me He has shown the utmost lovein treating me as He has done.
Am I not saying for myself that which you each would say for yourself? I know it is so and, therefore, it is that God is glorifiedby the reverence and love of those whom He delivers in answer to prayer. I want you to notice with care the
persons mentioned in the first clause of the text. You do not see yourself-you only hear of yourself. It is "Call upon Me."God is there. There is no direct mention of you-you are hidden. You are such a poor, broken, dispirited creature that allyou can do is to utter a cry and lie in the dust! There stands the mighty God and you call upon Him! Now, look at the nextclause, "/ will deliver you."
Here are two persons! The Lord stands first, the Ever Glorious and Blessed "I." And way down there are you. "I will deliveryou," poor, humble, but grateful "you." Thus we see the Lord unites with His poor servant and the link is deliverance. Whenyou come to the third clause, do you see where you are? You are placed first, for the Lord now calls you into action-"Foushall glorify Me." What a wonderful thing it is! For God to put glory upon us is easy enough, but for us to put glory uponHim? This is a miracle of condescension on the part of our God! "You shall glorify Me." "But," says one in this place, "Ilove the Lord, but / cannot glorify Him. I wish I could preach, I wish I could write sweet hymns, I wish I had a clear voicewith which to sing out the Redeemer's praises-but I have no gifts or talents and, therefore, / shall never be able to glorifyHim."
Listen! You will be cast into trouble one of these days and when you are in trouble you will find out how to glorify Him!Your extremity will be your opportunity! Like a lamp which shines not by day, you will blaze up in the dark! When the dayof trouble is come you will cry, "Lord, I could not do anything for You, but You can do everything for me. I am nothing, butLord, in my nothingness, I, poor I, do trust You and fling myself upon You." Then you shall find that you have glorified Himby your faith! I think you might almost be content to have the trouble, might you not? It seems as if you could not glorifyHim any other way and to glorify Him is the main object of your existence.
Some Christians would scarcely have brought any glory to God if they had not been led by paths of sorrow and made to wadethrough seas of grief. God gets very little glory out of many professors and He would have still less if they had been allowedto rust their souls away in comfort. The brightest of the saints owe much of their clearness to the fire and the file. Itis by the sharp needle of sorrow that we are embroidered with the praises of the Lord. We must be tried that the Lord maybe glorified! We cannot call upon Him in the day of trouble if we have no such day-and He cannot deliver us if we have notrouble to be delivered from! And we cannot glorify Him if we are not made to see the danger and the need in which He displaysHis love.
I leave the blessed subject of the text with you, as a souvenir, till we meet again. The Lord be with you till the day breaksand the shadows flee away. Pray, also, that He may abide with me and with all my Brothers in the ministry. And may we all,in yonder world of rest, glorify Him who will then have delivered us completely from all evil, to whom be glory forever! Amen.