Sermon 1696. The Bird Escaped from the Snare

(No. 1696)

DELIVERED AT THE THURSDAY EVENING LECTURE,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we are escaped." Psalm 124:7.

THIS text describes a soul-matter. The Psalmist is not speaking of a temporal deliverance, although, even in that sense, anescape from death would be a theme worthy of his sweetest song. He says, "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare ofthe fowlers," thus denoting a spiritual rescue. The man's soul is the soul of the man and though some give all their attentionto the body, their folly is great. It is as though a man should spend all his substance upon his house and have no bread forhimself to eat. Do I speak to any who never think about their souls? Do you really believe that you will die like dogs andhorses? I cannot believe that you have such brutal views of yourself! Believe me, you have within you an immortal spirit whichwill outlive the sun! If you have, up to now, been careless of your nobler part, may God's Spirit teach you wisdom. I praythat you may so think of your soul that our text may become deeply interesting to you, so that you may join in its song ofdeliverance.

I have called the text a song-does it not read like one? "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; thesnare is broken, and we are escaped." It is a canticle of certainty. It does not say, "We hope that we have escaped and wetrust that the snare is broken," but, "The snare is broken, and we are escaped." "Ifs," and, "buts," make no music! Poetryflees when chance enters! Certainties are melodies. We hear people speak of "dead certainties," but the Christian rejoicesin living certainties, and is wretched till they are his own! Rise then, my Beloved, above the fogs and mists which coverthe marshes of carnal questioning! Climb the mountains of full assurance and stand there with your foreheads bathed in sunlight,breathing that serene atmosphere which is untainted by a cloud of doubt!

The text reads like a song, not only because of its certainty, but also because of its joy. It has the wing and the throatof a lark! Look how it rises from the net to God-"Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers." Soon ittakes another rise-"The snare is broken." And it mounts yet, again, with still greater joy-"And we are escaped." The wordsmelt away into the music of Heaven as the spirit perfectly escapes from the snares of earth. The metaphor used in the textis simple, but yet beautiful and instructive. Pardon me if I make as much of it as I am able to do. First, we have here thebird. Secondly, the snare. Thirdly, the capture, and fourthly, the escape. We may then add a lesson from it all.

I. First, we have, here, the soul compared to A BIRD. It is a little bird, too-a sparrow, or one of the sparrow kind. "Oursoul is escaped as a little bird"-not as a great bird that could break the net and free itself by its own force. A littlebird fitly represents our soul when we are lowly in heart. In our unregenerate condition, we think ourselves eaglets, at thevery least, but we are not great creatures, after all. We talk as great men, but we are all little in God's sight. "Lord,what is man, that You are mindful of him?" Sparrows were very cheap in our Lord's day because of their littleness-in the marketyou could buy two for a farthing and five for two farthings-so that they threw an odd bird in when you bought at such a wholesalerate as two farthings' worth. Sparrows were inconsiderable things, "yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father."If He cares for sparrows, be sure He cares for souls! And when you think least of yourself, yet believe that the Lord regardsyou.

Again, our soul is like a little bird because it is so ignorant. Birds know little about snares, yet they know so much that,"surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird." Even this slender wisdom is more than men display, for they flyinto the net when it is spread in their sight! Yes, into the same net out of which, in God's Providence, they have just beenpermitted to escape! Man naturally is the essence of folly and he is desperately set on destroying himself. He must "see life,"he says and, therefore, he haunts the gates of death! He reckons the fowler to be his friend and dreams that he spreads hisnets for purposes of friendly hospitality! He does not know that the fowler is hunting for his life and

will destroy him if he can. So foolish are we and ignorant, we are as birds ready for the snare, till the Lord teaches uswis-dom-and even then we need hourly keeping, or we are entrapped by the Destroyer.

Our soul is often like a little bird because it is so eager and venturesome. How birds will trust themselves in winter aroundtraps of the simplest kind if but a few crumbs are used as bait! Alas, men are equally foolhardy-they see others perish, yetthey follow their ways! Many sip of the intoxicating cup, yet declare they will never be drunks! They pilfer a little andyet they despise a thief! They indulge in wanton words, but vow to be chaste as snow! They go into questionable places ofamusement, but hope to remain pure. Oh, silly birds! I mean silly souls! Thus the fowler fills his bags. Young people associatewith ungodly persons and say, "We are not so weak-minded as to be led away by them"-thus displaying a weak mind by that boastfulspeech!

Youths tell us that to read skeptical books, impure novels and to hear lewd songs and spicy language will do them no harm.Believe no such flattering falsehoods, or you will rue the day! "You don't catch old birds with chaff," says the sim-pleton-andhe hops into the net. "Younger birds must not come here," he says, "it is dangerous for them, but I am safe enough." Yet oldbirds' necks are wrung as well as those of young birds-and experienced men are as foolish as the juveniles! When a man says,"It is no temptation to me," it may be true, for soot will not blacken a sweep. Little birds, beware-the fowler promises pleasure,but the end thereof is death! The little bird, also, when once taken in the net, is a good comparison with the soul capturedby sin, for it is defenseless. What can it do?

A mouse might eat the ropes and set free the lion, but no mouse will liberate the sparrow! He will have a short flutter andwe shall hear no more of him. When a man is birdlimed by a vice, the more he flutters, the tighter he is held by it. Whatis more defenseless than a soul in the net of sin? What little power men seem to have against their habits! They boast thatthey can stop anywhere-but, alas, they stop nowhere! "Oh, I have only to come to a determination." Yes, "only to come to adetermination"-but to that determination you will not come! When men become entangled in the meshes of sin, their power toescape is gone. Jeremiah asks-"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you, also, do good, thatare accustomed to do evil." Such is the entanglement of habit, the slavery of lust.

While they are thus defenseless, we must notice, too, how alarmed they often are. The bird is no sooner in the net than heis frightened. Poor thing, how gladly would he escape if he could! Souls are not always so. They will be taken in Satan'ssnares and yet they say that they are happy! Custom in sin kills conscience of sin. "A short life and a merry one," they say,as if there could be any true merriment anywhere except in the great Father's house where they begin to be merry, as if theyhad never been merry before. Many souls have enough of conscience and of enlightenment by the Word of God to alarm them whenthey find themselves entangled in sin. And then they beat about and hurt themselves, but, alas, notwithstanding all theirefforts, unless a stronger hand than theirs shall break the net, they will perish by the fowler's hand!

Our souls, once more, are like birds because they are the objects of snares. If the Pharisees would compass sea and land tomake one proselyte, certainly Satan will compass all the universe to ruin a single soul, for he delights in destroying thesouls of men. Nor is it Satan, only, for all the world seems to have taken to this fowling, and men who would not lift a fingerto save their fellows will go far to ruin them! Oh, little birds, there is no place on earth safe for you till Jesus coversyou with His protecting wings!

II. Secondly, we will now speak of THE SNARE. The text speaks twice of the snare. It is wonderful what a variety of snaresthere are for birds. The tombs of Egypt exhibit the art of bird catching and show us decoys, traps, nets and so forth. Sucharts are still practiced by fowlers. The main point about the snare is that it is concealed. So, when the arch-fowler comesafter the souls of men, he will not usually spread his net in their sight. Some silly birds can be taken in that way, butmost souls need that the temptation should be veiled. Always suspect that in a temptation to sin there is more than you cansee! Never say that it is a little thing, for great evil lurks in a little fault. Death and destruction hide under apparentlysmall offenses.

Oh, if we could see everything as God sees it, then we poor silly souls might be in far less danger! But, alas, Satan coversthe hook with a tempting bait and we are taken! Snares and traps are usually attractive. The poor bird sees seeds which heis fond of and he goes for them, little judging that he is to give his life in exchange for brief enjoyment. So is it withSatan. He tempts us with pleasures, with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life-we taste the

sweet and are pierced with the smart. Did we perceive the intent of the great enemy of souls, we should fly from sin! Youknow the old adage, "Fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts"-even so, fear a temptation to sin, even should it offeryou all the kingdoms of this world! May God keep us from the attractions which conceal the snare!

But Satan's snares, like the fowler's, are sadly effectual. Look at the quantities of small birds that will be found for salein the markets-fowlers must be exceedingly skillful to catch all these. If we could walk through Satan's market, what a multitudeof souls should we see in his bands! Multitudes upon multitudes are the victims of their own passions, victims of that hellishart which makes evil appear to be good! God save us from being taken in these most deadly snares! What are these snares? Icannot mention them all, for they are legion. Snares tuck our bed and snares attend our board. Snares are in the street andsnares are in the field. Snares are on the table and snares are in our daily walk.

But the chief among them are temptations to sin. The Evil One endeavors to lead us into a false way which will be congenialto our taste. We each have a peculiar weakness and he knows how to adapt himself to it. He has been a student of human naturefor so long a time that he knows more about man than man knows about himself and he, therefore, chooses that bait which ismost likely to attract us. Oh that we may have Grace to keep clear of pleasurable sin! The rabbis said to the Nazarite whowas not to drink wine or strong drink, "O Nazarite, go about, go about-and do not pass through a vineyard." So, child of God,it will be well for you to go about and not enter into temptation. Your Master bids you pray, "Lead us not into temptation."Against temptation we are to watch and pray as well as against the sin that is likely to come of it.

Another snare is erroneous doctrine. There is plenty of that abroad at this time. Be warned! You can have high doctrine anddoctrine low; broad doctrine and narrow doctrine. You can have it how you like, for nowadays every man makes his own gospeland sits in judgment upon the Word of God! Dearly Beloved, hold fast the Truth of God, and be not decoyed by error! If anycome with a new gospel, turn your ears away from their deceptive teaching, for false doctrine is the poison of asps and thevenom of Hell lies within them. Even Christian people are in danger from another snare, namely, deceitful action. The Tempterwhispers, "You need not do evil, but there are different ways of judging right and wrong-and it is best to go by the customof the trade!"

Satan puts things very prettily when he means to ruin us. You have somebody else's money entrusted to you. Of course, youwould not steal it-but yon can use it for a little while-and then replace it. It is true, if it should be lost, people willcall you a thief, but then you are not going to lose it! You are going to double it by your cleverness! That is the snare!At other times the temptation is in this form-"Be sure to buy the thing if you would like it, though you have no money withwhich to pay for it." You would not steal. No, no! There is another way of doing it. Buy it, and do not pay for it. This isone of the snares with which Satan seduces men till they are ruined. Ah, me, that men should be so moved from their integrity!Oh, child of God, be upright in everything! However well you may gloss a matter over, and however much others may excuse it,yet if a certain act would be wrong in the sight of God, you must not think of it!

I have noticed another snare. Satan tries to get Christian people to ignore the experience of others. A certain good man isoften melancholy. "Ah," says Satan, "that is how you ought to be-you ought to be bowed down with holy sorrow." I rememberright well, when I was a youth, hearing a preacher say that it was dangerous to be sure of our salvation! He preached up theduty, beauty and sweetness of being everlastingly in doubt as to your condition! A few people would gather around such a preacherand sit and have a little comfortable misery all to themselves-and think that they were worshipping God! Now, that is a snareto a Christian because he has a right to be glad and, "the joy of the Lord is our strength." May we be kept out of that snare!

On the other hand, anxious people see Christians who are advanced in Grace and full of faith while they, themselves, are muchcast down-then the Evil One whispers, "You are not like those good men! You are no Christian." Brother, you cannot have anotherman's experience any more than you can wear another man's face! Certain lovely ferns grow best in the shade and never flourishin the sun, while many flowers cannot have too much sunlight. Do not wish to be like this man or that man, but pray God tomake you like Jesus Christ-and to let your experience glorify His blessed name! Otherwise, the desire to copy others willbe a snare to you. Thus I might go on mentioning snares. They are, some of them, gross and carnal. But for the spiritual,there are snares so neat and pretty that they are apt to be taken in them before they are aware!

According to Pliny, the nets in which the Egyptians took little birds were frequently so fine that one person could carrya net large enough to encompass a whole tree. Surely, it must have been a small tree, but even then, it is a remarkable statementfor so reliable a writer to have made. We may here see an illustration of the delicacy of those temptations with which Satansurrounds the nobler order of minds. Strong as iron, yet filmy as gauze, are the snares for spiritual men. Why, Satan canencompass a whole Church with one of those nets and you scarcely know that it is there! And yet the minds within its meshesare quite unable to mount up and sing unto their Lord, as once they did, for they are within an invisible net.

III. We cannot further dwell on the subject of the snare, but we must turn to consider THE CAPTURE. Birds are taken in netsand souls are taken by temptations to sin, by errors of doctrine and by a thousand other methods. Dear Friends, it is a dreadfulthing for the poor little bird, when it is taken, especially when it is so anxious to escape that it hurts itself in its effortsto get free. How came it to be taken? It may have been taken through hunger. Half-starved, it dashed into peril for necessaryfood. Many true men are in such straits and difficulties that they are sadly liable to be brought into the net.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, pray God to deliver you from poverty and from great riches, for there are perilous snares abouteach of those positions. May you be neither exalted nor depressed, but preserved in the middle path of experience. If youare extremely needy, you may be tempted to do wrong to provide for your wife and family. I pray that you may never yield tothe temptation, but trust in God and He will deliver you without your putting forth your hands unto iniquity. Other birdsare taken merely by their appetite. They are not excessively hungry, but they enjoy certain choice seeds and the fowler knowsit-and he scatters such around the trap. Ease of body, indulgence of taste, the joy of being admired, the sweets of powerand position-all these and many more have been the fowler's baits.

Hundreds have all that heart ought to wish for, but they desire to be rich and, therefore, fall into a thousand snares whichthey might have avoided. Men are snared by eating and by drinking; by fine raiment and by vainglorious display. Snares liethickly around the appetites of the body and the longings of the mind. Some persons are entrapped by fear. Birds have rushedinto the net for fear of danger-many persons have become great offenders against God through lack of moral courage. They areafraid of the laughter of fools! They cannot bear the sarcasm of the so-called wise-and so they suppress the Truth of Godand join in sin to escape scorn. God give us a holy bravery with which to defy every man's opinion when we know that we areobeying the Lord!

Some little birds are lost by love of company. The fowler has a decoy which sings sweetly or chirps pleasantly and the otherbirds must follow it. In the Church of God we lose many members by ungodly marriages. The worldling pipes his pretty noteand the tender heart is taken by it. The fair enthusiast says, "I shall convert him," but it is very, very seldom that thishappens-it is usually the other way! This is a snare of Satan in which many are taken. Thus you see how souls are captured.Perhaps I am speaking to one here who has flown into the net. You do not know what to do, Friend, for you are quite helplessto break your bonds. You went in very eagerly and, oh, how eagerly you would get out, again, if you could! But you cannotescape. Your own helplessness is now apparent as it never was before.

One thing, however, you can do-you can cry to One who is stronger than you! You can pray the Lord to pluck your feet out ofthe net-and He is able to do it, for all things are possible with Him!

IV. Just a word or two upon THE ESCAPE. This is a very blessed text, although the sermon has been gloomy so far, for now weshall see the fowler disappointed and the captive let loose! I wish that everybody here could repeat the utterance and cry,"Our soul is escaped. We were in the net, but our soul has escaped. The snare is broken! It has no power over us any longer.We are free from its grasp! We have escaped! Up, up, we soar away from the fowler and his nets. Glory be to God, we have escaped!-

"As when the fowler's snare is broke,

The bird escapes on cheerful wings

My soul, set free from Satan's yoke,

With joy bursts forth, and mounts, and sings." This escape is due to God, alone! As the bird could not get out of the snare,so the soul cannot escape from temptation, but God can bring it out, and He works the rescue. Hear this, you that are slavesto drunkenness-God can deliver you! You that have fallen into licentiousness-hear it-God can deliver you! Whatever the sinthat has birdlimed you, those gracious hands which once were nailed to the Cross can set you free! Up, up, up, you that pineon the borders of

despair! Jesus can deliver you! He that made the world out of nothing can make a joyful Christian even out of you! He canturn your mourning into dancing and your despair into confidence.

This escape is achieved by power. That word, "broken," has force in it. "The snare is broken"-the meshes torn with a stronghand; the steel trap dashed in pieces! It matters not what danger you are in, there is power enough in God to fetch you outof it! I thought, once, that God could never save me. I supposed that He would bless my brother and my sisters, but that Hewould leave me-yet He did save me, blessed be His name! And you, too, He is able to deliver. "Oh, but I am the odd man," criesone! Then there are two of us! And if God has saved one odd man, He can surely save another-and why should He not save you,in spite of all your eccentricity? "But I do not think that He will save me." What are your thoughts worth? He can save evenyou! Only trust Him, though you are in the net, and out of that net you shall be fetched, for He leaves no soul to perishthat puts its trust in Him!

Observe that the escape was complete-"the snare is broken, and we are escaped." As long as a little bird has the tiniest bitof cotton tied to its leg, and that is fastened anywhere, the bird has not escaped. And as long as you have one evil habit-onewrong thing that you really love-you have not escaped! You must be altogether separated from your sins. No man can be marriedto Christ till he is divorced from sin. Our deliverance must be complete, or it is not true. Who can give us this but theLord Jesus Christ by His blessed Spirit? Trust Him to set you free and no net shall hold you! I would again put the question,"How many of us can say, 'We have escaped?'" Let us sing unto the Lord if we can-and let those who cannot say that they arefree, continue to plead earnestly with God that He would deliver them.

V. I would close with THE LESSON which this subject ought to teach us. A word or two only. It ought to teach us, first, tosing, for if a bird gets out of the net, does it not sing? How glad it seems to be when once it flies away! Oh, you that havebeen delivered from sin and Satan, sing unto the Lord! Praise and bless His name! Be as happy as possible. Be something morethan full of happiness! How can that be? Why, be so full of it that it overflows and cheers others. Let us communicate ourjoy as far as we can, for we are escaped. We are escaped and we will praise the blessed God who broke the snare.

Next, let us trust, for if the Lord has saved us from the dreadful snare of sin and Satan, He will save us from everythingelse. It is sad, to me, that any should trust the Lord with their souls and yet they cannot trust Him for their daily bread,or for help in their daily trials! This must not be! If the Lord has given our soul so great an escape, depend upon it, Hewill take care of our bodies. He that gave us Jesus will give us food and raiment and let us be content. Lastly, let us watch.If we have fallen into the snare, once, let us keep our eyes open not to go there again. May the Holy Spirit prevent any childof God from turning aside, even for a moment, from the straight way. "Let them not turn again to folly," is one of God's owncautions to His people. He has brought you up out of the horrible Pit-do not play near the edge of it. He has set your feeton a rock-what have you to do with the miry clay? Get away from the slippery ground and let your goings be established onthe rock.

I would say, again, to you netted ones-you that are really caught in the trap and held fast-oh, that the Lord would come atonce and set you free! I think He will, yes, I am sure that He will if you cry to Him to do so. I have heard of a sailor whohad been in prison, that after his release, he had money in his pocket and, going over London Bridge, he saw a man sellingbirds-thrashes, larks and so on. "What do you want for the lot?" said Jack. I forget how much it was, but Jack found the moneyand, as soon as the birds were his, he opened the door and let them all fly away. The man called out "Whatever did you buythose birds for, and then let them out?" "Oh," said the sailor, "if you had been in prison as I have been, you would be sureto set everything free you could get a hold of."

You and I ought to display the same kind of feeling towards all poor ensnared souls. I am sure that the Lord Jesus Christis more tender-hearted than we are and, therefore, He will certainly come and set free all prisoners who beg Him to open theircage doors! He is the great Emancipator-show Him your bonds and beg for liberty-and He will set you free!