December 5, 2019 -- Psalm 119:67 -- Ah, be encouraged!
/Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.
Psalm 119:67 English Standard Version
John Piper has a wonderful, slim volume called: A Camaraderie of Confidence. In it he gives a brief biography on Charles Spurgeon, George Müller, and Hudson Taylor. If you have an opportunity to read it, I highly recommend it. The chapter on Spurgeon is one I read as I considered our verse from Psalm 119. Piper’s work on Spurgeon influenced much of this devotion and I want to recognize that debt.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a prodigious preacher—his collected sermons fill six volumes—and he has been called the prince of preachers. He preached faithfully and powerfully through-out his life. Yet many people are not aware that he struggled against depression. Here is how Spurgeon himself described it:
Causeless depression cannot be reasoned with, nor can David’s harp charm it away
by sweeting *discoursings. As well as fight with the mist as with this shapeless,
undefinable, yet all beclouding hopelessness…
The iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits
in gloomy prison, needs a heavenly hand to push it back.
*discoursings: conversations, debates
~Charles Spurgeon
Besides this depression which was so debilitating at times he’d weep like a child for hours on end; he was mocked and derided in the press. (It is said his wife kept a scrapbook of newspaper criticisms, and this merely from one year of his ministry, and it became a bulging book!)
Yet this same man preached faithfully. He founded and supervised dozens of organizations providing mercy for the poor and help for orphans and so on. He noted that his adversity benefited him in these ways.
That the Lord receive all the glory for any work accomplished, since the weakness of the man is obvious the greater glory of the LORD is all the more obvious.
Others could identify with his adversity and it made his preaching so powerful because others who were hurting could identify with him—his very demeanour alone would impact people.
He realized this depression could be a time of preparation used by God before larger blessing was poured out. In fact, he called depression “a prophet in rough clothing, like John the Baptist, which heralded a time coming of greater bounty.”
King David knew adversity had powerful purposes in his life as well.
Adversity drove him to obedience to the Word of God (our verse today).
Adversity reminded him of those who were his true companions in suffering and in service to God (verse 63).
Adversity reminded him that the Word of God is the source of life—not things, power, wealth or family or anything else that might strive for prominence in our lives (verse 50).
I do not know what you are suffering today. Maybe it is a cancer diagnosis. Maybe you are lonely and it is crippling as the holidays approach. Maybe you have been betrayed by those you thought were dear friends. Perhaps it seems as if God is far from you at this time in your life. Know this: God, Who is rich in mercy, has given you the gift of His Word for a time such as this. And the written word is pointing to Jesus, the Living Word, in Whom we have life, hope, and access to the truth about our life and situation.
King of Glory, rich in love, in tender mercy visit us, especially when we are distressed and humbled low. Spirit of God, let the heavenly hand of hope push back the iron bolt to release us from all our gloomy prisons so that we will fix our eyes on Jesus, Captain of Salvation and Savior of the World. Amen.
