1559. Signs For Good

A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Evening, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. *2/13/2013

Show me a sign for good; so that those who hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because you, Lord, have helped me, and comforted me. [Ps 86:17]

1. I would have you notice, beloved friends, at the outset, how this man of God, in the hour of conflict, looks to his divine protector. He does not run around to consult with friends, nor does he sit down to digest his bitter sorrow in solitude, but he goes away to the Lord his God, who has covenanted to help him. That same God who in his brightest days was his great joy, is in his darkest night his best consolation. Hence he cries, “Lord, show me a sign for good. You show it. Let it come from you. All other signs and tokens I can forego, but you show me a sign for good, and my spirit will be revived at once.” You see, he looks away from the secondary to the primary, from the temporal to the eternal, from what he could see with his eyes, to him whom having not seen he trusted and rejoiced in. Oh mourner, learn wisdom from the father of the wisest of men! We do not need to hesitate to copy the pattern set by the man after God’s own heart. Oh you who are surrounded by persecutors, will you not imitate David? You cannot do better in every adversity than to look to the Lord, the ever-merciful. I know you have been casting about to the right and to the left to find an anchor-hold, and still the vessel drifts. Now, throw the great bower-anchor [a] into the depths. Let it go right down deep out of sight, and let it get a grip upon eternal faithfulness, and your barque shall outride both wind and tide. Trust the quicksands of human confidence no longer. Look to the Lord alone. It is a severance from man, a complete deliverance from the arm of flesh, that God intends by our trouble, and the sooner we come to it the better for us: certainly we shall all the more quickly obtain the benefit intended by our trouble, and probably we shall all the sooner come to the end of it.

   Trust with a faith untiring
   In thine omniscient King,
   And thou shalt see admiring
   What he to light will bring:
   Of all thy griefs the reason
   Shall at the last appear;
   Though hidden for a season
   ’Twill shine in letters clear.

2. Observe that, in the case of David, all his troubles drove him to his God. I have noticed in the case of too many professors that they seem to have a fair-weather religion, a summer-season faith, which shrinks and loses its colour in a little rain or a sharp frost, or when the wind blows from the cold corner of affliction. I hear of some who, when they are very poor, do not come up to the house of God. They say they do not have appropriate clothes to come in, as if the Lord had respect for our clothing, which are nothing better than the covering of our shame. This is an idle excuse, and yet I know that poverty does drive some professors away from the God whom they profess to worship: they murmur and become discouraged, and give it all up in a sulk, as if they only loved God for the sake of food, as a hungry dog will follow a stranger who feeds him. There are others who say, “I cannot hold up my head among my brethren as I used to do, and so I stay away from the congregation”: as if God wanted you to hold your heads up — as if he did not look most to those who hold down both their heads and their hearts. What, will you turn away from the stream because you are thirsty? Will you leave the food because you are hungry? Is godliness not meant to be a comfort to you in your time of trouble? Do not poor men need the gospel? Do you not require it all the more now that your comforts are so greatly diminished? Above all things, seek the Lord’s face when trials surround you, or else, assuredly, you cannot be his own; for God’s people, though they cry to him daily, are even driven to him more and more in proportion as they are brought low, and thrown into distress. “They cry to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses.” This is one of the sure signs of the children of God — they kiss the rod, and the more the Lord chastens them, the more they cling to him. When the Lord strikes, the ungodly kick against him; they are like the young bull that will not plough by reason of stubbornness, and when it feels a goad it kicks, and will not go on, but is bent on having its own way. But when the Lord has trained his people, and accustomed them to the yoke, they are obedient to the goad as soon as they feel it, and yield to his will as soon as it is made known. Indeed, more than that, I think the more God chastens his people, the more they love him. I am persuaded that the most whipped of the Lord’s family are the best of his children. I do not say that any of you may wish for affliction; you will have enough of it without wishing for it; but I do affirm my belief that the favourites of heaven are those who feel the most tribulation. The choicest plants in God’s garden are those that are watered with affliction, and made wet with the night dews of grief. His rarest vines are those which feel the knife the most, and are cut back almost down to the root. There is no fragrance so sweet as what distils from a flower which the great Gardener has bruised; and when he seems even to have trodden upon it as though he despised it, he has been secretly blessing it, for he prizes above all things the broken and the contrite heart. Therefore, dear friends, let all your griefs send you in prayer to God, and you will then grow in blessing by every tribulation. When big waves of trouble come, pray that they may wash you on the Rock of Ages, and they will do you no harm. When you lose anything, try to make a gain of it by going to your God, so that he may sanctify the loss. Whenever you are afflicted, instead of running away from him who strikes you, run inwards to his bosom. If a man is very weak, and he is contending with a strong adversary, he will do well to get close to him. The farther off the heavier is the blow when a strong man deals it; but when the weak man closes in with him how can the strong man strike him? What does God say? “Let him lay hold on my strength, and I will make peace with him.” Flee in spirit to your God. Flee to him even when he seems angry; run on the point of his sword, for he will not harm the soul that confides in him. It cannot be that humble trust should meet a repulse. Jesus declares, “He who comes to me I will in no wise cast out”; and if you will only trust him, and, when he seems angry, will still flee to him, you shall find rest for your souls. You children of God, note this.

3. Once more, notice that the psalmist while he thus looks to God, and is driven to him by his troubles, obviously looks to God alone. There is a word not in this psalm about friends, allies, or helpers. He has only one request, and this is, “Bow down your ear, oh Lord, hear me.” His heart is evidently saying: — 

   My spirit looks to God alone;
   My rock and refuge is his throne;
   In all my fears, in all my straits,
   My soul on his salvation waits.

God alone — oh! that is a word to be learned, to be learned by experience, and most assuredly no one will ever know it unless they are taught by the Holy Spirit. I do not think we often learn it until we hear it in the thunder of divine power, when the deep-throated tempest within the soul mutters — “God alone! God alone!” In fair weather we are for mixing our trust, but when the whirlwind is abroad no one except God will serve our purpose. Oh my brother, if you will set one foot upon the rock of divine faithfulness, and the other foot upon the sand of human confidence, you will go down with a great fall. Both feet on the rock! Take care to do that. Your whole confidence must be fixed upon your Lord. Hang only upon that sure nail upon which hangs the whole universe, and hang nowhere else. What does David say? “My soul, wait only upon God, for my expectation is from him.” Beware of setting up a rival in the temple of your trust. Who is it that you would yoke with God? What helper is there that you would put side by side with him? If you could depend upon an angel — does it not make you smile at your folly to think of saying, “I trust in God and an angel?” Why there is no pairing such disparities. The infinite Creator of all is not to be yoked even with the most glorious of his creatures, and yet you would put your fellow man into the yoke with God, and trust in these two. Go, yoke an angel with an ant if you wish, but never think of joining God with man, and making the two your confidence, when God is all in all. Oh to be cut clear of all visible supports, and props, and holdfasts! You have seen a balloon well-filled, struggling to rise: what kept it down? It longed to mount above the clouds into the calm serene, and yet it lingered. What hindered it? The ropes which bound it to earth. Cut away the ropes, and then see how it mounts! With a spring it leaps upward while we are gazing into the open sky. Oh for such a clearance and such a mounting for our spirits! Alas, we are hindered and hampered! What are the bonds which detain us? Are they not our visible supports and reliances? Oh my soul, your human confidences have been to you like the iron chain which binds the captive eagle to the rock; but if that confidence of yours were gone — if that chain on which you dote so much were broken, even though it were with a rough blacksmith’s hammer — then you could stretch your wings, and be a child of the sun, and dwell aloft amid the eternal light. Often the thing which we most dread proves to be our grand necessity: by being deprived of earthly comforts we are cut clear of everything except our God. May the Lord bring us into this state of high spiritual emancipation.

4. With this as a preface, I now come to notice the particular prayer which David in this state of mind raises. It was necessary to give you this preface as a kind of guard against the very common tendency which exists among God’s people to depend upon signs and tokens. Especially since we are going to preach a little upon this prayer for a “sign” it was essential to begin properly, lest we should add to the too common craving for signs and wonders. We will dwell first upon the request for a sign, and then, if we have time, we will touch upon the result which David says would come of having such a sign — that those who hated him would see it and be ashamed, because God had helped him and comforted him.

5. I. David raises A REQUEST FOR A SIGN. It was a sign from God, notice that, and it was a sign entirely according to God’s will. Never forget that it was a sign asked for in faith, and not in unbelief; for there is a great distinction here.

6. Dear brethren, we have no right to say, “My God, I will believe in you if you will give me a sign, and, if not, I will remain in hesitating unbelief”; for the English of that is, “I will consider you to be false unless you show me a sign according to my will.” If God is true, you are bound to believe him, whether he gives you a sign or not; and you are not permitted to suspend your faith upon conditions of your own inventing. Whether he will or will not give you a sign must be according to his own mind. He may give or withhold as he pleases; but you are bound to believe him, since every man is bound to believe the truth. God has never been false to you; you have therefore no reason to doubt him. If he gives you the light, be thankful; but as his child you are bound to trust him in the dark. If he speaks a favourable word to you, you are to be glad; but you are bound to trust him even if he speaks nothing but rough words to you, for he is just as true. His truth and your belief in that truth must not be thought to depend upon signs and tokens: his word is very sure, and may not be questioned.

7. Moreover, we have known some who professed to be the children of God, who have picked out certain signs according to their own whims and fancies and follies, and they have spoken as if God must do this or that at their dictation, I fear that in some this is a wicked presumption not to be tolerated for a moment. At best it is a childish folly, which men in Christ Jesus ought long ago to have outgrown. I do not doubt that the Lord has indulged some of his little children with tokens and signs while they were very, very feeble, which he will never give them again, and which they ought never to seek for again — which, indeed, now that they have grown up to more mature years and to more strength of grace, they ought themselves to put away as childish things. Not a few of these signs they may even suspect, saying, “Perhaps after all there was not so much in those tokens and signs as I thought there was. They helped me just then, but I could not rely on them now; I prefer what is better and surer.” The Apostle Peter, after he has described Christ upon the mount as revealing himself to his servants in the transfiguration, declares, “we have a more sure word of prophecy.” What, more sure than the transfiguration? Yes, more sure even than the evidence of their eyes when they saw their Lord glorified upon the holy mount. If you have ever been upon the mount with Christ, and if you have seen all his brightness, yet still you are not to compare even the sight of your eyes, when they see the best and brightest that they can see, with the word of testimony which must be sure — a light that shines in a dark place. All the rapt experiences which we have ever had are not to be trusted in comparison with the word of God. I say it advisedly, even the sweetest communion we have ever had with Christ may after all be suspected, and indeed it is upon such ripe fruit that Satan soon sets his hand so that he may rob us of its savour if possible, for he is not slow to cast doubts upon the holiest joys of God’s elect. There may come a time when we shall fear that we were carried away by excitement, or deluded by fanaticism; but he who speaks the word of Scripture cannot lie, and when his Spirit speaks that same truth into the soul we have a testimony in it which never can be doubted, but must be accepted over everything else. “Let God be true, and every man a liar” — ourselves and all; all liars as compared with the eternal verities of the revelation of God the Holy Spirit. The basis of faith is not our experience, but the testimony of God, and we must watch that we do not make the feet of our image partly of God’s gold and partly of our clay. Our experience may be in error, but the infallible word of God cannot be, and it is upon that alone which we must stand.

8. Yet we may ask for signs in a subordinate sense. Trusting in the Lord, sign or no sign; believing his word, evidence or no evidence; we may then humbly ask for confirming seals for our souls. Taking his promise as it stands, and believing it, though the heavens themselves should seem to rock and reel — we may then say, “Yet Lord, inasmuch as I am only dust and ashes, and therefore weak and trembling, show me a sign for good.”

9. We may feel quite safe in seeking for signs of the kind which are mentioned in this psalm. And first, we may ask for answers to prayer, because the psalm begins with, “Bow down your ear, oh Lord, hear me”; and further on we read in the sixth verse, “Give ear, oh Lord, to my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplications.” There is no fanaticism in expecting God to answer prayer, and there is no misuse of logic in drawing the inference that, if he does hear my prayer in the time of trouble, this is a sign for good to my soul. Has my prayer been accepted before him? Have I received the gracious answer of peace? Then let me be comforted by it. Especially was I in deep distress where no man could help me, and did I then cry to him, and did he come to my rescue? Assuredly, this is a seal that is set to my soul that I am no hypocrite. This is a sign that I am no stranger to God, and that I am not cast away from his presence. Answered prayers are hopeful arguments of acceptance. David fitly said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me,” and then he joyfully added, “But truly God has heard me.” So he proved the soundness of his heart before God. I ask you to look back and see whether you have indeed prevailed with God in secret prayer. Have you had your Jabboks and your Carmels? Do I not speak to many who are familiar with the great Hearer of prayer? Has he not often heard you? I am not too bold when I assert that the Lord has granted me according to the desire of my heart times without number. The devil himself can never dispute me out of facts — facts which shall for ever stand on my memory, “engraved as in eternal brass,” for out of the depths I have cried to God, and he has as distinctly answered my prayers as though he had torn the heavens and come down to help his servant. He fills me with overwhelming delight, for he has had respect for my cry. His tenderness for me in this respect has made my life exceptionally happy, though I have had a large share of pain and depression. When I think over the times in which the Lord has especially answered me, I bid defiance to all the sceptics and scientists who haunt our footsteps. Brethren in Christ, each of you have in your own way, according to your own need, had sure examples of the faithfulness of God to you, and these have been reviving signs of love. At this present time be of good cheer. Even if for a while the heavens should seem as brass, and prayer should not be heard, remember that he heard you in times gone by, and he is the same God, and does not change, and therefore still is hearing, and eventually will answer. Therefore cry mightily to him. It may be that your prayer is like a ship, which, when it goes on a very long voyage, does not come home laden so soon; but, when it does come home, it has a richer freight. Mere coastal ships will bring you coals, or similar ordinary things; but those who go afar to Tarshish return with gold and ivory. Coastal prayers such as we pray every day bring us many necessities, but there are great prayers which like the old Spanish galleons cross the main ocean and are longer out of sight, but come home deep laden with a golden freight. When prayer has tarried, the Lord our God has made up for the delays, and showed us why he did delay — to give us a richer and a rarer blessing through our waiting, and also to prepare us to receive it. Go on in prayer if you have no immediate answer, and let the answers you have had in years gone by be signs for good to your soul at this time.

         God liveth still!
      Trust my soul, and fear no ill:
   God is good; from his compassion
      Earthly help and comfort flow;
   Strong is his right hand to fashion
      All things well for men below;
   Trial, oft the most distressing,
   In the end has proved a blessing:
      Wherefore then my soul despair?
      God still lives, and heareth prayer.

10. You find another class of signs in the psalm, and these concern the preservation of character. Kindly read the second verse: “Preserve my soul, for I am holy.” I know I am speaking in these dark and troubled times to many of God’s children who are tried in business, and severely exercised by the general depression: your great fear arises out of a dread of failure to discharge your debts. You have been praying to the Lord about your business; and perhaps Satan has tempted you to a measure of unbelief against which you are daily fighting. Now, has the Lord helped you to do what is honest and upright before men? Has he preserved your soul because you are consecrated to him? You have been a loser, but in that loss can you say, “It is not my fault: it is the act of God. Things have not prospered with me, but I have been diligent, and I have used my best discretion, and I have curtailed every expense to save as much as possible. I have sought to eat my own food, and not the food of another man, and I would sooner come to labour with my hands in the most menial service than that anyone should say of me that I have forgotten the way of uprightness and integrity?” If such is the case, you will acutely feel the difficulties of your pathway, but you must not give way to despondency. Look up and play the man, and by no means give up. Flee to the Lord in this hour of need, and see what he will do. It is written, “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,” and if such has been your case it is a sign for good. You have not lost much if your character remains untarnished. After all, “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses”; and “a good name is better than precious ointment.” When God gives a man grace to rejoice in his abundance, it is a great thing; but it is an equal favour when he gives to others of his people grace to rejoice that they are brought low. There is often more contentment in a narrower sphere than in a wider one, and a great deal less care and anxiety, and more fellowship with God in a cottage than in a broad mansion. If God keeps your character spotless, know that the smell of fire has not passed upon you. If the Lord enables you to do the right, let him do what he pleases with you. If we can pay twenty shillings in the pound, and walk out of the house free from any charge of unjust dealing, we may feel that the worst grief of all is over, for to an honest heart it is a crushing trial to be unable to pay every man his due. May the Holy Spirit lead you in the path of uprightness, and you need not envy anyone among the sons of men.

11. A third form of sign for good is found in deliverance from trouble. We have that in the second verse also: “Oh you, my God, save your servant who trusts in you,” and all through the psalm David is crying for deliverance from trouble. I am addressing many who have felt the strokes of tribulation. You have been brought very low; in your horror it seemed to you like the lowest hell; but you have been brought up from it, and you can at this hour sing of delivering grace. We are not all hanging our harps on the willows, some of us are praising God upon the high-sounding cymbals because of his delivering mercy, for he has brought our soul out of prison, has delivered our soul from death, our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling. When these things come, they are to be regarded as signs for good, if they come as the result of prayer and faith. Our personal testimony should be like that of David in the thirty-fourth psalm: “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him, and were enlightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” When our distresses are ended our songs should begin, even as the psalmist says of men rescued from peril: they pray, and then they praise. “Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” There ought to be praises where there have been deliverances. When we have gone to God in prayer with open mouth, and he has filled it, then we should go back again with the open mouth, to have it filled with his praises all the day long. Come, friends, look back upon the rescues and recoveries of the past, and rejoice in the Lord. One good old saint, when she heard one sing,

   Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review,
   Confirms his good pleasure to help me quite through,

said, “Why, my road, when I look back upon it, is paved with Ebenezers. I cannot take a step that I do not step upon a stone of help; and on both sides I see so many records of the Lord’s goodness that the road seems walled up by them on both sides.” Many of us can say the same. Well surely: — 

   His love in time past forbids us to think,
   He’ll leave us at last in trouble to sink.

If he has delivered us from the jaw of the lion and the paw of the bear, shall we be afraid of that uncircumcised Philistine? No, but the giant boaster shall fall before us. In the name of the Lord we will destroy all future foes, because previously in his name we have destroyed the same. That is fine language which Paul uses in the epistle to the Corinthians: “Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver: in whom we trust that he will still deliver us.”

12. These three forms of signs for good are very sure, and very sober, not at all like those which fanaticism seeks after, and yet they are most valuable. Answered prayers, preservations from sin, and deliverances from trouble are rich jewels from the Bridegroom’s hand, signs of a most costly love. Those who have them should not forget them. “Shall a maid forget her ornaments?” Shall gifts of the Bridegroom be put away as though they were of no value? God forbid.

13. There is another form of sign which must never he overlooked, and that is, a sense of pardoned sin. This comes in the third and fifth verses. “Be merciful to me, oh Lord: for I cry to you daily. For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive; and plentiful in mercy to all those who call upon you.” Even though we have been sustained in our integrity, we must, nevertheless, be conscious of many faults. You cannot go through either the joys of this world or the sorrows of it without incurring a measure of defilement. He who picks his steps the most successfully will still gather soil on his feet, and they will need washing by those dear hands which alone can take away the stain of sin. When that washing is given, it is a very choice love-token. If you feel that your conscience is purged from dead works — if you are walking in the light as God is in the light, and are enjoying fellowship with the Father, while the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses you from all sin, then rejoice in the sign for good which is given to you. If you know the power of that word, “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” — if you are indeed “accepted in the Beloved,” then know of a surety that one of the best signs for good is in your possession. It may be that your purse is scant, but your sin is forgiven! It may be that disease is creeping over your flesh, but your sin is forgiven! What a bliss is yours, whatever your trial may be! Suppose yourself to be in danger of shipwreck: the ship is going down, the passengers are shrieking with terror, for there is nothing before them except the murderous waves. The boiling floods will soon conceal the last vestige of the ship: grim death opens his wide jaws! The last moment has come! But what do I see? What rose up on the crest of the wave? It was the lifeboat! Yes! Here comes the lifeboat, and you are put on board! What is your thought at the time? What must be your thought? What! Did you whine out, “I have lost my best luggage which I left in my cabin?” What a fool you would be if you talked like that! The boatmen would be ready to throw you into the sea. No, your gratitude forgets all minor things, and rejoices in the grand deliverance. You cry, “My life is saved! My life is saved! Blessed be the Lord for saving me! My money, my very clothes — for I was startled in my sleep, and leaped into the lifeboat — I have lost them all, but I am alive, and that is enough. Thank God, I shall see my native land again!” Shall a man who is delivered from hell, and whose sins are forgiven, go whining all the day long because he has lost his money, or some other trifle, for it is trifle as compared with his soul. “Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has he will give for his life”; and if our life is saved in Christ Jesus, through the forgiveness of our sin by his most precious blood, how can we fret? Why, man, God has given you a mercy that may swallow up your troubles as Aaron’s rod swallowed up all the serpents. “Strike me, my God,” said one of old, “Strike me as you wish, now that you have forgiven me.” The pardon of sin is such a sign for good that all problems disappear before it.

14. There is another sign for good mentioned in the psalm which you may well pray for. You will find it in the fourth verse: “Make glad the soul of your servant: for to you, oh Lord, I lift up my soul.” This is support under trial.

15. It is a very blessed sign for good when you are able to keep calm, quiet, and happy in the midst of losses, crosses, bereavements, and afflictions. All the water in the sea will never harm the ship as long as it is outside, it is only what enters the vessel that can sink it. Hence the Saviour says, “Do not let your heart be troubled; you believe in God; believe also in me.” In the world you shall have tribulation, but do not let your heart be troubled. Now, are you, dear friend, conscious at this time while everything is going against you that you never were happier than you are now? Can you give it all up? Can you be resigned to your heavenly Father’s will? Does a sweet patience steal over you? Do you sometimes say to yourself and to your friends, “I would not have believed that I could have passed through this as I am doing?” Well, that is a sign for good, and you may take comfort from it. What does it matter to a man after all whether God increases the load and increases the strength, or whether he decreases the load and decreases the strength? If a man has to carry a pound weight, and he is so weak that he can only manage to carry eight ounces, well, he is an overloaded man; but if a man had to carry a ton, and God gave him strength enough to carry two, why, he would be a lightly-loaded man, would he not? It is not the weight of the burden, it is the proportion of the burden to the strength. Now, the proportion of the burden to the strength was settled long ago — thousands of years ago. It is written, “As your days, so shall your strength be”; and there was one who proved it almost two millennia ago, and exclaimed, “Just as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ.” You see the scale; if there is an ounce of suffering, there is an ounce of consolation. Almighty wisdom keeps the measure exact. Let the tribulation abound. Put it into the left side of the scale. Heap it up. Put in more and more trial. What a weight it is! Yes, but there you see in the right side of scale the balancing consolation; and I think if we were wise we should be willing to accept — indeed, we should even rejoice in — the abounding tribulations because of the abounding consolations. We shall always be little, I am afraid, while our trials are little; but when we get into the deeper waters then the Lord helps us to swim, and he makes men of us then, and we begin to glory in tribulation also, because the power of God rests upon us. Oh may the Lord give us faith to come up to this point, and this shall be for ever a blessed sign for good when we can say,

   I stand upon the mount of God,
      With sunlight in my soul;
   I hear the storms in vales beneath;
      I hear the thunders roll:
   But I am calm with thee, my God,
      Beneath these glorious skies;
   And to the heights on which I stand,
      Nor storms nor clouds can rise.

May God endow us with that sign for good; for serenity in suffering, patience in tribulation, joy in the very prospect of death, these are all as white stones, which are the secret signs of divine favour.

16. Cheering visits from Christ, and fresh anointings of the Holy Spirit, are also most sure signs for good, and if not mentioned expressly in the psalm, must not be omitted in our sermon. They are, however, here in such phrases as these: — “Rejoice the soul of your servant,” in verse 4; “unite my heart to fear your name,” in verse 11; “Oh turn to me and have mercy upon me,” in verse 16; and in the latter clause of our text, “you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.” The Lord graciously visits his people, the clouds break, the night declines, and the day begins to dawn. Precious promises are applied to the heart with reviving power, hope is strengthened, and joy is renewed. Sweet communion is enjoyed under affliction, and Christ is seen sitting as a refiner at the mouth of the furnace. Sin is no longer allowed to burden the heart; yes, the very memory of it, as far as it would cause pain to the mind, is utterly removed, and the glad spirit rejoices in the consciousness of full acceptance with God. Ordinances and the word become sweeter than honey or the honeycomb, and the man feasts in the house of the Lord as one who is an honoured guest at a royal banquet, where the banner of Jesus’ love waves over his head, and he himself leans his head on his Lord’s bosom. This is a sign for good, the memory of which shall cheer him for many a long day, and being treasured up like some sweet-smelling herb, shall serve to render fragrant his sick room or his prison-house. Oh the joy of saints when the Bridegroom is with them; they cannot fast or be of a sad countenance, for their assurance of his divine love drives every care and fear away.

   ’Tis like the singing of the birds
      When winter’s frost is fled;
   And like the warmth the sun affords
      To creatures almost dead.
   ’Tis like the comfort of a calm
      Which stills a stormy sea;
   And like the tender, healing balm
      To such as wounded be.

We may enjoy a rich store of such signs for good, until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away.

17. II. I had many things to say to you, but I remember Paul’s mistake that he made when he preached until midnight, and Eutychus fell from the third loft, for he had gone to sleep; and because I could not possibly raise a sleeper from the dead, as Paul did, I will not try the experiment of preaching as long as Paul did. I cannot say anything concerning THE RESULT OF SUCH SIGNS.

18. The influence of these signs upon our foes must be undescribed except that many a time the favour of God to his people has been so conspicuous that their most malicious adversaries have stood in awe of them. Their answered prayers have been like armour to them, their patience has lit up their faces with an awe-inspiring splendour, and their integrity has been a wall of fire all around them. Even the devil has stood abashed in the presence of the favoured ones when God has dressed them in their marriage robes. He has known that they were of that chosen race against which he never can prevail. As for other enemies — “when a man’s ways please the Lord he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Like Pilate’s wife, even worldly people have pleaded that good men should be left alone; the Lord has made them dream of the glory of their virtue, and they have been afraid. There is a dignity which hedges around those who are kings to God. Those who dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth are afraid because of the signs for good which God bestows on his saints.

19. Here we leave these words, only adding this, what an unhappy state must those be in who have troubles, but have no God to go to; enemies, but no heavenly defender; darkness, and no star of hope!

20. How poor must you be who cannot escape affliction, and yet have no helper in affliction! You run to your friends, do you? Ah well, they are a poor refuge to flee to, for they mostly are our friends when we can help them, but when we need anything from them, they do not know us. You trust yourself, do you? Ah well, I thought little of your friends, but I think less of you, for you are dust and ashes, and nothing else, and if your trust is in yourself it is a dream. And so you are a self-made man! your own creator? You need not be so very proud of your work. Since you made yourself, and keep yourself going, you will come to a frightful end one of these days, when the inward force decays into weakness, and all the springs of nature fail. Whatever you make your god is like yourself, and both you and it must pass away before long. Your hope shall be as a spider’s web, and your expectation shall melt like the hoar-frost when the sun arises. The Lord is coming, the Lord is coming, and woe to hypocrites in that day! It will go badly with self-confident men in that day. But as for such as trust the Lord, do you know what they say? and they speak as inspiration tells them to speak — “I shall be satisfied.” I am not yet; but I shall be satisfied. And when shall I be satisfied? “When I awake with your likeness.” When the archangel’s trumpet sounds, and awakens me into immortal perfection, then I shall be satisfied. Oh seek the Saviour’s face. Dear hearts, that never have sought him yet, seek him now; for there is no satisfaction to be had apart from him. Get away to him; get away to him tonight. Cry to him, for he will hear you. Come to him, for he will receive you. May his divine Spirit lead you to cast yourselves on him, for he will in no wise cast you out. May the Lord bless you, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

[Portion Of Scripture Read Before Sermon — Ps 86]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Spirit of the Psalms — Psalm 73” 73 @@ "(Part 2)"]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Christian, Peaceful Trust — Freedom From Care” 691]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Spirit of the Psalms — Psalm 119” 119 @@ "(Song 5)"]

[a] Bower-anchor: The name of two anchors, the best-bower, and small-bower, carried at the bows of a vessel; also the cable attached to such an anchor. OED.

Spirit of the Psalms
Psalm 73 (Part 1)
1 Lord, what a thoughtless wretch was I,
   To mourn, and murmur, and repine,
   To see the wicked placed on high,
   In pride and robes of honour shine.
2 But, oh their end! their dreadful end!
   Thy sanctuary taught me so:
   On slipp’ry rocks I see them stand,
   And fiery billows roll below.
3 Now let them boast how tall they rise,
   I’ll never envy them again;
   There they may stand with haughty eyes,
   Till they plunge deep in endless pain.
4 Their fancied joys, how fast they flee!
   Just like a dream when man awakes:
   Their songs of softest harmony
   Are but a preface to their plagues.
5 Now I esteem their mirth and wine
   Too dear to purchase with my blood;
   Lord, ‘tis enough that thou art mine;
   My life, my portion, and my God.
                           Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 73 (Part 2)
1 God, my supporter and my hope,
   My help for ever near,
   Thine arm of mercy held me up,
   When sinking in despair.
2 Thy counsels, LOrd, shall guide my feet
   Through this dark wilderness;
   Thy hand conduct me near thy seat,
   To dwell before thy face.
3 Were I in heaven without my God
   ‘Twould be no joy to me;
   And whilst this earth is mine abode,
   I long for none but thee.
4 What if the springs of life were broke,
   And flesh and heart should faint?
   God is my soul’s eternal rock,
   The strength of every saint.
5 Still to draw near to thee, my God,
   Shall be my sweet employ;
   My tongue shall sound thy works abroad,
   And tell the world my joy.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 73 (Part 3)
1 Whom have we, Lord, in heaven but thee,
   And whom on earth beside;
   Where else for succour shall we flee,
   Or in whose strength confide?
2 Thou art our portion here below,
   Our promised bliss above;
   Ne’er can our souls an object know
   So precious as thy love.
3 When heart and flesh, oh Lord, shall fail,
   Thou wilt our spirits cheer;
   Support us through life’s thorny vale,
   And calm each anxious fear.
4 Yes, thou, our only guide through life,
   Shalt help and strength supply;
   Support us in death’s fearful strife,
   Then welcome us on high.
                     Harriett Auber, 1829.

The Christian, Peaceful Trust
691 — Freedom From Care
1 I bow me to thy will, oh God,
      And all thy ways adore;
   And every day I live I’ll seek
      To please thee more and more.
2 I love to kiss each print where Christ
      Did set his pilgrim feet;
   Nor can I fear that blessed path,
      Whose traces are so sweet.
3 When obstacles and trials seem
      Like prison walls to be,
   I do the little I can do,
      And leave the rest to thee.
4 I have no cares, oh blessed Lord,
      For all my cares are thine;
   I live in triumph, too, for thou
      Hast made thy triumphs mine.
5 And when it seems no chance nor change
      From grief can set me free,
   Hope finds its strength in helplessness
      And, patient, waits on thee.
6 Lead on, lead on, triumphantly,
      Oh blessed Lord, lead on!
   Faiths pilgrim-sons behind thee seek
      The road that thou hast gone.
         Frederick William Fabry, 1852, a.

Spirit of the Psalms
Psalm 119 (Song 1)
1 Oh how I love thy holy law!
   ‘Tis daily my delight;
   And thence my meditations draw
   Divine advice by night.
2 How doth thy word my heart engage!
   How well employ my tongue!
   And in my tiresome pilgrimage
   Yields me a heavenly song.
3 Am I a stranger, or at home,
   ‘Tis my perpetual feast:
   Not honey dropping from the comb,
   So much allures the taste.
4 No treasures so enrich the mind,
   Nor shall thy word be sold
   For loads of silver well refined,
   Nor heaps of choicest gold.
5 When nature sinks, and spirits droop,
   Thy promises of grace
   Are pillars to support my hope,
   And there I write thy praise.
                     Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 119 (Song 2)
1 Oh that the Lord would guide my ways
   To keep his statutes still!
   Oh that my God would grant me grace
   To know and do his will!
2 Oh send thy Spirit down, to write
   Thy law upon my heart!
   Nor let my tongue indulge deceit,
   Nor act the liar’s part.
3 From vanity turn off my eyes;
   Let no corrupt design,
   Nor covetous desires arise
   Within this soul of mine.
4 Order my footsteps by thy word,
   And make my heart sincere;
   Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
   But keep my conscience clear.
5 My soul hath gone too far astray,
   My feet too often slip;
   Yet since I’ve not forgot thy way
   Restore thy wandering sheep.
6 Make me to walk in thy commands,
   ‘Tis a delightful road;
   Nor let my head, or heart, or hands,
   Offend against my God.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719

Psalm 119 (Song 3)
1 My soul lies cleaving to the dust;
   Lord, give me life divine;
   From vain desires and every lust,
   Turn off these eyes of mine.
2 I need the influence of thy grace
   To speed me in thy way,
   Lest I should loiter in my race
   Or turn my feet astray.
3 When sore afflictions press me down,
   I need thy quickening powers;
   Thy word that I have rested on
   Shall help my heaviest hours.
4 Are not thy mercies sovereign still,
   And thou a faithful God?
   Wilt thou not grant me warmer zeal
   To run the heavenly road?
5 Does not my heart thy precepts love,
   And long to see thy face?
   And yet how slow my spirits move
   Without enlivening grace!
6 Then shall I love thy gospel more,
   And ne’er forget thy word,
   When I have felt its quickening power
   To draw me near the Lord.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 119 (Song 4)
1 My soul lies grovelling low,
      Still cleaving to the dust:
   Thy quickening grace, oh Lord, bestow,
      For in thy word I trust.
2 Make me to understand
      Thy precepts and thy will;
   Thy wondrous works on every hand,
      I’ll sing and talk of still.
3 My soul, oppress’d with grief,
      In heaviness melts down;
   Oh strengthen me and send relief,
      And thou shalt wear the crown.
4 Remove from me the voice
      Of falsehood and deceit;
   The way of truth is now my choice,
      Thy word to me is sweet.
5 Thy testimony stands,
      And never can depart;
   I’ll run the way of thy commands
      If thou enlarge my heart.
                        Joseph Irons, 1847

Psalm 119 (Song 5)
1 Consider all my sorrows, Lord,
   And thy deliverance send;
   My soul for thy salvation faints;
   When will my troubles end?
2 Yet I have found ‘tis good for me
   To bear my Father’s rod;
   Afflictions make me learn thy law,
   And live upon my God.
3 This is the comfort I enjoy
   When new distress begins:
   I read thy word, I run thy way,
   And hate my former sins.
4 Had not thy word been my delight
   When earthly joys were fled,
   My soul oppress’d with sorrow’s weight,
   Had sunk amongst the dead.
5 I know thy judgments, Lord, are right,
   Though they may seem severe;
   The sharpest sufferings I endure
   Flow from thy faithful care.
 6 Before I knew thy chastening rod
      My feet were apt to stray;
   But now I learn to keep thy word,
      Nor wander from thy way.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 119 (Song 6)
1 Oh that thy statutes every hour
   Might dwell upon my mind!
   Thence I derive a quickening power,
   And daily peace I find.
2 To meditate thy precepts, Lord,
   Shall be my sweet employ;
   My soul shall ne’er forget thy word;
   Thy word is all my joy.
3 How would I run in thy commands,
   If thou my heart discharge
   From sin and Satan’s hateful chains,
   And set my feet at large!
4 My lips with courage shall declare
   Thy statutes and thy name;
   I’ll speak thy words though kings should hear,
   Nor yield to sinful shame.
                           Isaac Watts, 1719

Psalm 119 (Song 7)
1 Father, I bless thy gentle hand;
   How kind was thy chastising rod;
   That forced my conscience to a stand,
   And brought my wandering soul to God!
2 Foolish and vain, I went astray
   Ere I had felt thy scourges, Lord;
   I left my guide, and lost my way;
   But now I love and keep thy word.
3 ‘Tis good for me to wear the yoke,
   For pride is apt to rise and swell;
   ‘Tis good to bear my Father’s stroke,
   That I might learn his statutes well.
4 Thy hands have made my mortal frame,
   Thy Spirit form’d my soul within;
   Teach me to know thy wondrous name,
   And guard me safe from death and sin.
5 Then all that love and fear the Lord,
   At my salvation shall rejoice;
   For I have hoped in thy word,
   And made thy grace my only choice.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719.