AN EARNEST ENTREATY.

NO. 3470

PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 5TH, 1915.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

“Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” — Psalm 17:7.

IF one were about to have an audience with the Queen, or with some other royal personage, he might be apt to say, “How shall I behave myself? What am I expected to do? What is the proper form of address?” Now, in entering into the presence of the great King of Kings, the eternal God, we may suppose the trembling penitent saying, “What shall I do? Wherewithal shall I come before the Most High God? What words shall I use, and into what fashion shall I cast my desires?” Well, Holy Scripture has been very rich in answers to this question, for you have hundreds of most appropriate prayers made ready to your hand. We might readily enough compose a Biblical Liturgy, if one believed in Liturgies at all; nor would it be difficult to find Scriptural words for every desire that could possibly strike the human heart. The Bible, besides all its other excellences, is a great and universal prayer-book, and has in it petitions suited to all classes and conditions of men at all times, whatever their desires and necessities may be. Now I take out of this prayer book this one short supplication. I know the children of God will join with me in praying it, and I trust that ere we have done, some who never prayed before may make this their firm prayer, “Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” Now, in the first place, we may offer up this prayer: —

I. Desiring That God Would Show Marvellous Loving-Kindness In Our Meditations.

What marvellous loving-kindness there is for us to look at; old is it as the everlasting hills — but old as it is, and majestic as it ever must be, there are some eyes that never saw it. Others, too, who, though they have read their Bibles and heard gospel sermons from their infancy, have never yet seen God’s marvellous loving-kindness. Let us spend, then, a few minutes in meditation, in order that the Lord may hear this prayer and show us his loving-kindness while re muse upon it.

You see the root-word, the core-word, of the text is “love”; the rest is a description of that love. Well now, in meditating upon God’s love, let us remember how extraordinary it has been. It was in love that, or ever the world was formed, God chose his people and enrolled them in his covenant. When, with prescient eye, the Almighty beheld all men immersed in ruin by their sin, his finger pointed to one man and another, “There will I dwell for ever; there shall be my rest,” said the Lord of Hosts, “for I have chosen him.” What love was that which made him choose you and me! Or what motive could prompt him but that he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion? Electing love having digged the fountain, consider, beloved, how vast that love which entered into the covenant of grace to effect the purpose of our redemption, when there was a striking of hands between the Persons of the Trinity, that by that covenant transaction promises might be made sure to all the seed by the covenanting God in Christ. Ponder, I pray you, upon the love that did not cool when the covenant required sacrifice, which did not refrain when the well-beloved Son of the Father must be the victim! Surely Solomon must have had this in his mind when he said, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.” Did not Jesus leave his father and his mother that he might cleave unto his Spouse, and that they twain might be made one flesh? Herein was love; not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and sent his Son to be our Redeemer. Need I tell the story of the sufferings of Calvary again? We have painted that picture a thousand times in crimson colors. Dipping our brush into the bloody sweat, we have tried to set forth the agonies of the saints’ great Substitute. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God! You know the results of that love. ’Twas love that called you when you were afar off, quickened you when you were dead in sin, and raised you out of the grave of your corruption. It was love that turned your face Zionward, and is it not love that has kept it there? Shall we not say that love laid the foundation-stone, and love has gone on piling up the fabric, stone by stone, and love shall bring in the top-stone with shoutings of “Grace, Grace unto it?” Oh! as I read the matchless story of love without beginning, which can never, never cease, I wonder that our hearts are not all on fire, that our passions do not boil over, and that our lips do not become like the red lips of Vesuvius when the burning lava sweeps down her sides. Surely our souls ought to feel a fervor and a heavenly flame for love like this. Lord, while we turn these matters over, “show thy marvellous loving-kindness.”

But you perceive that this love issues in “kindness.” There may be a sort of kindness that is not loving, and, on the other hand, there may be a sort of love that is not kindness. We have known man to be very kind to the poor but he never thought of loving them. What thousands of people we meet with every day who would be kind to negroes, but they would not think of loving them. And we know, too, that there is a sort of love that is not kind; or if there be kindness at the bottom, it is not very gentle and tender in its manifestation. Love can sometimes be cruel, or at least it can give hard cuts and cause acute pain, forgetful of that debt of mercy and compassion which is due to the infirmities of man’s nature. Now we ought, while we look over the Lord’s dealings with us, to remember the minute traits of his kindness as well as the majestic tokens of his love. Beloved, when the Lord made provision for us in the covenant, he did not merely provide bread and water for us, just enough to keep his people alive, but he provided for you the generous wine of Jesus’ blood; he provided for you the scarlet and fine linen of Jesus’ righteousness, the downy pillow of the divine promise, and the soft bed of gracious, sweet, everlasting peace. He did not provide for you a place where you might take refuge from the storm and solace your soul with humble contentment, but he provided for you a heaven of delights — a heaven which eye hath not seen, of which ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. There are streams of kindness gushing up and flowing out from the fountain of love. When he called you by his grace, how kindly he did it! You were not whipped to Christ, or if you were, how soon the stripes disappeared from off your back! How kindly he met you! Oh! that day when tremblingly you came to the foot of his cross! How he fell upon your neck and kissed you! How he cried, “Take off his rags and put on the best robe!” How he healed the blisters of your weary feet, and put silver sandals upon them, and taught you how to dance! How generously he attired you in the sumptuous robe of a prince’s son, put a crown of pure gold upon your head, and gave you such thoughts of mercy and such gentle words of loving-kindness that your heart, which was erst ready to burst with grief, was well nigh bursting with joy! Lord, while we think how kind thou hast been to us from the day when we first knew thee even until now, we may truly wonder that we do not love thee better, and pray that while we turn over thine acts of mercy, thou wilt show thy marvellous loving-kindness.

Oh! yes, it is indeed “marvellous!” We must say a word upon that. What so fit to excite wonder, and keep up a sense of continual surprise as the love of God? Do men tell us there are no such things as miracles? Why, every Christian is a living reply to their allegation. No such thing as a miracle! The existence of a believer from day to day is a string of miracles which the laws of nature will not account for. Every Christian will tell you that his experience is miraculous from the beginning of his faith to this day, and so will it continue to be to the end. What a marvel it was, brethren, that God should ever have bestowed his loving-kindness upon such as we have been. We were not among those good people who never did anything wrong. There was nothing in our disposition or character to recommend us. We were sinners, and in our own esteem sinners of the most crimsoned dye, whose iniquities were like scarlet double-dyed. Yet he had mercy on us! We were poor and unlettered, feeble and unbefriended, yet he was moved with compassion toward us. Passing by many of the great and estimable, he called the base things of our order and the things that men despise, that these might be nurselings of his care, and precious in his sight. From what did he call us? From the revellings of the foolish, some of us; from the fellowship of drunkards, from the harlot’s haunts, or it may be others of you from the thief’s den, from the seat of the scorner, or from the chair of the blasphemer; and if not steeped in crime, you were, perhaps, puffed up with self-righteousness, and so fast held in Satan’s stronghold. When we think of what we were and what we came from, we see that the loving-kindness must be marvellous indeed. And then, if you recollect what you would have been if he had not called you, here again is a marvel! Why, we might have been in hell; certainly we should have been ripening for it, going on with rapid footsteps down to the place where hope could never reach us more. And think yet further of what he has called us to. Oh! how marvellous is this! The criminal has become a child, the rebel has become a prince, the traitor wears a crown; we who were like firebrands fitted for the flame are waving the palm, and wearing the crown, and singing the song. I know not what you think of it, brethren, but in every view I take of the great acts of God’s grace towards believers it is to me marvellous loving-kindness, till we become very clear-eyed, and want to pray this prayer, “Lord, show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” Meditation upon these great acts of grace might tend very much to promote gratitude, and it were well if we sometimes set apart a time to go over in our thought and recollection all the mighty acts of the gracious God of Israel. But I have said enough upon the first point; so let me proceed briefly to speak upon a second. Surely David meant to say: —

II. “Show Thy Marvell0us Loving-Kindness In Our Experience.”

It may be there is a man over yonder who did not think of coming in here tonight at all till, as he was passing by the house, he saw so large a crowd that he even thought he would step in, though he fully meant to go out again; but, somehow or other, here he is. Man, you know what you have been. It is not for me to recount your sins before this assembly; but be assured the darkness of night has not covered them, neither has the silence of your confederates concealed them. The Lord that searches all hearts and tries the reins knows your iniquity. No feature of it is hidden from his eyes. Still, thus saith the Lord of Hosts unto thee this night, “Turn thee, turn thee; why wilt thou die?” And thus say I unto thee — Pray this prayer this evening; and who can tell but God may have mercy upon thee, that thou perish not? Pray it now. Let me offer it aloud for thee, “Show thy loving-kindness.” I know you say, “If God should have mercy on me, it will be a great wonder; if he should change my heart and make me a saint, it would be a marvel indeed!” Just so, sinner; but that is just why I put this prayer into your mouth, for it just suits you. “Show me thy marvellous loving-kindness.” Do you not see that you have been a marvellous sinner? Marvellously ungrateful have you been; marvellously have you aggravated your sins; marvellously did you kick against a mother’s tears; marvellously did you defy a father’s counsels; marvellously have you laughed at death; marvellously have you made a covenant with death and a league with hell. But your covenant with death is broken, and your league with hell is disannulled, and he who does great wonders meets you to-night and says, “Come, now, let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool; though they be red like crimson, they shall be whiter than snow.” Believe on him that died upon the tree, who his own self bare our sins in his own body. There is life in Jesus Christ for those who turn their eyes on him. Look to him; fool; to him now, and live. I wish this prayer might be taken up in many parts of this congregation by some who have been outcasts in Israel, that they might pray, “Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” Yes, I know that young man yonder, and his history. He has been for months anxious about his soul. Sermon after sermon has stirred him up. He gets no sleep. He goes to his little chamber and cries to his God. He is almost despairing now, and the devil almost tempts him to make away with himself, or to give up all hope. “Oh!” saith he, “God will never have mercy on me; it is too great a thing to hope, too great a wonder to expect!” Young man, here is a new prayer for you, “Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” I have heard of a poor old woman who had long been bowed down with a sense of guilt, who said, when she found the Savior, that if Jesus Christ would but save her, he should never hear the last of it, for she would praise him as long as she had any being. I recollect that I thought myself, if Jesus Christ would but save me, that I would do anything for his sake; and if anybody had told me that I should ever be such a sorry coldhearted dolt as I have been, I would not have believed him nor would any Christian believe it if he were told it about himself. We thought we could do anything for Christ, burn like martyrs, or live like servants. We have not done it, but yet it is a marvellous thing that God should save us. Young man, take that prayer. I was going to say, take it home, but I do not like to put even half an hour between you and this prayer. Now put your hands to your eyes, or, if you do not care to do that, yet say in your soul, “Oh! God, thou that doest great wonders, thou who art the Miracle worker, show they marvellous loving-kindness.” Why, this prayer will just suit my Christian brother there who has come in here tonight. He is a Christian, but he has long bean a backslider. Poor man! His brethren have looked very coolly on him; and well they may, for he certainly did disgrace the cause; but he is a child of God for all that, and the Lord loves him still. Brother, you have been much depressed; you have thought the Lord had forsaken you, and you now almost think it is impossible that you should be one of his. Well now, here is a prayer that must suit you, “Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” Surely it will be a marvel if he should again make your bones which have been broken to rejoice, and restore unto you the joy of his salvation! And he will do it, if you can but plead this prayer. And I know, my friend over yonder, too, who has had so many losses in business, and such a succession of trials, wave upon wave: —

“You see each day new straits attend,
And wonder where the scene will end.”

Brother, God can deliver you. Oh! what a blessing it is to have such a God to deal with! Come to him with your great load, and say, “Lord, here is wondrous work wanted; show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” But, you say, you are placed in very peculiar circumstances. Just so. Now take the words of my text, you that are growing old in grace, and are growing feeble in body at the same time; can you not say, “Now, Lord; now, ere thy servant goes hence; ere these grey hairs shall lie with the clods of the valley, show me once more thy marvellous loving-kindness.” And, methinks, this is a prayer I would like to die with, when the cold stream begins to rise above the ankles, even up to the knees, when the waterfloods overflow till they come even unto the chin, how sweet it will be to say in death, “Show thy loving-kindness.” This will help you to die; it will enable you to meet the adversary with the shout of victory. Yea, as you stand on Jordan’s shore, you shall raise one sacred pillar more, and then mount with joy and sing in heaven, “Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” So this prayer will do for beginners, and it is alike suitable for those who are ending their course. I may call it the Alpha-prayer and the Omega-prayer; fit for babes, and fit for strong men. Take it up, each one of you, and say, “Show me thy marvellous loving-kindness.” Having thus taken this prayer first as to meditation, and then as to experience, we will now take it as: —

III. A Request Preferred For Some Signal Boon.

“Show thy marvellous loving-kindness by some special revelation to me at this time.” I think one of the best translators of the Hebrew gives it, “Distinguish thy loving-kindness.” I do not know which to quote, but several of them seem to treat the passage in this way, “Lord, thou hast a great many loving-kindnesses; I am just now in great trouble; pick out one of thy loving-kindnesses — distinguish — give me in my time of extraordinary need some extra ordinary loving-kindness. Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” If you lay the stress on the word “marvellous,” you will then get the pith of it. I think it is Trapp who says that “God is good at a dead-lift”; and he has put a deal of meaning into that homely phrase. When you and I can do nothing, and it has come to a dead-lift, then we want our God, and then we may say to him, “Now, Lord, show me more than thy wonted goodness; show thy marvellous loving-kindness. Oh! let us see what Omnipotence can do! Human wisdom fails; let Omniscience come to our aid. Lord, we are at our wits’ end; may this our extremity prove to be thine opportunity. Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” Do you not think we shall be warranted in using this prayer as we gather round the table to-night to partake of the Lord’s Supper? (My sermon seems to have more praying than preaching in it.) Lord, here are the emblems that set forth thy body and thy blood; now “show thy marvelous loving-kindness.” Oh! do give us some choice token for good, some special mercy, such as we received not when last we met for this communion. Lord, we are very weary; we have been harassed in the world; we want rest; give us some marvellous peace, some sacred calm, some sweet repose which we have not known before. Gathered as we are here, can we not as believers cry, “Hast thou not a blessing, O my Father? Give it to me, even to me, O my Father”? I am always afraid lest, as a church, your graces should droop, lest your zeal should cool, lest your prayers should grow feeble, lest the green, vigorous life of the church should begin to wither and lose its forge. I put up this prayer for you all — Lord, give us a revival season to-night. “Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” Let us now feel the quickening touch of thy divine presence. Let us now be illuminated by the presence of thy spirit, and comforted with the whispers of thy Son. If any of you have got despondent, I pray that you have “marvellous loving-kindness shown you to-night, that the Lord may dip your morsel in his cup, that you may lean on his bosom and feed from his table. You feeble saints, I pray that the Lord your Strength may manifest himself to you; that he would be pleased to cheer and refresh you by choice revelations, by the outgoings of his grace towards you, and by the drawings of your heart towards himself. Thus you may get the full meaning of this prayer unfolded and verified to you to-night, “Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” I do not know, dear brethren and sisters, how it is with you, but there are times with me when I do get visions of “marvellous loving-kindness.” No doubts cast their shadows across my soul then; no fears alarm, no cares distract me then; even my anxieties for you are hushed. I have no remembrance of anybody’s faults; no recollection of my own troubles; no thought about the pressure of work, or the perils of adversity; but all is loving-kindness from beginning to end. My soul revels in it. Like a strong swimmer, we bathe and swim in the river of his pleasure; we dive to the bottom and rise up again. The spirit is filled with ecstacy and flooded with delight. These seasons, when they do come, give us strength to perform fresh labor and to endure future trial. They are, indeed, the wells of Elim and the palm-trees thereof under which we sit and drink. Say this night be to us some such season as that.

But you are going away, many of you. I beg you not to pass from under yonder columns until you have paused a minute and said, “Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.” Let us all pray that prayer, “O Lord, show thy marvellous loving-kindness. Show it to me”.

“I the chief of sinners am,
But Jesus died for me.”

’Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.’ Oh! forgive me. I do accept thy Son. I do believe in Jesus, that he is able to save my soul, and my soul does rest on him alone. Lord, for Jesus’ sake ’show thy marvellous loving-kindness.’” Amen.