NO. 2380<\/b><\/p>\n
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD\u2019S DAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH, 1894,<\/b><\/p>\n
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,<\/i><\/p>\n
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.<\/b><\/p>\n
ON THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 19TH, 1888.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.\u201d \u2014 Psalm 81:10.<\/i><\/p>\n
The preceding verse bids us turn away from any strange god: \u201cThere shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.\u201d Idolatry is the natural sin of man; it covers a very large surface of the realm of sin, and it is always cropping up in some form or other. Idolatry is not merely the bowing before graven images; the essence of it lies in putting trust in any other than the great invisible God. We can easily make to ourselves gods of our experience, of our wealth, of our talents; we can make idols of our children, of our wives, of our husbands, of our friends. We can make a god of anything by valuing it more than we do our Savior, or by trusting in it beyond our God, or by refusing to trust in him apart from it. You can make a god of the means of grace, when you think more of the means of grace than of God, and the grace of the means. You can make a god of your Bible when you think that the reading of it, apart from the illumination of the Holy Spirit, will be all that you require. So you see that it is very easy for man to fall into idolatry.<\/p>\n
The cure for this evil lies in our having a living God always before us. If you forget the living God, you will make to yourself an idol god. It is a necessity of your nature that you should have a god of some sort; and, to prevent your having a strange god, you must trust, cling to, and love Jehovah, the one only living and true God.<\/p>\n
The man who has Christ before him does not need a crucifix. The man who comes to God through Jesus Christ does not want the intercession of the Virgin Mary or of saints and angels. The man who has set the Lord always before him does not desire symbols of Jehovah\u2019s presence; in fact, he remembers the words of Moses to the children of Israel, \u201cTake ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even as the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.\u201d Such a man is afraid, sometimes, if there be anything like a similitude about his prayers, lest his mind should be taken away from worshipping God, who is a Spirit, in spirit and in truth. He, therefore, generally seeks after great simplicity of worship, for an ornate ritual is a stumbling-block to him, although there be some who think that it is a help to them. It only hinders him, and therefore he rejects it. Oh, that God might always keep us clear of all idolatry by his good Spirit enabling us to worship him in spirit and in truth! Then would these words be fulfilled in our experience, \u201cThere shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.\u201d He who has learnt to trust the Creator will not want to trust the creature. He who has stayed himself upon the Rock of Ages will not be tempted to support himself upon the broken reed of human strength. Who will lean on a cloud when his defense may be the munitions of stupendous rocks? Who will wish to feed on the mist, when he has eaten the true Bread which cometh down from heaven? God, the true God, casts out as strange gods.<\/p>\n
In our text, we have God coming very near to his people, and coming near them to encourage them to come nearer to him. We have the Lord speaking to them, that they may speak to him. He opens his mouth to them, that they may open their mouths to him. The text contains one encouragement, and two arguments for it; they will be our two divisions; first, God encouraging his people<\/i>; and, secondly, God using two great arguments<\/i>. You see, the exhortation is sandwiched in between two arguments; the first is, \u201cI am the Lord, \u2014 I am Jehovah, \u2014 thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.\u201d Then comes the exhortation, \u201cOpen thy mouth wide\u201d; and that is followed by the other argument, \u201cI will fill it.\u201d There is a good reason indeed for opening the mouth wide, when God has promised to fill it.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
I. <\/b>To begin, then, the exhortation of the sermon will be that which we find in the text, in which we hear God Encouraging His People by saying, \u201cOpen thy mouth wide.\u201d<\/p>\n
I suppose that the Lord means by this exhortation, first of all, to help us to get rid of the paralyzing influence of fear<\/i>. A man, in the presence of one whom he dreads, cannot speak boldly; and if he has been guilty of some great crime, and stands before one whom he regards as his judge, he is like the man in our Lord\u2019s parable, \u201cspeechless.\u201d A man on his knees, conscious of his sin, fearing the justice of God, would very naturally be unable to speak; and to encourage him God says, \u201cOpen thy mouth; be not afraid. Open thy mouth wide; confess thy sin; acknowledge thy wanderings from thy God; go into the particulars of thine iniquity; ask for my mercy; plead my promises; set forth the arguments that can be drawn from the cross of Christ. Open thy mouth wide; be not afraid to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n
Am I addressing some child of God, or rather, one who hardly knows whether he is a child of God or not, but who wants to be one? Do you feel as if you could not pray? God here encourages you to plead with him. He says, \u201cOpen thy mouth.\u201d Your eyes are filled with tears, or perhaps you are wishing that they might be; your heart is swelling with grief, but you cannot find expressions for your feelings. You are afraid to come before the Lord; you dare not take hold of the horns of the altar; you think that it would be presumption on your part to look to Christ, and hope for mercy; so, there you lie, dumb before God. But, bending over you in infinite compassion, the Great Father says, \u201cOpen thy mouth! speak, my child; my ear is waiting to hear thy cry; I am ready to grant thy request. Oh! be not silent before me; pour out thy heart like water in my presence; turn it upside down, and to the last dregs let all flow out before me; reserve nothing; spread thy case before me now.\u201d I think that this exhortation means just that.<\/p>\n
Next, \u201cOpen thy mouth wide; \u201cthat is, speak freely in prayer to God,<\/i> be not hampered in thy pleading. I have known children of God, who have felt a terrible awe in the presence of the Lord, \u2014 which is a most proper feeling up to a certain point, \u2014 but they have had a fear which has brought them into bondage; and bondage is a sad evil. We want freedom, and liberty of access to God, when we come before the mercy-seat; and the Lord therefore encourages his people to break loose from all their shackles, when he says, \u201cOpen thy mouth wide.\u201d There are many prayers that it would not be right to pray in public, but they are very dear to God\u2019s ear in private. I believe that there are prayers uttered by godly men, uneducated and illiterate believers, that might provoke a smile from us, but they are accepted in the Beloved, and received as good, sound supplication before the Lord God of Sabaoth. \u201cOpen thy mouth wide.\u201d If thou canst not pray as thou wouldst, pray as thou canst; but make thyself free with thy heavenly Father, be bold with thy Lord, shake off all reserve, and keep back nothing from thy God. Bare your hearts before him, you cannot conceal anything from him; do not attempt to do so. Freely commune with the Lord as friend speaks to friend, or as a child addresses his father. Thou art not now before thy judge; thou art not before an enemy; thou art not before one who will harshly criticize thee, and pull thee to pieces; the Lord is all love and gentleness to those who seek his face. Then open your mouth wide. What is it that you have done? What is it that you want? What is it that your soul is craving for? What is it that drives you to despair? Open your mouth wide; let all come out, hide nothing from thy God. Let thy very heart come marching out at the open doors of thy lips, for God is waiting to hear thy petition.<\/p>\n
The exhortation of the text means, then, shake off all fear, and also exercise a holy boldness of familiarity and freedom in the presence of the Most High. Do you not think, however, that it means something more than that? It must also mean, ask great things<\/i>: \u201cOpen thy mouth wide.\u201d Now note this. The greater the thing that you ask, the more sure you are to have it. With men it is, usually, the smaller the favor you crave, the more likely you are to obtain it; but with God it is the other way, the greater the boon for which thou askest, the more sure thou art to have it. There is nothing greater to ask for than Christ, and thou mayest have Christ for the asking, for God has already given him to all who believe: \u201cGod so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.\u201d If you ask for wealth, you may not get it; for it is a small and paltry thing which the Lord may not care to give you; but if you ask for eternal life, you shall have it, for this is a great thing, and God delights to give the greatest blessings to those who come to him by Christ Jesus; so that, what might seem to hinder should now encourage. God can hear thee if thou canst not open thy mouth, for he can hear the inward groanings of thy heart. But, oh, be thou sure that he will hear thee if thou canst open thy mouth wide!<\/p>\n
Is thy sin great? Use that as an argument? Say with David, \u201cFor thy name\u2019s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.\u201d Art thou in a very sad plight, art thou spiritually bankrupt? Then, plead thy poverty; there is no plea like it with God. Dost thou feel empty? Plead thy emptiness. The more urgent thy necessity, the more sure will mercy be to relieve thee; the greater thy want, the readier is God to come to thee. If, in going through the town, I see a doctor\u2019s brougham hurrying along at a great speed, I should not think that the physician was driving to a person who had only the toothache; I should conceive that somebody, in dire extremity, had sent for him in hot haste to come and cure him, if possible, of a serious malady. And when God rides upon a cherub, and doth fly, yea, doth fly upon the wings of the wind, he is coming to relieve some great need of his people. To the man who has a great want, God saith, \u201cOpen thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.\u201d Ask great things. God\u2019s people need to be taught to ask great things. That was a noble utterance of William Carey, \u201cAttempt great things for God, expect great things from God.\u201d The less you expect from man, the better; but the more you expect from God, the more you are likely to receive. Look for great things from him, and come to him with large requests.<\/p>\n
\u201cThou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Our text must mean that, must it not, \u2014 ask great things?<\/p>\n
I think that it also means, in the fourth place, that we are to feel intense desires<\/i>: \u201cOpen thy mouth.\u201d It has been noticed that, whenever a man speaks with very great earnestness, he opens his mouth widely. We read in the Gospels that when our Lord went up into a mountain, and \u201cwas set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth<\/i>, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit,\u201d and so on. Someone observed that it was quite unnecessary to say that he opened his mouth, for how could he preach without doing so? But another and a wiser person replied, \u201cOh, if you go into many a church and chapel, you can see the thing done!\u201d When a man does not speak distinctly and clearly, he does not open his mouth; but when he is emphatic and earnest in his address, he must open his mouth wide.<\/p>\n
The Lord urges us to be in earnest when he says, \u201cOpen thy mouth wide.\u201d Cold prayers, so-called, are not real prayers; they are rather entreaties to be denied, all their force works backwards. We must pray with fervency, importunity, reiteration, if we would prevail with God; we must say, \u201cI will not let thee go, except thou bless me.\u201d The Lord loves that kind of pleading; there is no music in God\u2019s ear that is more sweet from his child than a loud earnest cry. God delights to hear the knocker of prayer hammering away at the door of mercy. If thou hast been denied six times, go for the seventh time, and knock, and knock, and knock, each time with greater vehemence, if thou wouldst be heard. \u201cOpen thy mouth wide.\u201d O dear hearers, some of you have been seeking the Lord a little lately, and you have not found him! No, but he is not a little God, to be sought a little; and when your whole heart and soul go after him, when you are deeply anxious, and sorely exercised, and solemnly in earnest, then will this great God give you his great salvation. Oh, that you would open your mouth wide! Cry unto him. I mean not with actual loudness of voice; but with the loudness of the heart\u2019s voice, which shall be heard in heaven. Sometimes, when it rains very hard, and the servant does not come to the door very quickly, you give such a pull at the bell that it rings all over the house; now give such a ring as that at the gate of heaven. A storm is raging, and you cannot endure waiting outside in the tempest. Pull the bell as if you would pull heaven itself down; give a ring that seems to say, \u201cI must come in. Infinite love, I must possess thee. Sovereign mercy, I must receive thee. I die, I perish, I am lost for ever, unless thou come to me, my God.\u201d Open thy mouth wide, and then he will be sure to fill it.<\/p>\n
Once more, I think that this exhortation means, exercise a great expectancy<\/i>. I inadvertently touched upon that point just now. The figure is, no doubt, taken from a bird\u2019s nest. Have you ever seen the little birds, inside a nest, when they expected their mother to come and feed them? If you have ever peeped in, and they mistook you for their mother, what did they look like? Why, they looked like a mass of mouth! They opened their mouths as wide as ever they could; and it is really surprising how very wide a little bird can open its mouth. The mother is about to bring a worm, or some other thing for it to feed upon; the wee birdie is famishing, and it cannot receive food any other way but by opening its mouth, and its hunger makes it feel as if its mouth was not half wide enough, and so it at least makes it as wide as ever it can when the parent bird comes to it, \u2014 the father or mother which has been toiling and working all day long to satisfy its wants. They do work, poor little creatures; and how fast and how often they fly to and fro! They seem to say to their little ones, \u201cWe will fill you. Open your mouths wide, and we will fill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for you, poor souls, what a mouth you have, if you do but open it! I mean, what wants you have! I tell you that your wants are so great that, if all the saints on earth, and all the angels in heaven, were to put their stores together, and say, \u201cWe will fill you,\u201d they would undertake a task utterly beyond their power. None but God himself can fill the human heart; only he can truly say, \u201cOpen thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.\u201d Christ will fill it, however great your sense of sin and your need of pardon. The Father will fill it, however great your grief for having left his house. The Holy Ghost will fill it, however long your death in sin, however great your alienation from God. None but the Trinity can fill the heart of man. It was one of Quarles\u2019 quaint conceits that the heart was a triangle, and the world a globe, and, says he, \u201ca globe can never fill a triangle, and none but the Trinity can fill the heart of man.\u201d Quaint as the conceit is, the truth which it embodies is absolutely certain.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen thy mouth wide, and I will fill it,\u201d says God. Expect just this, that God will give you, in answer to prayer, all that you want: \u201cI will fill it.\u201d Somebody, misquoting this text, says, \u201cI will fill it abundantly.\u201d Tush! what do you want with your \u201cabundantly\u201d? God\u2019s Word is big enough without any of your adverbs. \u201cI will fill it.\u201d If it is filled, it is filled; and God will fill you full. He will give you all that you require, and all that you ever can require between this place and the gates of heaven. \u201cOpen thou thy mouth wide, sensible of thy urgent necessity, and I,\u201d says God, \u201cwill supply all thy needs, according to my riches in glory by Christ Jesus.\u201d \u201cOpen thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.<\/p>\n
Now, just two or three words here concerning arguments that I might use to induce children of God to come before his presence asking great things.<\/p>\n
First, consider God\u2019s greatness<\/i>. Thou mayest expect great things from him who made the heavens and the earth. Look up at the stars, see how the Lord flung them about by handfuls; and remember that all the stars that are visible to you are only the sweepings of star-dust by the door of God\u2019s great house. There is an infinite number of bright worlds which our telescopes have never seen. He who made all these things is great in power; therefore, ask something great of him, when thou comest before him in prayer.<\/p>\n
Remember, also, his goodness<\/i>. God delights to give; thou art not asking him to do that which will vex him. The Lord is no miser who miserably doles out his coppers under pressure; he is a God to whom it is as natural to give as it is for the sun to shine, or for a fountain to flow. Come thou, then, to him with large petitions, since he is so greatly good.<\/p>\n
Remember, also, the channel by which mercies come to thee<\/i>; it is Christ Jesus thy Lord. Art thou coming to the Lord for pennyworths, in the name of Christ? Say, wilt thou satisfy thyself by asking for pence and farthings through the Lord Jesus? Such a mercy-seat as this was meant for something grand and glorious; such a sacrifice as Christ\u2019s was provided for the greatest needs of men. Open your mouths wide when you mention the name of Jesus Christ. It seems a poor thing to stint yourselves in your prayers when the name you plead is \u2014 <\/p>\n
\u201cThe name high over all
In hell, or earth, or sky
Angels and men before it fall;
And devils fear and fly.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Note, next, that the Holy Spirit is the Author of true prayer.<\/i> He \u201chelpeth our infirmities\u201d; and wilt thou stutter and stammer when the Holy Spirit helps thee? Wilt thou say of such a thing, \u201cThis is too great for me to ask\u201d? What! when the Holy Ghost prompts thee to ask, does he not know what is fit for thee to ask? Yield thyself to his gracious impulses; be borne along the stream of supplication by the Spirit\u2019s influence, and ask what thou wilt? That is a pretty story that they tell of Alexander having given to a man a present which seemed far too great, so he was afraid that it could not be his; and then Alexander said, \u201cIt may be too much for thee to receive, but it is not too much for me to give.\u201d So the mercy may seem too great for thee to have, but it is by no means too great for Christ to grant thee. Open thy mouth wide, then, whilst thou hast such a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to go to in prayer.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen thy mouth wide,\u201d for thy wants are very great<\/i>. They are much greater than you know of; do not, therefore, fall short in your petitions. I think that if I could have anything I asked for of any friend, I should be inclined to overleap my necessities a little, rather than to fall short of them. Certainly, with God, who is not impoverished by giving, and not enriched by withholding, we may take vast liberties. \u201cOpen thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.\u201d Ask much in prayer, because your wants are so great.<\/p>\n
And then think of the wants of others<\/i>. Oh, when I think of what power prayer has, I would encourage brethren to pray great prayers for the conversion of London, for the establishment of Christ\u2019s Church in the land, and for the conversion of China, Africa, India. \u201cOpen thy mouth wide.\u201d There was one who seemed to have great power in prayer, and I have often read his life; but I think the prayers he used to pray were for a pair of horses, or for a new suit of clothes, or something of that sort. He always obtained what he asked; but it seems a miserable business to pray like that. It is much nobler to pray, like Carey, \u201cIndia for Christ!\u201d or, \u201cLord, save China!\u201d Now you have asked for something great this time, \u201cOpen thy mouth wide,\u201d as you have such a great God to deal with about such great matters. You may ask for little things when you need them, and you are encouraged to do so; but still, do not confine your requests to them. Come to great things, and ask great mercies for others, if you are not under any great necessity yourself.<\/p>\n
Remember, once more, God\u2019s exceeding great and precious promises<\/i>. How can you be praying on a right scale if you are always praying straitened in yourselves? O dear friends, the promises of God are not narrow! They are \u201cexceeding great and precious promises.\u201d You have never measured them fully. Come, then, with an open mouth, and ask great things of your Father who is in heaven.<\/p>\n
Thus have I, at some length, handled the exhortation in the text, but I cannot do much with it; it is only the Holy Spirit, who can effectually whisper into your ear and heart,<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen thy mouth wide.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
II. <\/b>Now, secondly, observe God Using Two Great Arguments, upon which I will only speak briefly. One is put before the exhortation, and one is put afterwards, to keep it with an attendant on either side.<\/p>\n
The first reason why you should open your mouth wide is, because of what God has done<\/i>. He says, \u201cI am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.\u201d You recollect where these words occur, do you not? They are recorded very solemnly, in the 20th chapter of Exodus, at the commencement of the ten commandments: \u201cI am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.\u201d And now the same solemn words come before a promise, as if God made this precept to be as solemn as his law, and confirmed the promise with all the solemnities with which he established the covenant. \u201cOpen thy mouth wide,\u201d says he.<\/p>\n
Child of God, this text belongs peculiarly to you. \u201cI am Jehovah, thy God.\u201d The Lord has an election of grace; he has a peculiar people, whom he has chosen unto himself, and they shall show forth his praise. God is the God of his people. \u201cI am Jehovah, thy God,\u201d says he. If he is not the God of others, yet he is thy God. He has revealed himself to thee; he has chosen thee, and thou hast chosen him, Now, canst thou not open thy mouth wide to thine own God, to Jehovah, the great \u201cI am,\u201d the boundless, the infinite, the almighty God, canst thou not speak freely to him?<\/p>\n
And then it is added, \u201cI am Jehovah, thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.\u201d Now, that is the greatest thing that God could do for his people, and, if he has done that, will he not do the lesser things? Oh, what a wondrous deliverance that was when, with a high hand and an outstretched arm, he brought forth his people, despite all the opposition of Pharaoh! With terrible plagues he broke the power of the proud monarch; but as for his people, he led them forth like sheep, and brought them out into a glorious liberty, and crushed the chivalry of Egypt at the Red Sea, so that they could never again pursue the Israelites, nor disturb them in their wilderness march towards the land which God had promised them. Well now, the Lord has done just that same kind of thing for all his people. He has brought us out of our spiritual bondage; we have eaten the Paschal Lamb, we have sprinkled the blood, we have escaped the destroying angel. We are no longer under the power of sin and Satan, the Lord has set us free; and, as for our sins, the depths have covered them, there is not one of them left, they sank to the bottom like a stone. Glory be to God for what he has done! If this does not lead us to open our mouths wide in prayer, what will?<\/p>\n
\u201cAh!\u201d sighs a poor soul, \u201cHe has never done that for me; I am still a bond-slave.\u201d Hearken. If he has done it for others, take hope from it, that God will hear prayer, and save you, seeing that he has saved others. Did you never notice, in the old slave times, in the Southern States of America, how, when a slave escaped, others heard that he had followed the pole star, and so gained liberty, and they all took hope? Well now, if the Lord has brought some of us out of bondage, take hope, you who are still in chains. God can deliver you; ask him to do so. Open your mouth wide. When you get home, cry to God in your chamber. Better still, here in your pew, breathe a prayer for salvation and liberty; and if you want a word of advice and counsel, come on to this lower platform, and there shall be some friend to speak with you, and pray with you about your soul. Only open your mouth; do not be ashamed. God says to you that he has brought his people out of Egypt, and he who has done that can do anything. Open your mouth wide, and he will fill it.<\/p>\n
But the second argument, with which the text closes, is concerning what God will do<\/i>: \u201cOpen thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.\u201d \u201cI will fill it.\u201d The story goes, \u2014 I know not how true it is, but I remember reading it, very well, \u2014 that the Shah of Persia, a strange man altogether, on one occasion said to a person who had pleased him very greatly, \u201cOpen your mouth,\u201d and when he had opened his mouth, the Shah began to fill it up with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and all sorts of precious stones. I feel morally certain that the man opened his mouth wide. I do not know what your opinions may be; but I have the firm conviction that, when he found that such treasure was being put into his mouth, he made it as large as it very well could be, whether it looked beautiful or not. Would not you do the same if you had such an opportunity? Suppose that your mouth was to be filled with sovereigns, and you were in extreme poverty, would not you open your mouth? It would prompt a man to open his mouth wide if he heard the Shah say, \u201cI will fill it.\u201d Now, the Lord says to each of his own people, whom he has so highly favored, \u201cOpen thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suppose you open your mouth wide in prayer. \u201cI cannot,\u201d says one. Well, open your mouth, and God will fill it with prayer; and then, when you have prayed the prayer that he has given you, he will fill it with answers. God gives prayer as well as the answer to prayer. Only open your mouth, and, as it were, make a vacuum for God to fill. God loves to look for emptiness where he may stow away his grace.<\/p>\n
When you have done that, then open your mouth with praise. It is wonderful, when a man begins to praise God, how the praise keeps on coming. The praise of God is something like Mr. Bunyan\u2019s Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/i>. He began to write, he says, and he does not know how he wrote so much; but he quaintly says, \u201cAs I pulled, it came;\u201d and you will find it is so with the praise of God. Praise him, and you will<\/i> praise him. If you do not praise him, you never will praise him. If you do not begin, you will never keep on; but once open the sluices of gratitude, and the streams will flow more and more copiously every hour. \u201cOpen thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So is it in comparing our testimony concerning God\u2019s goodness. Sometimes, we who are preachers have to cry, \u201cWhat shall we say to the people? \u201cI see some dear brethren here, who, I dare say, get, as I do, into a very poverty-stricken state. They say, \u201cWhere shall we get the next sermon from? \u201cWell, go in God\u2019s name, and say what he bids you, and he will tell you more. Open your mouth wide, and he will fill it. Bear testimony to what the Lord has done for your soul, in your own small way, and he will be pleased to fill your mouth still with his good word, so that you shall abundantly utter the memory of his great goodness.<\/p>\n
Now, then, let us all come before God with open mouths. Whatever state of mind we may be in, if we cannot pray, let us come and open our mouth and pant, as David did when he said, \u201cAs the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.\u201d So let us come before our God. You who feel as if you could not speak, and could scarcely think, come with your mouth wide open, and stand there before God; or be like the little bird in its nest, open your mouth towards heaven. Mark how the parched earth, in times of drought, cracks, and opens its mouth for the rain. Let your parched heart begin to pray in the presence of your God, and thus ask for his grace. May God give us mighty desires! We read of Daniel, in the margin of our Bible, instead of \u201ca man greatly beloved,\u201d \u201ca man of desires.\u201d He was a man of great desires; and if we are like him in this respect, we shall soon be greatly blessed, and God will be greatly glorified. May it be so, for his great name\u2019s sake! Amen.<\/p>\n
EXPOSITIONS BY C. H. SPURGEON.<\/p>\n
PSALM 81<\/b><\/p>\n
We have here an exhortation to praise God; and this is always in season. Perhaps we need more stirring up to praise than to prayer, yet it ought to be as natural for us to praise God as it is for the birds to sing. Thus the Psalm begins, \u2014 <\/p>\n
Verse 1. Sing aloud unto God our strength:<\/i><\/p>\n
Yes, the strength which the Lord gives you should be spent in praising him. \u201cSing aloud.\u201d Throw your whole soul into it. If the Lord makes you strong, then give your strength back to him in sacred song: \u201cSing aloud unto God our strength.\u201d<\/p>\n
1. Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.<\/i><\/p>\n
Other gods, such as Moloch, and Ashtaroth, are worshipped with mournful cries and sorrowful lamentations, but the God of Jacob, the God that heareth prayer, the God of salvation, the God of the covenant, is to be worshipped with joy. He is the happy God, and he loves happy worshippers: \u201cMake a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.\u201d You do not need to be forced to praise him, but you will do it with alacrity and delight; the very sweetness of your song will consist in the cheerfulness of it: \u201cMake a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.\u201d<\/p>\n
2\u20134. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.<\/i><\/p>\n
It is \u201ca statute\u201d that we should praise God; it is \u201ca law\u201d that we should make a joyful noise before him. Happy law, and happy men who are under such a law! Let us be quick to obey it, and let not the King\u2019s statute be disregarded by any one of us.<\/p>\n
5. This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.<\/i><\/p>\n
God understands his people\u2019s language, and in very truth he understands everything; but here he uses a Hebraic to show that he did not care for the speech of the Egyptians: \u201cI heard a language that I understood not.\u201d This sentence is like that other expression, \u201cI never knew you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, the Lord knows everyone as a matter of acquaintance, but not as a matter of affection. He cared not for the Egyptians; they were aliens to him; he went out against the land of Egypt. It was for Joseph, and for his own people who were under the leadership of Joseph in that heathen land, that he ordained this statute that they should praise the name of Jehovah.<\/p>\n
6. I removed his shoulder from the burden:<\/i><\/p>\n
Is not that true of many of you in a spiritual sense? Oh, what a burden of sin we used to carry! How have we got rid of it? Does not the Lord here remind us of how we lost that grievous load? \u201cI removed his shoulder from the burden.\u201d<\/p>\n
6. His hands were delivered from the pots<\/i><\/p>\n
We used to be busy enough with the slave\u2019s occupation of making bricks without straw. Hard was the task when we were under legal bondage, harder still the toil when under the bondage of our own sin, slaves of our own selves: who could ever have a more tyrant master than himself? But that is all over now, and the Lord can say, \u201cI removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.\u201d<\/p>\n
7. Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee<\/i><\/p>\n
What a gracious word is this! How it reminds us, in the most loving tones, of our obligations to the Lord!\u201d Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee.\u201d<\/p>\n
7. I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.<\/i><\/p>\n
A very humbling sentence this! God has often proved us, and he has often disproved us. When he has tried us, we have not endured the test as we ought to have done. We have murmured and complained, and the waters, which ought to have been waters of joy and of happy patience, have been waters of strife.<\/p>\n
\u201cSelah \u201cThat is, \u201cPause,\u201d screw up the harp-strings, lift up the heart. Such a Psalm as this is to be read by installments, with little halts on the road, for us to meditate and think upon the truth brought before us. We may well pause here when we hear the Lord reminding us of our faults and of his great mercy to us: \u201cI delivered thee; I answered thee; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.\u201d<\/p>\n
8. Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;<\/i><\/p>\n
What! Is there any question as to whether God\u2019s people will hearken to him or not? Alas! sometimes our ears grow very heavy, we are so occupied with the cares of the world, so sleepy while passing over the Enchanted Ground, that we do not hear that dear voice to which we ought to give heed whenever it speaks: \u201cHear, O my people, O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me.\u201d<\/p>\n
9. There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.<\/i><\/p>\n
It is strange that we should ever wish to do so. Oh, that we might be wholly delivered from everything that looks like idolatry, and be enabled to cleave to the worship of the one living and true God with the serenity and certainty of faith!<\/p>\n
10, 11. I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.<\/i><\/p>\n
Oh, how plaintive is this lament! Is it not full of sorrow? \u201cIsrael would none of me.\u201d Her own God, her own Friend, her own Benefactor, her own Husband has to cry, \u201cIsrael would none of me, \u2014 would not have my law, my promise, my guidance, myself, \u2014 Israel would none of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
12. So I gave them up \u2014 <\/i><\/p>\n
Dreadful word! If God gives us up, even for a moment, there is no telling into what sin we may plunge; and if he were to give us up altogether, \u2014 ah, me! this were the most direful of sentences: \u201cSo I gave them up\u201d \u2014 <\/p>\n
12. Unto their own hearts\u2019 lust: and they walked in their own counsels.<\/i><\/p>\n
O God, save us from this awful state! This indeed is hell \u2014 to be given up of God. Pray, dear brothers and sisters, that such a terrible curse may never come upon you. Yet it is a most righteous punishment; if a man will not have God, and will give God up, what can be a more righteous retribution than that God should give him up? He does so at last with ungodly men, yet he does it very reluctantly, and he says, \u201cHow shall I give thee up? \u201cMay he never give up one of you!<\/p>\n
13. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways:<\/i><\/p>\n
And can we not echo that lament, and say, \u201cOh, that we had hearkened unto God, and that we had walked in his ways\u201d? What a happy life would the believer enjoy if he always had an ear for God\u2019s commandments and a foot for his ways!\u201d Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!\u201d<\/p>\n
14, 15. I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him; but their time should have endured for ever.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cTheir time\u201d \u2014 the time of his own people \u2014 \u201cshould have endured for ever.\u201d They might have been always conquerors, always kings, always favored of God, always walking in the light, as God is in the light. So might it be with us if we would first hearken to God, and next, walk in his ways. The mark on the ear and the mark on the foot are two of the tokens of Christ\u2019s sheep: \u201cMy sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.\u201d May we all have both the ear-mark and the foot-mark!<\/p>\n
16. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat:<\/i><\/p>\n
How sweet would gospel doctrine be if gospel precepts were observed! When you do not enjoy the preaching of the Word, is it not because you are out of health, and your spiritual appetite is impaired: \u201cHe should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the soul lives near to God, then the Word of the Lord is sweeter than honey and the honey-comb.<\/p>\n
16. And with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.<\/i><\/p>\n
You know what this \u201choney out of the rock\u201d is. You have tasted it, and in days gone by you have feasted on it; perhaps you have not had much of it of late. If so, remember why this is. God will give his children bread, but he will not give them honey unless they live very near to him; you shall have the necessaries of life, but not luxuries. The high and heavenly joys of the divine life shall be denied to you if you work at a distance from your God; but if you keep close to him, you shall have the finest of the wheat, and you shall be satisfied with honey out of the rock.<\/p>\n
May the Lord bless the reading of his Word to us, and may he draw nearer to himself! Amen.<\/p>\n
HYMNS FROM \u201cOUR OWN PRAYERBOOK\u201d \u2014 214, 980, 994.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NO. 2380 A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD\u2019S DAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH, 1894, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. ON THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 19TH, 1888. \u201cI am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.\u201d \u2014 Psalm … Continue reading “ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}