NO. 2442<\/b><\/p>\n
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD\u2019S-DAY, DECEMBER 8TH, 1895,<\/b><\/p>\n
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,<\/i><\/p>\n
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON1<\/b><\/p>\n
ON LORD\u2019S-DAY EVENING, SEPT. 11TH, 1887.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy beloved is mine, and I am his.\u201d-Song of Solomon 2:16.<\/i><\/p>\n
This is a versicle from the Song of Songs, and I do not hesitate to say that it is the soul and heart of that divine composition. The bride dressed in her richest poesy wears no jewel more precious than this diamond of full assured possession. There is poetry here which none of the sons of music can excel. It is the heart\u2019s minstrelsy at its very best. This little sonnet might be sung in heaven, and the golden harps would be well employed if every string went with the accompaniment. How I wish you could each one sing it now with a clear sweet voice!<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I my best Beloved\u2019s am,
And he is mine.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Alas! many of the Lord\u2019s own chosen and called ones are afraid to take up this chorus and join with us. I do not condemn them, but I am eager to comfort them. What would they give?-say, rather, what would they not give-if they could but say \u201cChrist is mine\u201d? Yet they hesitate: the desire is strong, but the doubt is killing, and they dare not sing with us. It seems too good, too great, too glorious a claim to come from their lips. They sometimes hope, but they as often fear. They make a dash for it now and then, and trust that Christ is theirs; and then they subside into their former questioning. They are humble, modest, retiring; I fear I must add, they are, at least in a measure, unbelieving. I want to lead these true hearts up to the table that they may feast upon the dainties provided for faith. I know that even now, as they hear the text, \u201cMy Beloved is mine, and I am his,\u201d they are saying, \u201cHappy people that can speak thus, but I cannot. I am afraid it would be presumption, and perhaps hypocrisy, on my part, if I were to use such language.\u201d And yet, dear heart, it is very possible that you have a perfect right to put in your claim; yes, and that you ought to be among the most confident and the most fully assured. What a pity it is that you should be losing so much joy! Yet some of the truest children of God walk in darkness at times, and we have provision made for them under the circumstances. \u201cWho is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.\u201d Oh, that I might be the means of enabling some of you to trust more bravely, and hold to your Lord in the darkness, for soon that darkness would be over!<\/p>\n
Did I hear one mourn his faults, and lament his temptations? This need not be a hindrance. She who first sang this priceless stanza was herself warring against enemies. Read the previous verse: \u201cTake us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.\u201d Instead of letting go her Lord to hunt the foxes, she clung the more to him, and joined him with herself in the effort to take them. \u201cFoxes or no foxes.\u201d saith she, \u201cmy Beloved is mine.\u201d Jesus belongs to us in our imperfect condition, while yet we are beset with many mischievous and cunning foes. The Song before us is found in our own Bible, which is a Book to be used on earth rather than in heaven. While yet the foxes prowl around us we may sing, \u201cMy Beloved is mine, and I am his.\u201d Indeed, it is by strength derived from such a cheering confidence that we are enabled to kill these foxes, and preserve the tender clusters till they are ripe for our Lord. Come, brethren, let us not do ourselves the serious hurt of refusing the greatest of blessings for reasons which are not valid. Let us mourn our faults, but let us not therefore forego our privileges. I will not let my Lord go because I see a fox. Nay, rather, I will cling to him the more closely. If that fox should hurt my vine, yet I have a better Vine in my Lord, and one which no fox can touch. Away, ye beasts of the field, ye sins, and doubts, and fears, for my heart dares to sing, \u201cMy Beloved is mine, and I am his.\u201d<\/p>\n
I feel that I am a bearer of a tenfold portion to the Benjamin of the family. Joseph-I mean, Jesus has sent it, and I am eager to deliver it fresh from his dear hand. O trembling believer, it is all for thee! Receive it, and eat abundantly thereof. I am under the impression that my Master has bidden me remember that there is a Ruth here who only desires to glean, and trembles while she gathers a few scanty ears. She has not the courage to take a sheaf herself, but my Lord has said, \u201cLet fall handfuls on purpose for her,\u201d and I would try to do so; but I pray that timid Ruth may have courage enough to take up what I shall gladly let fall for her, for the good Boaz, in whose field I serve, has his eye upon her, and means more kindness to her than I can tell.<\/p>\n
What I have to do to-night is to mention a few things which may help some timid one to say, \u201cMy Beloved is mine,\u201d and then to do the same with regard to the second sentence in the text, \u201cI am his.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thou askest, perhaps, \u201cMay I say, \u2019My Beloved is mine\u2019?\u201d You know who that Beloved is; I have no need to tell you that. He is the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely. You believe that it is he who is the ever-blessed Son of God, who became man for our sake, and, as the God-man, made atonement for our sin; and, having died, has risen from the dead, and gone into his Father\u2019s within the veil, where he ever maketh intercession for us. It is that Christ who is the light of heaven, the joy of everlasting bliss, the adored of angels. It certainly does seem a great thing to call him mine; to think that he should ever be mine, and that all he is, and all he has, and all he says, and all he does, and all he ever will be, is all mine. When a wife takes a husband to be hers, he becomes all hers, and she reckons that she has no divided possession in him; and it certainly is so with thee, dear heart, if Christ be thine. He is still thine, and altogether thine, even if it does look as though you were opening your mouth very wide to be able to say it. Some of you were brought up in a school which is full of the law, and you are afraid to say what the gospel permits you to say, you have not dared yet to avail yourselves of your privileges. Some of God\u2019s heirs are often kept in the back kitchen when they have a right to sit in the parlour, and to eat of the dainties of their Lord. Some are kept from the joys to which they have a fair claim, so I am going to ask you a few questions to see whether you are one of them.<\/p>\n
First, hast thou taken hold of Christ by faith? Faith is the hand with which we grasp the Lord Jesus Christ. Hast thou believed that Jesus is the Christ, and that God hath raised him from the dead? Dost thou trust thyself wholly to him? I say, \u201cwholly \u201c-with no other secret confidence. Dost thou lean thy whole weight on him? He that hangs on two boughs, one of which is rotten, will go down. Thou hadst best trust thy whole self with Christ, and let him be the top and bottom of thy confidence. If thou dost that, then he is thine; this faith makes him thine to thy joyful experience. Listen to his own words: \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 thou believest in Christ, thou hast Christ to be thine everlasting life, and thou mayest say, \u201cMy Beloved is mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
I should hope that this is not a very difficult question for you to answer; you either are trusting in Christ, or you are not. If you are not trusting in Christ, God forbid that I should exhort you to say what would be presumptuous! But if you are resting on him who lived, and loved, and died, that he might wash us from our sins in his blood,-I say, if he be all thy salvation and all thy desire, then hesitate not to say, \u201cMy Beloved is mine.\u201d There is no surer claim in the world than the claim of faith. God has given Christ to every believing sinner,-be he who he may,-God has given Christ to him by a covenant of salt, and Christ is his, and shall be his for ever. Poor trembler, if thou believest on him, even thou mayest say, \u201cMy Beloved is mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Let me ask thee another helpful question. Is he truly thy Beloved, the Beloved of thy soul? I remember well a dear Christian woman, who frequently said to me, \u201cI do love Jesus, I know I do; but does he love me?\u201d Her question used to make me smile. \u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201cthat is a question that I never did put to myself,-\u2019If I love him, does he love me?\u2019 No, the question that used to puzzle me was, \u2019Do I love him?\u2019 When I could once settle that point, I was never again the victim of your form of doubt.\u201d If thou lovest Christ, Christ loves thee for certain, for thy love to Christ is nothing more nor less than a beam out of the great sun of his love; and the grace that has created that love in thy heart towards him, if thou dost indeed love him, proves that he loves thee. Is it not so: \u201cWe love him because he first loved us\u201d? Did love ever get into the heart by any other door than that? I am sure that it never did; so that, if thou lovest him, thou canst say, \u201cMy Beloved is mine.\u201d There are many who may love on earth, and never obtain the object of their affection; but if thou lovest Christ, raise thou no question about his love to thee; he is thine, and thou art his. That test may help someone who, perhaps, is standing trembling behind the door, full of blushes, and afraid to come in amongst God\u2019s people. To thee, poor timid soul, we say, \u201cCome in, thou blessed of the Lord, wherefore standest thou without? If thou lovest him, thou art welcome to all he has.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next, I would help thee with a third question. Is Jesus dear to thee above all thy possessions? Perhaps thou hast a great deal of this world\u2019s goods. Dost thou set small store by all that thou hast as compared with Jesus? Wouldst thou see it all burn away, or melt away, or be stolen, infinitely rather than lose Christ? If thou canst say, \u201cAy,\u201d to that question, then he is thine. Perhaps thou hast very little indeed, few earthly comforts, a narrow room, and a scant pittance to live upon; but wouldst thou sooner have Christ than all the riches of the world, or wouldst thou be willing to sell Christ in order to rise in the world? Wouldst thou sell him that thou mightest be made rich, and great, and famous? Thou who art sick, which wouldst thou sooner have, thy sickness and Christ, or go without Christ to be made healthy and strong? According to thy answer to these enquiries will be my answer to the other questions, \u201cArt thou Christ\u2019s, and is Christ thine?\u201d I hope that many of you can say, \u201cO sir, we would give all that we have, we would suffer all that might be suffered, we would part with the very light and our eyes, too, if we could but be sure that we might each one truly say, \u2019My Beloved is mine.\u2019\u201c Well, if thou lovest Christ beyond all earthly things, rest assured that he is thine.<\/p>\n
Further, dost thou love him beyond all earthly companions? Couldst thou part with your dearest ones for his sake? Say, art thou sure of this? Oh, then, he is assuredly thine! Dost thou love him beyond all earthly objects? Ay, beyond the desire of learning, or honor, or position, or comfort,-wouldst thou let all go for his dear sake? Many of his saints have had to do it, and they have done it very cheerfully, and said with the apostle, \u201cYea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him.\u201d Canst thou go that length? If thou canst, then surely he is thine.<\/p>\n
Let me further help thee by another question. Is Jesus so fully thy hope and thy trust that thou hast no other? I have often led persons into liberty through that question. They have said, \u201cI am afraid that I do not trust Christ.\u201d I have then asked, \u201cWell, where do you trust? Every man has a reliance of some sort; where are you trusting? \u201c When I have pressed them closely, they have said, \u201c Oh, we have no other trust! God forbid that we ever should have!\u201d When I have mentioned their good works, they have said, \u201cGood works! Why, we should be foolish indeed to talk of them!\u201d When I have mentioned trusting in a priest, or in sacraments, they have scorned the thought, it has been loathsome to them. Then I have said, \u201cIf thou hast no other trust but Christ, and thou art sure that thou hast a trust somewhere, then thy trust is in Christ, and though thou mayest question it, and doubt it, yet if thou dost so trust in him as to trust nowhere else, he is thine, and thou art his.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is many a good and true believer who, nevertheless, is afraid that he is not a believer. When you are once on board ship, even if the vessel is tossed to and fro, and you yourself are ill, perhaps sadly sea-sick, yet as long as that ship does not go down, you will not go down, for your safety now does not depend upon your health and strength, but upon the ship into which you have entered. So, if thou hast fled to Christ away from everything else, then, though thou mayest sigh, and cry, and fear, and tremble,-for all of which I am sorry, for I would have every man on board ship to be well and strong, and able to handle the ropes,-still, if thou canst not touch a rope, and if thou canst not even eat thy meals in thy cabin, yet, if thou art aboard the ship, and if that ship gets safe to land, so wilt thou. Wherefore, be of good cheer. O poor heart, if thou art clean divorced from every confidence but Christ, then I believe that thou are married unto Christ, notwithstanding that thou tremblest sometimes, and askest whether it be so or not. Let that thought also help thee.<\/p>\n
I would further help you in this way. If Christ is yours, your thoughts go after him. You cannot say that you love a person if you never think of him. You could not, I am sure, let another person fill your heart as Christ must fill his people\u2019s hearts, and yet never let that person occupy your thoughts. He to whom Christ belongs, often thinks of him. \u201cWell,\u201d says one, \u201cI am so busy during the day that, often, my mind is taken up with my business, and I do not think of Christ.\u201d Do you know where those crows live that are feeding on that ploughed field? They are going up and down the furrows, picking lip all the worms they can find; and as you look at them, you cannot tell where their home is, can you? No; but wait till the evening, when the day\u2019s feeding is over; then you will see which way the crows fly, and you will find out where their nests are. Do you see how quickly they are winging their way to yonder rookery? So is it with us; while we are busy in the world, picking up the worms, as it were, we have to think about those things; we cannot do our business properly without our thoughts going that way, but when the business is over, when the evening comes, which way do you go then? When you have an opportunity for thought, when your mind is going to its resting-place, which way do your thoughts fly? That shall be the true test; and if, when your thoughts are set free, they fly away to Jesus, rest assured that he is yours. That thought may help some of you poor trembling ones. We read of the apostles, \u201cBeing let go, they went to their own company.\u201d Just so. I heard a working-man, who was expounding that chapter very well; he said, \u201cIf some fellows were put in prison, and they were let out, they would go to the first public-house they see, for that is where they would find their company. Just so; \u201cbirds of a feather flock together.\u201d Now when you are let go, when your mind gets out of the prison of your daily business, do you go to the world for your pleasure? Do you go to carnal things for your mirth, or do you fly to Christ? If you can answer, \u201cMy thoughts go naturally to Christ,\u201d then you can truly say, \u201cMy Beloved is mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, do you do more than this? be you long for Christ\u2019s company? If \u201cmy Beloved\u201d is indeed mine, I shall want to see him; I shall want to speak with him; I shall want him to abide with me. How is it with you? There is a great deal of religion in the world which only consists of shells, or husks; the kernels are not there at all. A man goes upstairs, and kneels down for a quarter of an hour, and he says that he is praying; yet possibly he has not really prayed at all. Another opens his Bible, and he reads a chapter, and he says that he has been studying the Scriptures. Perhaps it has been a mere mechanical act, and there has been no heart and soul in it. John Bradford, the famous martyr, used to say, \u201cI have made a point of this, that I will never go from a duty till I have had communion with Christ in it.\u201d Hence, when he prayed, he prayed till he did really pray. When he praised, he praised till he did truly praise. If he was bowing in humiliation before God, he humbled himself till he was actually humbled. If he was seeking communion with Christ, he would not go away with the pleasure of merely having sought, but he kept on seeking until he found, for he felt that he had done nothing aright till he had come into communion with God, and into touch with Christ.<\/p>\n
And, once more, if thy Beloved is thine, thou wilt own it to be so. Coming into this Tabernacle, or going down to the communion table, or gathering round the family altar, what is all that if Christ be not there? It should be with you as it is with a wife whose husband is far away across the sea. \u201cOh!\u201d she cries, \u201cthat I could hear the music of his footstep! The rooms seem all empty now that he is away. There is his portrait on the wall, but it only makes me sigh the more for my beloved. The very dog as he comes in seems to know that his master is away, and he makes me think of him.\u201d Is it so with you in regard to Christ? In every duty do you sigh for him, and long for him? Holy Bernard was wont to say, and I believe that he could say it truly (it was in Latin, but I will give you the English of it), \u201cO my Jesus, I never went from thee without thee!\u201d He meant that he never left his knees, and left Christ behind him; he never went out of the house of God, and left Christ behind him; but he went through the outward act of devotion with a consciousness of the presence of Christ. Now, if this be your habit to keep up or to labor to keep up continued communion with Christ, and if you are longing for more and more of that communion, then, dear friends, you are his, and he is yours.<\/p>\n
Further, let me help you with a still closer question. Have you ever enjoyed that communion with Christ? Didst thou ever speak with him? Hast thou ever heard his voice? I think I see you turning over the leaves of your diary; I hope you have not to go far back to read the record of your fellowship with your Lord. I hope that this morning was one instance of it, and that this evening may be another. But are there not some special days, red-letter days, in your history? I recollect that Rutherford sent this message to one of his friends who was in great sorrow, \u201cTell him to remember Torwood.\u201d Nobody knew what was meant except the two who had been to Torwood, where they had enjoyed such fellowship with Christ that they could never forget it all their days. That is what David meant when he said, \u201cTherefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, and the hill Mizar.\u201d Those were some choice spots that he recollected where the Lord had met with him. How can Christ be thine if thou knowest nothing about communion with him? Art thou married to him if he has never shown thee his face, and thou hast never heard his voice, and never spoken with him? But if thou hast had Christ\u2019s company, he has manifested himself to thee as he does not unto the world. He would never have shown thee such things as these if thou wert not his. Ah! hast thou not, sometimes, crept out of the very dungeon of despair, and seen thy Lord\u2019s blessed face, and in a moment thou hast been dancing for joy? hast thou not lain on the bed of sickness, \u201cweary, and worn, and sad,\u201d till his presence has made the chamber of affliction bright with the light of heaven? hast thou not, sometimes, at dead of night, been weary in watching for sleep that would not come, and thy Lord has come to thee, and then thou hast been afraid to go to sleep lest thou shouldst lose the joy of his presence, and wake up without him? Oh! some of us know what that experience means,-when earth has been the vestibule of heaven, and when, even in our sickness and sadness, we have been on the very verge of Jordan, and we have smelt the fragrance of the spices that was wafted by the breath of the Spirit from the golden gardens on the other side of the stream. If thou knowest anything experimentally about this matter, then thou mayest conclude that thy Beloved is indeed thine.<\/p>\n
But supposing that thou art not enjoying Christ\u2019s presence, I am going to put another question to thee. Art thou cast down when he is away? If thou hast grieved his Spirit, art thou grieved? If Christ be gone, dost thou feel as if the sun itself had ceased to shine, and the candle of thy existence had been snuffed out in utter darkness? Do you cry when he is away,- <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat peaceful hours I then enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But now I find an aching void
The world can never fill\u201d?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Oh, then, he is thine! If thou canst not bear his absence, he is thine. Last Thursday night, I preached a sermon which was intended to be very searching one, and I hope that it was. It was upon the text, \u201cNow if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.\u201d Now see the difficulty of a poor minister. If I preach very comforting sermons, there are sure to be hypocrites who suck them down, and say, \u201cHow delightful!\u201d But when I preach a soul-searching sermon, some dear child of God, who is as precious to her Lord as gold tried in the furnace, takes everything to herself, and begins to be very sorrowful, and to say, \u201cThat sharp knife is meant for me, for I am not one of the Lord\u2019s people.\u201d Well, after last Thursday night\u2019s sermon, a dear woman came to my vestry, broken-hearted, crying and sobbing. I hope that the discourse will be a blessing to her in the long run; but I protest that I never meant to preach to her at all, I was not aiming at her or at the sort of people to whom she belongs; it was a very different class whom I was addressing. If the preacher says anything about hypocrites, very often the hypocrites will not take it to heart, but the most sincere saint in the congregation very likely says, \u201cOh, I am afraid that I am a hypocrite!\u201d If you are, you are an odd sort of hypocrite, for I never knew of a hypocrite who was afraid that he was one. He has not grace enough for that kind of fear, but just goes on in the self-conceit that all is right with him. I, for my part, feel more confidence in the broken-hearted tremblers than I do in the boasters who never have a question about their being all right, but set it down as an undisputed fact that they are in the covenant of grace. O beloved, I am glad if sometimes thou dost moan like a dove, and cry in the bitterness of thy spirit, \u201cOh, that I knew where I might find him!\u201d It may seem to be a spot on your character, but this spot is the spot of God\u2019s children, and I am not sorry to see it upon you. If the Prince Immanuel has left the town of Mansoul, then there can be no marriage bells or joyous music there until he comes back again. We must invite him and entreat him to return, we must clothe ourselves in sackcloth till he does come back; if we do not act thus, then he is not ours. If you can do without Christ, you shall do without Christ; but if you cannot do without him, if you cry,-\u201dGive me Christ, or else I die,\u201d then he shall be yours. Stretch out the hand of faith, and take him, and then say without hesitation, \u201cMy Beloved is mine.\u201d I am not going on to the rest of the text; but I want to say just this,-if there is any man or woman here (and I know there are many), who can sit down in the pew, and quietly say, \u201cYes, weighing everything the preacher has said, and judging myself as severely as I can, yet I dare take Christ to be mine, and to say, \u2019My Beloved is mine.\u2019\u201c If that is your case, dear friend, then you shall get confirmatory evidence of this fact by the witness of the Spirit within your soul, which will very likely come to you in the form of perfect contentment of spirit, perfect rest of heart. \u201cWhen I can say, \u2019My God is mine,\u2019 When I can feel thy glories shine; I tread the world beneath my feet, And all that earth calls good or great.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere,\u201d says the believer, \u201cnow that my Beloved is mine, I have no other wish or want.\u201d Now will he be like Simeon when he took that blessed Babe into his arms. \u201cLord,\u201d said he, \u201cnow lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy Word.\u201d \u201cHave you nothing more to live for, Simeon?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d replies the good old man, \u201cwhat more can there be?\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t you think that, if you lived a little longer, you might have a heavy purse of gold in your hands?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d he answers, \u201cpossibly I might; but it would be a cumbrous burden. This dear Child is better than all the gold and silver in the world. If he is mine, I have enough, yea, I have all\u201d That blessed rest of soul, which comes of a sure possession of Christ, is not to be imitated, but it is greatly to be desired. I know that some good people, who I believe will be saved, nevertheless do not attain to this sweet rest. They keep on thinking that it is something that they may get when they are very old, or when they are about to die, but they look upon the full assurance of faith, and the personal grasping of Christ, and saying, \u201cMy Beloved is mine,\u201d as something very dangerous. I began my Christian life in this happy fashion as a boy fifteen years of age; I believed fully and without hesitation in the Lord Jesus Christ; and when I went to see a good Christian woman, I was simpleton enough to tell her that I believed in Christ, that he was mine, and that he had saved me. She said to me, \u201cAh! I don\u2019t like such assurance as that.\u201d And then she added, \u201cI trust you are believing in Christ,-I hope so;-but I have never got beyond a hope, or a trust, and I am an old woman.\u201d Bless the old woman, she was no example for us who know whom we have believed; we are to rise infinitely beyond that groveling kind of life. The man who begins right, and the boy who begins right, and the girl who begins right, will begin by saying, \u201cGod hath said it: \u2019He that believeth on him is not condemned.\u2019 I believe on him, therefore I am not condemned; Christ is mine.\u201d O dear friends, do not always keep on with that miserable hoping, and hoping, and hopping! Walk on both your feet, and get a good firm standing on the Rock of Ages, and say without boasting, but without doubting, \u201cMy Beloved is mine.\u201d This will bring you into the condition of the psalmist when he said, \u201cHe maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.\u201d David would never have said that if he had not begun the Psalm with \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd.\u201d If he had begun by saying, \u201cPerhaps the Lord is my Shepherd,\u201d he would have gone on to say, \u201cPerhaps there may be green pastures, possibly there may be still waters; but as yet my soul is in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, and not a blade of grass either.\u201d Ah! David was not so stupid as that; he had his times of depression, but when he was singing that Psalm, he was in a positive, certain frame of mind. \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd.\u201d He used the indicative mood, not the subjunctive or conditional. The Lord help you to do the same! And you may. If Christ is a satisfaction to your spirit, so that your soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, then do not hesitate to say, and to emphasize the utterance, \u201cMy Beloved is mine.\u201d He either is, or he is not; which is it? Do not go to sleep tonight till you know. If Christ is yours, heaven is yours. If Christ is not yours, you are neither fit to live, nor fit to die. Remember that awful verse, \u201cIf any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha,\u201d-\u201dlet him be accursed, the Lord cometh!\u201d Take heed unto yourselves, therefore; if Christ is not yours, you are in terrible poverty; but if Christ is yours, you are eternally rich to all the intents of bliss. Oh, that he might be yours now by your stretching out the hand of faith, and taking him to yourself!<\/p>\n
\u201cI dare not take him,\u201d says one. Well, you are a strange person;<\/p>\n
I dare not let him alone, and I challenge you to shape that \u201cdare\u201d into any other proper form. If he bids you take him, and trust him, how dare you refuse him? Take him now, and be safe and happy forever. God bless you, for Jesus sake! Amen.<\/p>\n
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON<\/p>\n
PSALM 63.<\/b><\/p>\n
This is said to be \u201cA Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.\u201d I suppose, therefore, that it was composed when he fled from Jerusalem because of the cruel treachery of his son Absalom. He must have been heart-broken, and stricken with the greatest possible sorrow as he fled away with his faithful followers into the wilderness of Judah. But even there he praised his God; and he did not sing unto him with old and stale Psalms, but with a new song. How restful and calm he must have been, in his great sorrow, to sit down even in the wilderness of Judah, and make a new hymn of praise unto the Lord! How gloriously he begins!<\/p>\n
Verse 1. O God, thou art my God;<\/i><\/p>\n
The psalmist has no doubt about this great fact, he does not hesitate or falter, but he makes the positive assertion, \u201cO God, thou art my El, my mighty God, strong to deliver me.\u201d In the sixty-second Psalm, he had finished up with the power of God: \u201cGod hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.\u201d So he begins this new song with the great name El, which expresses the might and power of God: \u201cO God, thou art my El, my mighty God;\u201d<\/p>\n
1. Early will I seek thee:<\/i><\/p>\n
People in the wilderness have hard beds to lie on, and they sleep all the fewer hours. David was up in the morning early, and he began the day with prayer to God: \u201cEarly will I seek thee.\u201d \u201cWhile the dew is on the grass, the dew of the Spirit shall be upon my soul.\u201d He means also, \u201cI will seek thee at once, immediately, now, without delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
But how could he seek the God who was already his God? \u201cThou art my God; early will I seek thee.\u201d Brethren, nobody ever seeks another man\u2019s God. Till God is your God, you will not want to seek him; and when you have him, you will seek him yet more and more.<\/p>\n
1. My soul thirsteth for thee,<\/i><\/p>\n
He had a strong passion for God. There is, sometimes, an unbearable, insatiable pang of the body, which you cannot forget; and David bad an insatiable longing of soul, which nothing could make him forget: \u201cMy soul thirsteth for thee.\u201d<\/p>\n
1. My flesh longeth for thee-<\/i><\/p>\n
Even his flesh, his body-not his carnal nature,-but his body mastered by his soul, was caused to yield its little help towards the making of this verse: \u201cMy flesh longeth for thee-<\/p>\n
1. In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;<\/i><\/p>\n
And this world is just like that. To the most of Christians, the six days of the week take them through the wilderness, and the Sabbath brings them to an oasis in the desert, an Elim, a place where there are wells of living water. But oh! what longings they have after God! What did David want when he was in the wilderness?<\/p>\n
2. To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.<\/i><\/p>\n
He did not want the sanctuary so much as to see God in the sanctuary. Brethren, it is well to have a love to our own place of worship, but it is infinitely better to have a soul longing for the God we worship, and to feel that the place of worship is nothing unless God be there.<\/p>\n
3. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cIn the wilderness, when my comforts are cut off, when my son, who was my darling, is seeking my life, my lips shall praise thee, for still thy lovingkindness is better than life.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Thus will I bless thee while I live:<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as I live, I will praise thee; every breath of mine shall be perfumed with thankfulness and adoration.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. I will lift up my hands in thy name.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cIn astonishment at the power of thy great name, and in confidence will I lift them up when they have been hanging down in weakness. I will go forth in holy activity, with uplifted hands, in thy name.\u201d<\/p>\n
5.My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;<\/i><\/p>\n
Orientals, in their feasts, are very fond of fat such as you and I would hardly eat; they think that the choicest part of their diet. So David, using his own metaphor, says that God would satisfy his soul as with the very marrow and fatness of joys.<\/p>\n
5. And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:<\/i><\/p>\n
A heart full of grace makes a mouth full of praise. When God makes thee inwardly to be content with himself, thou wilt be outwardly full of thanksgiving and praise.<\/p>\n
6. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.<\/i><\/p>\n
Of course, in the wilderness, they had to set a watch against Absalom and his men; and David very likely could hear the noise in the camp as they changed the sentries, and marked the hours of the night. \u201cOh!\u201d said he, \u201cwhile I lie awake, and the watchers are on guard all around, I will make the night to be a time of spiritual feasting: \u2019My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;\u2019 and I will make a song at night unto the God who giveth songs in the night: my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n
7. 8. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee:<\/i><\/p>\n
If he could not keep pace with his Lord, and did in some measure lose the joy of walking with God, then he would run after him. If thou canst not lean on Christ\u2019s arm, keep close at Christ\u2019s heel; be as near him as thou canst, like a dog who keeps close to his master: \u201cMy soul followeth hard after thee.\u201d Where did David get the grace and the strength thus to follow after God? Listen<\/p>\n
8. Thy right hand upholdeth me.<\/i><\/p>\n
There is the secret upholding of divine grace, even when the soul cannot attain the fellowship at which it aims. When we are struggling to be near to God, let us thank the Lord who, by his Spirit, worketh in us the heavenly ardor that makes us run to him.<\/p>\n
The last three verses of the Psalm describe what would become of David\u2019s enemies.<\/p>\n
9. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.<\/i><\/p>\n
The wicked always grovel, they never rise to higher things; and their course shall be downward,-downward to the grave, downward to eternal death.<\/p>\n
10. They shall fall by the sword:<\/i><\/p>\n
They took the sword; they shall perish by the sword. They were seeking to slay David; they shall be themselves slain.<\/p>\n
10. They shall be a portion for foxes.<\/i><\/p>\n
Not for lions; but for foxes, or jackals, for that is the word; the jackals shall gnaw them in pieces.<\/p>\n
11. But the king shall rejoice in God;<\/i><\/p>\n
David was the king; so you see that he did not rejoice in the slaughter of his enemies, but he did rejoice in his God.<\/p>\n
11. Every one that sweareth by him shall glory:<\/i><\/p>\n
Those who were true and loyal to the king would have reason for rejoicing when the rebels were overthrown; and those who were true and loyal to God would have still greater reason for exultation.<\/p>\n
11. But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.<\/i><\/p>\n
Every true man must be glad that it is so. The mouths of liars will be stopped by the sexton with a shovel full of earth, if in no other way; but every lying tongue in all the world shall be silent one day at the judgment bar of God.<\/p>\n
The Lord bless to us the reading of his Word! Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NO. 2442 INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD\u2019S-DAY, DECEMBER 8TH, 1895, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON1 ON LORD\u2019S-DAY EVENING, SEPT. 11TH, 1887. \u201cMy beloved is mine, and I am his.\u201d-Song of Solomon 2:16. This is a versicle from the Song of Songs, and I do not hesitate to say that it … Continue reading “\u201cMY BELOVED IS MINE.\u201d”<\/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-3773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3773","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=3773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}