Morning and Evening

March 16, Morning

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"“I am a stranger with thee.”" — Psalm 39:12 · KJV

Yes, O Lord, with You, but not to You. All my natural alienation from You Your grace has effectually removed; and now, in fellowship with Yourself, I walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. You are a stranger in Your own world. Man forgets You, dishonors You, sets up new laws and alien customs, and knows You not. When Your dear Son came to His own, His own received Him not; He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. Never was a foreigner so strange a bird among the natives of any land as Your beloved Son among His mother's kindred. It is no wonder, then, if I, who live the life of Jesus, should be unknown and a stranger here below. Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien. His pierced hand has loosened the cords that once bound my soul to earth, and now I find myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these Babylonians among whom I dwell an outlandish tongue; my manners are singular, and my actions strange. A stranger from a distant land would be more at home in a crowded marketplace than I could ever be in the haunts of sinners. But here is the sweetness of my lot: I am a stranger with You. You are my fellow-sufferer, my fellow-pilgrim. Oh, what joy to wander in such blessed company! My heart burns within me by the way when You speak to me; and though I am a sojourner, I am far more blest than those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who dwell in their paneled houses. No place and no time remain wholly mine; my country is in every clime; I can be calm and free from care on any shore, since God is there. Whether we seek a place or shun one, the soul finds happiness in none; but with a God to guide our way, it is equal joy to go or stay.

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