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Morning and Evening

March 21, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" — Job 38:31 · KJV

If we are inclined to boast of our abilities, the grandeur of nature may soon show us how puny we are. We cannot move the least of all the twinkling stars, or quench so much as one beam of the morning. We speak of power, but the heavens laugh us to scorn. When the Pleiades shine forth in spring with the joy of the season, we cannot restrain their influences; and when Orion reigns aloft, and the year is bound in winter's fetters, we cannot relax the icy bands. The seasons revolve according to the divine appointment, and the whole race of men cannot effect a change in them. Lord, what is man? In the spiritual world, as in the natural, man's power is limited on every hand. When the Holy Spirit sheds His delights abroad in the soul, none can disturb them; all the cunning and malice of men are powerless to stay the genial, quickening power of the Comforter. When He deigns to visit a church and revive it, the most inveterate enemies cannot resist the good work; they may ridicule it, but they can no more restrain it than they can push back the spring when the Pleiades rule the hour. God wills it, and so it must be. On the other hand, if the Lord, in sovereignty or in justice, binds up a man so that he is in soul bondage, who can give him liberty? He alone can remove the winter of spiritual death from an individual or a people. He looses the bands of Orion, and none but He. What a blessing that He can do it! Oh, that He would work the wonder tonight! Lord, end my winter, and let my spring begin. With all my longings I cannot raise my soul out of her death and dullness, but all things are possible with You. I need heavenly influences — the clear shinings of Your love, the beams of Your grace, the light of Your countenance; these are the Pleiades to me. I suffer much from sin and temptation; these are my wintry signs, my terrible Orion. Lord, work wonders in me and for me. Amen.