March 29, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"I called Him, but He gave me no answer." — Song of Songs 5:6 · KJV

Prayer sometimes tarries, like a petitioner at the gate, until the King comes forth to fill her bosom with the blessings she seeks. The Lord, when He has given great faith, has been known to try it by long delays. He has let His servants' voices echo in their ears as from a sky of brass. They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has stayed immovable, as though rusted on its hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, "Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through." Thus true saints have continued long in patient waiting without reply — not because their prayers were not fervent, nor because they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign, and who gives according to His own pleasure. If it pleases Him to bid our patience exercise itself, shall He not do as He wills with His own? Beggars must not be choosers, whether as to time, place, or form. But we must be careful not to take delays in prayer for denials: God's long-dated bills will be punctually honored; we must not let Satan shake our confidence in the God of truth by pointing to our unanswered prayers. Unanswered petitions are not unheard. God keeps a file for our prayers — they are not blown away by the wind, but treasured in the King's archives. There is a registry in the court of heaven, in which every prayer is recorded. Tried believer, your Lord has a tear-bottle in which the costly drops of sacred grief are stored, and a book in which your holy groanings are numbered. By and by your suit shall prevail. Can you not be content to wait a little? Will not your Lord's time be better than yours? By and by He will graciously appear, to your soul's joy, and make you put off the sackcloth and ashes of long waiting, and put on the scarlet and fine linen of full fruition.