Beginnings
GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomy
Judges
JoshuaJudgesRuth
Kingdoms
1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings
Chronicles
1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEsther
Poetry
JobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of Solomon
Prophets
IsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDaniel
Minor Prophets
HoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicah
NahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachi
Messiah
MatthewMarkLukeJohnActs
Paul's Letters
Romans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians
1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrews
General Letters
James1 Peter2 Peter1 John
2 John3 JohnJude
Revelation
Revelation
Kept for this visit
Notes, starred verses and bookmarks kept while signed out last until this visit ends. Create a free account and everything you keep here moves into it, saved for good.
Create an account Sign in

Morning and Evening

May 19, Morning

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth." — Ecclesiastes 10:7 · KJV

Upstarts often seize the highest places, while the truly great waste away in obscurity. This is a riddle in God's providence, and its solution will one day gladden the hearts of the upright; but it is so common a fact that none of us should complain if it becomes our own lot. When our Lord was on earth, although He is the Prince of the kings of the earth, He walked the footpath of weariness and service as the Servant of servants. Is it any wonder, then, if His followers, who are royalty by birth, are also looked down on as inferior and contemptible? The world is upside down, and so the first are last and the last first. See how the slavish sons of evil lord it over the earth! What a high horse they ride! How loudly they blow their own trumpet! Haman stands in the court while Mordecai sits at the gate; David wanders on the mountains while Saul reigns in state; Elijah complains in a cave while Jezebel boasts in a palace. Yet who would want to trade places with the proud rebels? And who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints? When the wheel turns, those who are lowest rise, and the highest sink. Be patient, then, believer; eternity will set right the wrongs of time. And let us not fall into the same error inside ourselves, letting our passions and bodily appetites ride in triumph while our nobler powers walk in the dust. Grace must reign like a prince and make the members of the body instruments of righteousness. The Holy Spirit loves order, so He sets our powers and faculties in their proper rank and place, giving the highest room to those spiritual faculties that link us with the great King. Let us not disturb His arrangement, but ask for grace to keep the body in its place and bring it into subjection. We were not made new so that our passions could rule us, but so that we, as kings, might reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit, soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father.