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Morning and Evening

May 31, Morning

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron." — 2 Samuel 15:23 · KJV

David crossed that gloomy brook when he fled with his mourning company from his traitorous son. The man after God's own heart was not exempt from trouble; in fact his life was full of it. He was both the Lord's Anointed and the Lord's Afflicted. Why then should we expect to escape? The noblest of our race have waited at sorrow's gates with ashes on their heads, so why should we complain as though something strange had happened to us? The King of kings Himself was not given a more cheerful or royal road. He crossed the same foul ditch of Kidron, through which the refuse of Jerusalem flowed. God had one Son without sin, but not a single child without the rod. It is a great joy to believe that Jesus has been tempted in every point as we are. What is our Kidron this morning? Is it a faithless friend, a painful bereavement, a slanderous accusation, a dark foreboding? The King has crossed over all of these. Is it bodily pain, poverty, persecution, or contempt? Over every one of these brooks the King has gone ahead of us. "In all our afflictions He was afflicted." The notion that there is something strange about our trials must be banished at once and forever, for He who is the Head of all saints knows by experience the very grief we think is unique to us. All the citizens of Zion belong to the honorable company of mourners, of which Prince Immanuel is Head and Captain. Despite David's humiliation, he still returned in triumph to his city, and David's Lord rose victorious from the grave. So let us take courage, for we too will win the day. We will yet draw water with joy from the wells of salvation, though for a season now we have to pass by the polluted streams of sin and sorrow. Take courage, soldiers of the cross: the King Himself triumphed after crossing Kidron, and so will you.