August 13, Morning

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"The cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted." — Psalm 104:16 · KJV

The cedars of Lebanon are an emblem of the Christian, for they owe their planting entirely to the Lord. So it is with every child of God: he is not man-planted, nor self-planted, but God-planted. The mysterious hand of the divine Spirit dropped the living seed into a heart He had Himself prepared to receive it, and every true heir of heaven owns the great Husbandman as his planter. The cedars of Lebanon, moreover, do not depend on man for their watering; they stand on the lofty rock, unmoistened by human hand, yet our heavenly Father supplies them. So it is with the Christian who has learned to live by faith: he is independent of man even in temporal things, and for his continued keeping he looks to the Lord his God, and to Him alone; the dew of heaven is his portion, and the God of heaven his fountain. Again, the cedars owe nothing to any mortal power for their preservation from storm and tempest. They are God's trees, kept and preserved by Him alone. It is just the same with the Christian: he is no hot-house plant, sheltered from temptation; he stands in the most exposed place, with no shelter but this — that the broad wings of the eternal God always cover the cedars He Himself has planted. Like cedars, believers are full of sap, with vitality enough to stay ever green even amid winter's snows. Lastly, the flourishing, majestic cedar is to the praise of God only; the Lord alone has been everything to the cedars, and so David sweetly puts it in one of the psalms, "Praise ye the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars." In the believer there is nothing to magnify man; he is planted, nourished, and protected by the Lord's own hand, and to Him let all the glory be given.