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

August 28, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"Sing, O barren." — Isaiah 54:1 · KJV

Though we have brought forth some fruit to Christ, and have a joyful hope that we are "plants of His own right hand's planting," there are still times when we feel very barren. Prayer is lifeless, love is cold, faith is weak, and every grace in the garden of our heart languishes and droops. We are like flowers in the hot sun, needing the refreshing shower. In such a state, what are we to do? The text is addressed to us in just such a case: "Sing, O barren; break forth and cry aloud." But what can I sing about? I cannot speak of the present, and even the past looks full of barrenness. Ah, but I can sing of Jesus Christ! I can talk of the visits the Redeemer has paid me in times past; or, if not of these, I can magnify the great love with which He loved His people when He came down from the heights of heaven for their redemption. I will go to the cross again. Come, my soul — heavy laden you once were, and you lost your burden there. Go to Calvary again; perhaps the very cross that gave you life will give you fruitfulness. What is my barrenness? It is the platform for His fruit-creating power. What is my desolation? It is the black setting for the sapphire of His everlasting love. I will go in my poverty, I will go in my helplessness, I will go in all my shame and backsliding; I will tell Him that I am still His child, and, trusting His faithful heart, even I, the barren one, will sing and cry aloud. Sing, believer, for it will cheer your own heart and the hearts of other desolate ones. Sing on; for now that you are truly ashamed of being barren, you will soon be fruitful; now that God makes you loath to be without fruit, He will soon cover you with clusters. The experience of our barrenness is painful, but the Lord's visits are delightful. A sense of our own poverty drives us to Christ, and that is just where we need to be, for in Him our fruit is found.