September 15, Morning

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings." — Psalm 112:7 · KJV

Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; for if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Others have not your God to fly to; they have never proved His faithfulness as you have, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear. But you profess to be of another spirit; you have been born again to a living hope, and your heart lives in heaven, not on earthly things. If, then, you are seen to be as distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature you claim to possess? Again, if you were filled with alarm as others are, you would doubtless be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do? Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means to escape their difficulties, and you will surely do the same if your mind gives way to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea: "Stand still, and see the salvation of God." For if you give way to fear when you hear evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which steadies us for duty and sustains us under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God's high praises in the fires; but will your doubting and desponding — as if you had no one to help you — magnify the Most High? Then take courage; and resting in sure confidence on the faithfulness of your covenant God, "let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."