Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

August 20– Morning

 by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“The sweet Psalmist of Israel.” 

—2 Samuel 23:1

Among all the saints that appear in Holy Scripture, David’s life seems most filled with experiences of the most striking, varied, and instructive character. In his history we find trials and temptations that can be found nowhere else, and that’s why he is a model of our Lord Jesus in many ways.

David knew the trials of all ranks and conditions of men. David knew the troubles of kings, and the cares of the peasant. Like the wanderer, he knew how to live in caves. As a captain he had to deal with rebels in his camp.

David was tried by his friends. His counselor Ahithophel betrayed him. His worst enemies were members of his own household: his children were his greatest affliction. The temptations of poverty and wealth, of honor and reproach, of health and weakness, all tried their power upon him.

He had temptations from without to disturb his peace and from within to deflate his joy. David no sooner escaped from one trial than he fell into another. This is why David’s psalms are the universal delight of experienced Christians. Whatever our frame of mind, whether ecstasy or depression, David has described our emotions exactly. He was an able master of the human heart, because he had been tutored in the best of all schools– the school of heart-felt, personal experience.

As we are instructed in the same school, as we grow mature in grace and in years, we increasingly appreciate David’s psalms, and find them to be “green pastures.” Let David’s experience cheer and counsel you today. [M&E]