Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

August 6– Evening

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

“Let the whole earth be filled with [God’s] glory; Amen, and Amen.”

—Psalm 72:19

This is a huge prayer! To intercede for a whole city needs a stretch of faith, and there are times when a prayer for even one person is enough to stagger us. But how far-reaching was the psalmist’s dying intercession! How comprehensive! How sublime! “Let the whole earth be filled with His glory.” It doesn’t leave out a single country however crushed by the foot of superstition. It doesn’t exclude a single nation however barbaric. It is a prayer uttered for the cannibal as well as for the civilized; it is for all places and races. It encompasses the whole earth and omits no son of Adam.

We must be alive and active for our Master or we cannot honestly offer such a prayer. The petition is not asked with a sincere heart unless we endeavor, with God’s help, to extend the kingdom of our Master. Dear reader, is this your prayer? If so, then turn your eyes to Calvary. Behold the Lord of Life nailed to a cross with the thorny crown about his brow, with bleeding head, and hands, and feet. Can you look upon this miracle of miracles, the death of the Son of God, without feeling within your bosom a marvelous adoration that language could never express? And when you feel the blood applied to your conscience, and know that he has blotted out your sins, you are not alive unless you start from your knees and cry, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.”

Can you bow before the Crucified in loving homage, and not wish to see your Monarch the master of the world? How can you can pretend to love your Prince, and yet not desire to see him the universal ruler? Your piety is worthless unless it leads you to wish that the same mercy which has been extended to you may bless the whole world. Lord, it is harvest-time, put in Your sickle and reap. [M&E]