Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

October 17– Morning

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

“David said in his heart, ‘I will die one day by the hand of Saul.'” 

—I Samuel 27:1

The thought of David’s heart at this time was false. God had anointed David to be the next King in Israel, and he had no reason to think that this was an empty, meaningless act. Up to this point there is not a single occasion when the Lord deserted his servant. He had been placed in a number of treacherous positions, but God had always delivered him. The trials he endured were widely varied, yet in every case he who sent the trial had also graciously ordained a way of escape. David could not put his finger upon any entry in his diary and say of it, “Here is evidence that the Lord will forsake me,” for the entire tenor of his past life proved just the opposite. He should have formed his thoughts on the basis of what God had done for him, gaining confidence that God would remain his Defender.

But don’t we doubt God in the same way? Don’t we mistrust him without a cause? Have we ever had a good reason to doubt our Father’s goodness? Hasn’t his loving-kindness been marvelous? Has he failed even once to justify our trust? No! Our God has not left us at any time. We have had dark nights, but the star of love has shone brightly in the dark sky. We have been in stern conflicts, but over our head he has held the shield of our defense. We have gone through many trials, but never to our detriment, always to our advantage; and the conclusion from our past experience is that the One who has been with us in six troubles won’t turn away from us in the seventh.

What we have known of our faithful God proves that he will keep us to the end. Let’s not disregard the evidence. How can we ever be so ungenerous as to doubt our God? [M&E]