Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

September 7– Evening

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

“[Damascus] is troubled like the sea which cannot be quieted.”

—Jeremiah 49:23

Little do we know about the troubles that may be upon the sea at this moment. We are safe in our quiet chamber, but, far away on the oceans, hurricanes may be cruelly taking the lives of men. Hear how the death monsters howl among the ships’ cords and ropes– how every timber creaks as the waves beat like battering rams upon the vessel!

May God help you, poor, drenched, and wearied ones! My prayer goes up to the great Lord of sea and land that he will calm the storm and bring you to your desired haven! And I want to offer more than prayer alone. What can I do to help those hardy men who risk their lives on the seas so constantly? How often does the boisterous sea swallow up the mariner! Thousands of corpses lie on the ocean’s floor. The sorrow on the sea is echoed in the long wailing of widows and orphans. The salt of the sea has stung the eyes of many mothers and wives and has corroded the security of households.

What a resurrection there will be from the caverns of the deep when the seas give up their dead! Until then, there will be sorrow on the sea. The ocean expresses its sympathy with the afflictions of earth, forever fretting along a thousand shores, wailing with sorrowful cries like the birds on its beaches. The waves are constantly booming with a hollow crash of unrest, raging with discontent, chafing with wrath, and jangling with the voices of ten thousand murmuring pebbles and shells.

Restless waves remind us that we will not find rest here. There is a land where there is no more sea, and our faces are steadfastly set towards it. We are going to the place of which the Lord has spoken. Until then, we cast our sorrows on the Lord who walked on the sea and who makes a way for his people to navigate its depths. [M&E]