Charles H. Spurgeon has been one of my favorite Christian authors for several years.
Perhaps you’ve heard of him.
Known as the “Prince of Preachers,” he was the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, a Baptist church in London, for 38 years in the 1800’s.
He was a prolific author and is arguably the most widely read and published author in the history of Christianity. Most of his sermons were transcribed and are available in print to this day.
Virtually all his sermons and books, since they are in the public domain, can be found online for free.
His best-known book is a mammoth work entitled The Treasury of David. It’s a commentary on the book of Psalms. I’ve been reading it for years and I’m here to tell you, it is a delight!
No one writes like Spurgeon. No one explains Scripture like Spurgeon. I’d like to introduce you to his writing with some samples (in quotes) from a few verses in the Psalms (in bold).
Psalm 4:1 – Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God.
“It is not to be imagined that he who has helped us in six troubles will leave us in the seventh. God does nothing by halves, and he will never cease to help us until we cease to need. The manna shall fall every morning until we cross the Jordan.”
Psalm 4:3 — The Lord will hear when I call to him.
“Since God chose to love us he cannot but choose to hear us.”
Psalm 4:6-7 – Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.
“The true believer drinks not from the muddy pools of Mammon, but from the fountain of life above. The light of God’s countenance is enough for him. This is his riches, his honor, his health, his ambition, his ease. Give him this, and he will ask no more. Christ in the heart is better than corn in the barn or wine in the vat. Corn and wine are but the fruits of the world, but the light of God’s countenance is the ripe fruit of heaven. Let my granary be empty, I am yet full of blessings if Jesus Christ smiles upon me; but if I have all the world, I am poor without him.”
Psalm 4:8 – I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
“They slumber sweetly whom faith rocks to sleep. No pillow so soft as a promise; no coverlet so warm as an assured interest in Christ.”
Psalm 5:1 Give ear to my words, O Lord.
“Words are not the essence but the garments of prayer.”
Psalm 5:1 Consider my sighing.
“Let us cultivate the spirit of prayer which is even better than the habit of prayer. We should begin to pray before we kneel down, and we should not cease when we rise up.”
Psalm 5:2 Listen to my cry for help.
“To a loving father his children’s cries are music, and they have a magic influence which his heart cannot resist.”
Psalm 5:3 Morning by morning, O Lord, you hear my voice.
“We can sooner die than live without prayer . . . Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. Devotion should be both the morning star and the evening star. . . Let not our prayers and praises be the flashes of a hot and hasty brain, but the steady burning of a well-kindled fire.”
For free online access to The Treasury of David, visit:
https://archive.spurgeon.org/treasury/treasury.php
- How to Pray Like David (Volume 3) - October 30, 2024
- Why the Bible Makes Life Make Sense - October 22, 2024
- The Greener Grass of God (Thoughts on Psalm 73) - October 20, 2024
