Saturday, January 03, 2009

RESOLVED TO JOY
...we will not open the gates of the new year to the dolorous notes of the sackbut


by C.H. Spurgeon

“We will be glad and rejoice in Thee.”
-Song of Solomon 1:4

We will be glad and rejoice in Thee. We will not open the gates of the year to the dolorous notes of the sackbut, but to the sweet strains of the harp of joy, and the high sounding cymbals of gladness. “O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation.” We, the called, and faithful, and chosen, we will drive away our griefs, and set up our banners of confidence in the name of God. Let others lament over their troubles, we who have the sweetening tree to cast into Marah’s bitter pool, with joy will magnify the Lord. Eternal Spirit, our effectual Comforter, we who are the temples in which Thou dwellest, will never cease from adoring and blessing the name of Jesus.

We will, we are resolved about it; Jesus must have the crown of our heart’s delight; we will not dishonor our Bridegroom by mourning in His presence. We are ordained to be the minstrels of the skies; let us rehearse our everlasting anthem before we sing it in the halls of the New Jerusalem. We will be glad and rejoice: two words with one sense, double joy, blessedness upon blessedness. Need there be any limit to our rejoicing in the Lord even now? Do not men of grace find their Lord to be camphire and spikenard, calamus and cinnamon, even now, and what better fragrance have they in heaven itself? We will be glad and rejoice in Thee . That last word is the meat in the dish, the kernel of the nut, the soul of the text. What heavens are laid up in Jesus! What rivers of infinite bliss have their source, ay, and every drop of their fulness in Him! Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, Thou art the present portion of Thy people, favor us this year with such a sense of Thy preciousness, that from its first to its last day, we may be glad and rejoice in Thee. Let January open with joy in the Lord, and December close with gladness in Jesus.

8 comments:

Beethovensings said...

That was beautiful.

SJ Camp said...

I found it the same encouraging way. A brief word with eternal weight of joy for the day - this day!

Beethovensings said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beethovensings said...

I will not dishonor my Bridegroom by mourning in His presence; for He has delivered me. He created me; He knows me better than I know myself, and is acquainted with thoughts that even I was afraid to ponder. With joy I will cherish the fragrance of His intimacy; sweet, fresh, verdant. I will sing out, setting up the banner of confidence in His holy name, for He is my portion, my treasure, my all.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great word and for your blog. I have been a fan since 1980 and still have Consider The Cost as one of my favorite albums of all time. I love Spurgeon's works and use Morning and Evening as a devotional Thank you for your work.

David Kovaleski
http://dkovaleski.wordpress.com

SJ Camp said...

beethoven
That is Spurgeon at his finest. Thank you for your comments here. Spot on.

Steve

SJ Camp said...

dkovaleski
Thank you David for your gracious and encouraging words. Especially for remembering a past record. I tried to make every song about the gospel on that album.

Keep on.
Steve

Robin said...

All I can say is "lovely words", just absolutely lovely. Thank you for the encouragement this day!