Evening, July 24, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“His camp is very great.” — Joel 2:11

Consider, my soul, the mightiness of the Lord who is your glory and security. He is a man of war, Jehovah is his name. All the forces of heaven are at his beck and call, legions wait at his door, cherubim and seraphim; watchers and holy ones, principalities and powers, are all attentive to his will. If our eyes were not blinded by the disease of our human nature, we should see horses of fire and chariots of fire surrounding the Lord’s cherished. The powers of nature are all subject to the absolute control of the Creator: stormy wind and cyclone, lightning and rain, and snow, and hail, and the soft dew and cheering sunshine, come and go at his mandate. The bands of Orion he looses, and binds the sweet influences of the Pleiades. Earth, sea, and air, and the places under the earth, are the quarters for Jehovah’s great armies; space is his camping ground, light is his banner, and flame is his sword. When he goes out to war, famine ravages the land, pestilence strikes the nations, hurricanes sweep the sea, tornadoes shake the mountains, and earthquakes make the solid world to tremble. As for living creatures, they all bow to his dominion, and from the great fish which swallowed the prophet, down to “all manner of flies,” which plagued the field of Zoan, all are his servants, and like the grasshopper, the caterpillar, and the locust, are squadrons of his great army, for his camp is very great. My soul, see to it that you are at peace with this mighty King: yes, even more, be sure to enlist under his banner, for to war against him is madness, and to serve him is glorious. Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, is ready to receive recruits for the army of the Lord; if I am not already enlisted let me go to him lest I sleep, and beg to be accepted through his merit; and if I am already, as I hope I am, a soldier of the cross, let me be of good courage; for the enemy is powerless compared with my Lord, whose camp is very great.