Evening, August 6, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.” — Psalm 72:19

This is a huge request. To intercede for a whole city needs a stretch of faith, and there are times when a prayer for one man is enough to stagger us. But how far-reaching was the psalmist’s dying intercession! How comprehensive! How awe-inspiring! “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.” It does not exempt a single country, however crushed by the foot of superstition; it does not exclude a single nation, however barbarous. For the cannibal as well as for the civilized, for all regions and races this prayer is expressed: it encompasses the whole circle of the earth, and omits no son of Adam. We must be active and undertaking for our Master, or we cannot honestly offer such a prayer. The petition is not asked with a sincere heart unless we endeavor, as God shall help us, to extend the kingdom of our Master.

Are there not some who neglect both prayer and labor? Reader, is it your prayer? Turn your eyes to Calvary. Behold the Lord of Life nailed to a cross, with the crown of thorns about his brow, with bleeding head, and hands, and feet. What! Can you look upon this miracle of miracles, the death of the Son of God, without feeling within your heart a marvelous adoration that language never can express? And when you feel the blood applied to your conscience, and know that he has blotted out your sins, you are not a man unless you begin from your knees and cry, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.” Can you bow before the Crucified in loving reverence, and not wish to see your Monarch master of the world? Shame on you if you can pretend to love your Prince, and desire not to see him the universal ruler. Your piety is worthless unless it leads you to wish that the same mercy which has been extended to you may bless the whole world. Lord, it is harvest time, put in your sickle and reap.