Morning, September 5, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech, For I dwell among the tents of Kedar!” — Psalm 120:5

As a Christian you have to live in the midst of an ungodly world, and it is of little use for you to cry “Woe is me.” Jesus’ prayer was not that you should be taken out of the world, and what he did not pray for, you need not desire. It is far better far to meet the difficulty in the Lord’s strength, and glorify him in it. The enemy is always on the watch to detect inconsistency in your conduct; be therefore very holy. Remember that the eyes of all are upon you, and that more is expected from you than from other men. Strive to give no occasion for blame. Let your goodness be the only fault they can discover in you. Like Daniel, compel them to say of you, “We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” Seek to be useful as well as consistent. Perhaps you think, “If I were in a more favorable position I might serve the Lord’s cause, but I cannot do any good where I am;” but the worse the people are among whom you live, the more need they have of your efforts; if they are crooked, the added necessity that you should set them straight; and if they are perverse, the added need you have to turn their proud hearts to the truth. Where should the physician be, but where there are many sick? Where else but in the hottest fire of the battle is the soldier to win honor? And when weary of the strife and sin that meets you on every side, consider that all the saints have endured the same trial. They were not carried on soft beds to heaven, and you must not expect to travel any more easily than they. They had to risk their lives to the death in the exposed places of the field, and you will not be crowned till you also have endured great difficulty as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Therefore, “be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”