Evening, March 29
Go To Morning Reading
“I called him, but he gave me no answer.”
Song of Solomon 5:6
Prayer sometimes tarrieth, like a petitioner at the gate, until the
King cometh forth to fill her bosom with the blessings which she seeketh.
The Lord, when he hath given great faith, has been known to try it
by long delayings. He has suffered his servants’ voices to echo in their ears as from a brazen sky. They have knocked
at the golden gate, but it has remained immovable, as though it were
rusted upon its hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, “Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not
pass through.” Thus have true saints continued long in patient waiting without reply,
not because their prayers were not vehement, nor because they were
unaccepted, but because it so pleased him who is a Sovereign, and
who gives according to his own pleasure. If it pleases him to bid
our patience exercise itself, shall he not do as he wills with his
own! Beggars must not be choosers either as to time, place, or form.
But we must be careful not to take delays in prayer for denials: God’s long-dated bills will be punctually honoured; we must not suffer
Satan to shake our confidence in the God of truth by pointing to our
unanswered prayers. Unanswered petitions are not unheard. God keeps
a file for our prayers—they are not blown away by the wind, they are treasured in the King’s archives. This is a registry in the court of heaven wherein every
prayer is recorded. Tried believer, thy Lord hath a tear-bottle in
which the costly drops of sacred grief are put away, and a book in
which thy holy groanings are numbered. By and by, thy suit shall prevail.
Canst thou not be content to wait a little? Will not thy Lord’s time be better than thy time? By and by he will comfortably appear,
to thy soul’s joy, and make thee put away the sackcloth and ashes of long waiting,
and put on the scarlet and fine linen of full fruition.