Marah; or, the Bitter Waters Sweetened


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Tuesday April 23, 2024

Exodus 15:23, 25
They could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter . . . and the LORD
showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

I liken the world that lies in darkness to a thirsty caravan gathered around Marah’s well where the water is too bitter to drink. High are the Andes, lofty the Himalayas, but the woes of mankind are higher still. The Ganges, the Indus and other mighty streams pour their floods into the ocean; but what mighty deep could contain the torrents of human grief? A very deluge is the sorrow as well as the sin of man. The heathen know nothing of the healing tree cut down of old, which still has power to sweeten mortal misery. You know it, you have your trials, and you surmount them by the appeals you make to your Lord and by the power of his consolations; but these sons of darkness have your griefs and more, but not your Comforter. For them the flood, but not the ark; the tempest, but not the refuge. And you have that which would cheer them: no doubt passes across your mind as to the gospel. These are wavering times in which some professors and teachers almost believe that the gospel is only one theory of many and will have to stand its test and, in all probability, will fail as many human systems of thought have done. You think not so; you believe that God’s gospel is truth, a revelation of Jehovah. Heaven and earth may pass away, but not his word, his Christ, his decree, his covenant. You know that you have a tree that can heal the bitter fountains. No doubt comes across your mind as to that: what then? By common humanity, much more by the tender movements of the grace of God upon your souls, I entreat you to present this remedy to those who need it so much. Will anything suffice as substitute for it? Is there anywhere on earth another healing tree beside that which fell beneath the axe at Calvary? Are there other leaves ‘for the healing of the nations’?

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C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 1) (Day One Publications, 1998)
Scripture for opening text taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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About Roland Ledoux

Ordained minister (thus a servant). Called to encourage and inspire one another by teaching His Word, and through intercessory prayer for others, praying for those in need as well as the lost. I and my wife of 50+ years live in Delta, Colorado where the Lord has chosen to plant us in a beautiful church home.
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