“I was brought low, and the Lord helped me”
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. -Isaiah 43:2
Some of us can bear witness that we have had the nearest approaches of God to our souls in times of intolerable pain, and even in seasons of intense depression of spirit as to earthly things. “I was brought low, and the Lord helped me,” said David; and we can say the same. The Lord has said, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee”; as much as to say, “If I am not with thee anywhere else, I will be with thee then.” In the furnace one like unto the Son of God was seen. If Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego never had that glorious fourth person in their company before, they had Him when they were cast into the midst of the glowing coals. Jehovah-shammah makes a seven-times-heated furnace a pleasant arbour. We may say of the refining fire, and of the threshing-floor, and of the oil-press, God has been there. In the time of trouble He has been a very present help. One might almost say, “Send me back to my prison again,” as one did say who lost God’s presence after he had gained his liberty. One might well cry, “Ah! let me have back my pain if I may again overflow with the joy of the Lord’s presence.”… The few so simple and so poor have God with them, and it is enough. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2182.cfm
Great Grace for Great Distresses
Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake, That He might make His mighty power known. -Psalm 106:8
Great grace will be sent to us to meet our great necessities. And is not that a most desirable thing? I remember that for a long season the Lord was very gracious to me in the matter of funds for the extensive works which I have been called upon to originate and superintend and I felt very grateful for the ease which I enjoyed; yet it crossed my mind that I was learning less of God than in more trying seasons and I trembled. Years gone by there were considerable necessities which did not appear to be met at once and I went with them to God in prayer, and I trusted Him, and He supplied my needs in such a wonderful way that I seemed to have the closest intercourse with Him. I could most plainly see His hand stretched out to help me. I could see Him working for me as gloriously as if He wrought miracles. These were glorious days with me! …Then God made me by grace like one who steps from the summit of one mountain to another: I stepped across the valleys, leaving the deep places far below. So in my easy seasons I thought to myself, “Everything comes in regularly and abundantly. I am like a little child walking along a smooth lawn. This is but a common, ordinary state of affairs, in which even a man of no faith could pursue his way… The regular blessing day by day, almost without need of special prayer, does not constrain you to look to God so vividly as when you gaze down into the deep, dark abyss of want, and feel, “If He does not help me now, I shall soon be in dire distress.” This forces forth the living prayer (of Psalm 107:13, 19): Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.”
Be not, therefore, afraid of great trial: on the contrary, look for it, and when it comes, say to yourselves, “Now for great grace. Now for a special manifestation of the faithfulness of God.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2062.cfm
Our Daily Strength
But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: He is their strength in the time of trouble. -Psalm 37:39
…and as thy days so shall thy strength be. -Deuteronomy 33:25
The strength which is here promised is to abide through days. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Not for today only, but for tomorrow, and for every day as every day shall come. The longest and the shortest day, the brightest and the darkest day, the wedding and the funeral day, shall each have its strength measured out till there shall be no more days. The Lord will portion out to His saints their support even as their days follow each other.
“Days of trial, days of grief,
In succession thou may’st see;
This is still thy sweet relief,
‘As thy day, thy strength shall be.'”
This strength is to be given daily We shall never have two days’ grace at a time.
“Day by day the manna fell:
Oh, to learn this lesson well,
‘Day by day’ the promise reads:
Daily strength for daily needs!”
“As thy days, so shall thy strength be”: this secures you a day’s burden and a day’s help, a day’s sorrow and a day’s comfort. After all, what more do we want?… Let us narrow our vision as to the necessities of daily life, not looking so far ahead as to compress into today more evil than naturally belongs to it; for “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Our strength is to be given to us daily. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2062.cfm
Our Strength Comes from Above
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. …and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. -Ephesians 6:10; Deuteronomy 33:25
This provision is meant to meet weakness. The words carry a tacit hint to us that we have no strength of our own, but have need of strength from above. Our proud hearts need such a hint; for often we poor creatures begin to rely upon ourselves. Although we are weak as water, we get the notion that our own wit, or our own experience, may now suffice us, though once they might not have done so. But our best powers will not suffice us now, any more than in our youth. If we begin to rest in ourselves it will not be long before we find out our folly. The Lord will not let His people depend upon themselves: they may make the attempt, but, as sure as they are His people, He will empty them from vessel to vessel, and make them know that their fullness dwells in Christ, and not in themselves. Remember that, if you have a sense of weakness, you have only a sense of the truth. You are as weak as you think you are; you certainly do not exaggerate your own helplessness. The Saviour has said “Without Me, ye can do nothing”; and that is the full extent of what you can do. The Lord promises you strength, which He would have no need to promise you if you had it naturally apart from Him. But He promises to give it, and therein He assures you that you need it. Come down from your self-esteem: stoop from the notion of your own natural ability: divest yourself of the foolish idea that you can do anything in and of yourself, and come down to the strong for strength, and ask your Lord to fulfill this promise in your experience, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.”~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2062.cfm
Our Climbing Shoes
Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. -Deuteronomy 33:24-25
Our spiritual life is an upward climb, with constant danger of a fall. It is a great mercy to have shoes of iron and brass in our spiritual climbings, that should our feet be almost gone, we may find a foothold before we are utterly cast down. We ought to climb: the higher our spiritual life the better. It is written of the believer, “He shall dwell on high.” We ought not to be satisfied till we reach the highest places of knowledge, experience, and practice. High doctrine is glorious doctrine, high experience is blessed experience, high holiness is heavenly living. Many souls always keep in the plains: the simple elements are enough for them; and, thank God, they are enough for salvation and for comfort. But if you want the richest delight and the highest degree of grace, climb the hills and roam among the mysteries of God, the sublimer revelations of His divine will. Especially climb into the doctrines of grace: be not afraid of electing love, of special redemption, of the covenant, and all that is contained in it. Be not afraid to climb high, for if thy feet be dipped in the oil of grace, they shall also be so shod that they shall not slip. Trust in God, and you shall be as Mount Zion, which can never be removed. Your shoes shall be iron and brass, for lofty thought and clear knowledge, if you commit your mind to the instruction of the Lord. Receiving nothing except as you find it in the Word, but in a childlike spirit receiving everything that you find there, you shall stand upon your high places. Your feet shall be like hinds’ feet, and your place of abode shall be above the mists and clouds of earth’s wretched atmosphere of doubt.~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2062.cfm
God Has Promised Needful Grace
…as thy days, so shall thy strength be. -Deuteronomy 33:25
Our journey is a maze, a labyrinth: the Lord leads us up and down in the wilderness, and sometimes we seem further from Canaan than ever. Seldom does our march take us through gardens: often it leads us through deserts. We are always traveling, never long in one stay. Sometimes the fiery cloudy pillar rests for a little, but it is only for a little. “Forward!” is our watchword. We have no abiding city here. We pitch our tent by the wells and palms of Elim, but we strike it in the morning, when the silver bugle sounds, “Up, and away!” and so we march to Marah, or to the place of the fiery serpents. Ever onward; ever forward; ever moving! This is our lot. Be it so. Our equipment betokens it: we have appropriate shoes for this perpetual journey. We are not shod with the skins of beasts, but with metals which will endure all wear and tear. Is it not written, “Thy shoes shall be iron and brass”? However long the way, these shoes will last to the end.
Perhaps I address some friend whose way is especially rough. You seem to be more tried than anybody else. You reckon yourself to be more familiar with sorrow than anyone you know: affliction has marked you for its own. I pray you take home this promise to yourself by faith: the Lord saith to thee, “Thy shoes shall be iron and brass.” This special route of yours, which is beset with so many difficulties-your God has prepared you for it. You are shod as none but the Lord’s chosen are shod. If your way is singular, so are your shoes. You shall be able to traverse this thorny road-to journey along it with profit to yourself and with glory to God. For your traveling days you are well fitted, for your shoes are iron and brass.
“If the sorrows of thy case
Seem peculiar still to thee,
God has promised needful grace,
‘As thy days, thy strength shall be.'”
~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2062.cfm
He Hath Said 