‘Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think’
Ephesians 3:30
It’s one thing ‘getting right’ with God and it’s another thing ‘keeping right’ with
God practically. The man featuring in the question is marked by youth, and that in
itself can bring problems. The Apostle Paul warned Timothy to ‘flee ... youthful
lusts’. There is much along the pathway of the young Christian (and the older one
too) to distract and defile and the dangers are real. The Psalmist in the very next
clause answers the question that he has proposed – ‘by taking heed thereto according
to Thy word’. In this longest of the Psalms, the writer highlights the importance
of the Word of God. Indeed the expression ‘Thy Word’ occurs no less than 35 times!
The daily reading of Scripture cannot be over emphasised. Just two verses further
on the Psalmist wrote, ‘Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against
Thee.’
It was through a snow storm that sixteen-year-old Charles Spurgeon got save on 6th
January 1850, under the preaching of a ‘stand-in’ minister. Spurgeon was only 20,
when he took up the pastorate of London's famed New Park Street Chapel. This was
the largest Baptist congregation in London at the time. He eventually became known
as the ‘Prince of Preachers’, and was one of the great defenders of the Christian
faith. It is reported that Spurgeon's godly mother said to him, "Ah, Charles! I often
prayed the Lord to make you a Christian, but I never asked that you become a Baptist."
Spurgeon could not resist the temptation and replied with, "Ah, mother! The Lord
has answered your prayer with His usual bounty, and given you exceeding abundantly
above what you asked or thought."
