A Song, A Solace, A Sermon, and a Summons (S787)

Spurgeon closes a year with a sermon taken from the refrain of Psalm 136: “For his mercy endures forever.” In trademark style, and with the meaning of his text lying on the surface and requiring little explanation, as well as picking up hints and ideas from the rest of the psalm, Spurgeon turns the sermons into a developed meditation and application. He takes the phrase as a song of praise; as a solace with regard to the past, the present, and the future; as a sermon with three points; and, briefly, as a summons to come to the Lord for the mercy held out. For preachers, it shows us an inventive way of handling a text—Spurgeon uses the key phrase as a way of harnessing the whole psalm, giving him scope at the end of the year to range over a wide area. For hearers and readers, it covers so much territory, for the minister turns it to various uses, exhorting, rebuking, comforting, instructing, calling. It need not be a year end for us to derive much benefit from Spurgeon’s consideration of God’s enduring mercy, for this is a theme we need at all times.

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