“The LORD looses the prisoners: the LORD opens the eyes of the blind: the LORD raises them that are
bowed down: the LORD loves the righteous: the LORD preserves the strangers; He relieves
the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked He turns upside down.”
Psalm 146:7-9.
Some are bowed down with bereavement. Well may she be bowed down who has just committed to the earth the beloved of her heart, and well may he go mourning whose first-born son has been taken from him by a sudden stroke. Well may some lament, who have lost the choicest friend that man ever had, and find that half their life is gone in the death of that beloved one; yet, “The Lord raises them that are bowed down.” Come; tell your grief to Him who pitied the widow at the gate of Nain. Come; pour out your sorrow before Him who wept with the beloved sisters at Bethany when Lazarus was dead. He can help you, for He “raises them that are bowed down."
Some are bowed down sadly by the burdens of life. They have more to carry than most men have. They stagger along from day to day beneath a load that threatens to crush them into the dust. Oh, come to my Lord, who gives new strength to bear burdens, for He raises up those that are bowed down! It is a wonder what a man can do when God has laid His hand on him, and said to him, “Be strong.” You are faint, and you will faint without your God, but you will be strong if you come and trust Him, for “Jehovah raises them that are bowed down.”
Maybe you are bowed down with inward distress. Ah, there is no cure for some forms of distress but to go straight away to God! The scandal of our ministry is the despondency that we cannot disperse. How often I have come down from talking with some dear friends here, whose minds have been distracted, and I have had to confess myself “dead beat.” God has helped me to comfort many; it is my lot, almost wherever I may be, to be followed by persons suffering in mind. I sometimes laugh and tell them that “birds of a feather flock together,” and that they must think me half-cracked, and so they come to me to sympathize with them. Well, so be it; there is a kind of sympathy between me and them. But I have learned this lesson, that to bring comfort to a mind diseased is not within the preacher’s power except his Master shall specially qualify him for the task; and, in any case, I say to you, dear troubled friends, go straight away to Him of whom you read these sweet words, “The Lord raises them that are bowed down.”
Have I the extreme joy, tonight, of addressing in this congregation one who is bowed down by a sense of sin? Where are you, Magdalene, hiding your face in tears? Where are you, poor erring prodigal, longing to come back to your Father, but too bowed down to start upon the journey? Listen: “The Lord raises them that are bowed down.” He loves to find the poor sinner crouching on the dunghill, putting his head into the dust in very despair of heart, and He delights to come, and put His hand upon him, and say, “Stand upon your feet; fear not.” There is a great God of mercies, who glories in doing wonders of grace, forgiving even the blackest sin. I say again, I would like to ring this text, like a silver bell, in the ears of every penitent sinner here, and say, “The Lord raises them that are bowed down.”
The Lord's Famous Titles, Sermon 2347 - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Some are bowed down with bereavement. Well may she be bowed down who has just committed to the earth the beloved of her heart, and well may he go mourning whose first-born son has been taken from him by a sudden stroke. Well may some lament, who have lost the choicest friend that man ever had, and find that half their life is gone in the death of that beloved one; yet, “The Lord raises them that are bowed down.” Come; tell your grief to Him who pitied the widow at the gate of Nain. Come; pour out your sorrow before Him who wept with the beloved sisters at Bethany when Lazarus was dead. He can help you, for He “raises them that are bowed down."
Some are bowed down sadly by the burdens of life. They have more to carry than most men have. They stagger along from day to day beneath a load that threatens to crush them into the dust. Oh, come to my Lord, who gives new strength to bear burdens, for He raises up those that are bowed down! It is a wonder what a man can do when God has laid His hand on him, and said to him, “Be strong.” You are faint, and you will faint without your God, but you will be strong if you come and trust Him, for “Jehovah raises them that are bowed down.”
Maybe you are bowed down with inward distress. Ah, there is no cure for some forms of distress but to go straight away to God! The scandal of our ministry is the despondency that we cannot disperse. How often I have come down from talking with some dear friends here, whose minds have been distracted, and I have had to confess myself “dead beat.” God has helped me to comfort many; it is my lot, almost wherever I may be, to be followed by persons suffering in mind. I sometimes laugh and tell them that “birds of a feather flock together,” and that they must think me half-cracked, and so they come to me to sympathize with them. Well, so be it; there is a kind of sympathy between me and them. But I have learned this lesson, that to bring comfort to a mind diseased is not within the preacher’s power except his Master shall specially qualify him for the task; and, in any case, I say to you, dear troubled friends, go straight away to Him of whom you read these sweet words, “The Lord raises them that are bowed down.”
Have I the extreme joy, tonight, of addressing in this congregation one who is bowed down by a sense of sin? Where are you, Magdalene, hiding your face in tears? Where are you, poor erring prodigal, longing to come back to your Father, but too bowed down to start upon the journey? Listen: “The Lord raises them that are bowed down.” He loves to find the poor sinner crouching on the dunghill, putting his head into the dust in very despair of heart, and He delights to come, and put His hand upon him, and say, “Stand upon your feet; fear not.” There is a great God of mercies, who glories in doing wonders of grace, forgiving even the blackest sin. I say again, I would like to ring this text, like a silver bell, in the ears of every penitent sinner here, and say, “The Lord raises them that are bowed down.”
The Lord's Famous Titles, Sermon 2347 - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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