Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3100
“And He shall live, and to Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be made for Him continually; and daily shall He be praised.” Psalm 72:15.
[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon upon the same verse is #717, Volume 12—PRAY FOR JESUS]
I BELIEVE we must refer the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy to the times of the latter-day Glory when Jesus Christ shall again appear upon the earth. Then “He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” Then “they that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him; and His enemies shall lick the dust.” It has been a great question as to whether Jesus Christ is to come again in Person or by His Spirit. Many passages of Scripture seem to point to His actual and Personal coming and, somehow or other, it does delight my soul to anticipate that Christ may yet come to the scene of His former battles and make it the scene of His future triumphs. I am rejoiced to think that His head, once crowned with thorns on earth, may on earth itself wear a crown of Glory and that His feet that were once wearied in His pilgrimage here with the flinty stones of Jerusalem may yet “stand on the Mount of Olives,” while He ushers in “the day of the Lord in the valley of decision.” And that His shoulders which once wore the purple robe in mockery may yet be visibly clothed with the royal attire of universal empire when “the Lord shall be King over all the earth.”
I am somewhat confirmed in this conviction by the words of the text, “And He shall live.” It does strike me that such a prophecy as that would not be necessary concerning Jesus Christ, either as God or Man, if it were not that He is again to visit the earth. It is quite certain that, as God, “He shall live,” for God over all, blessed forever, only has in Himself immortality and it is quite impossible that the Godhead should ever expire while, as Man, Jesus Christ must live, for when the just are raised, they die no more, but have life eternal—and when they ascend up into Heaven, as Jesus has done, they have a life that God confers upon them which becomes as immortal as the very life of Deity itself! So that it does appear to me that neither in respect to His Manhood or His Godhead, would it have been necessary to say, “He shall live,” unless we are to understand it in the same sense that we should read it if it was written of His first coming—He shall live as the God-Man. He shall live on earth as other men do. He shall live here below. And I do think that no exegesis can fully explain the passage unless we interpret it as to His actually living, residing here as very Man upon the earth once more.
Be that as it may, the text, we trust, has a fulfillment in your ears this night and has been, in a certain manner, fulfilled ever since the time when it was written, “to Him,” to Christ Jesus, there is “given of the gold of Sheba.” To Him prayer is also made and to Him praise continually ascends. Here are three things which are, throughout all time, even till the dawning of eternity, always to be bestowed on Christ! The first is the gift of property—the gold of Sheba. The second is the gift of prayer and the third is the gift of praise.
I. To commence with the first, I shall be allowed here to make some remarks with reference to THE PECUNIARY MATTERS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH because no man on earth will ever suspect me of making any personal allusion either to my own Church or congregation, or with regard to myself or any institution connected with this place of worship. In nothing have I to find fault with my Church and people! Let it go forth to Christendom at large that in their collections and contributions to the cause of God, they stand second to no Church beneath the blue sky. I have simply to tell them that such-and-such a thing is needed for sacred purposes—and forth comes their money. It is always
bestowed at the time it is required and, therefore, it cannot be suspected that in anything I say, there is the least allusion to them, except it be to their honor.
It is written that “to Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba.” I think that this ought continually to be impressed upon the minds of all Christians. Since Jesus Christ is the Son of God and their Savior, and has given Himself for them, they are not their own, but are bought with a price. Their possessions as well as themselves are the absolute property of their Redeemer! They have, in fact, nothing whatever in their own private right. They have made over themselves to the Lord Jesus, to have and to hold them through life and even till death and forever and ever. They are not to call their own their purse, their lands, their houses, nor anything that they have—but to give up everything to their Lord. From the moment when He Himself comes to them and unfolds their interest in His Covenant, they are henceforth to consider themselves as His servants, as His children, “having nothing, yet possessing all things,” because they have all things in Christ.