Elijah in the Wilderness

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon

1 Kings 19:3-18

And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.…

I. ELIJAH'S WEAKNESS.

1. He was a man of like passions with us. He failed in the point wherein he was strongest, as Abraham, Moses, Job, Peter, and others have done.

2. He suffered from a terrible reaction. Those who go up go down.

3. He suffered grievous disappointment, for Ahab was still under Jezebel's sway, and she was seeking his life.

4. His wish was folly: "O Lord, take away my life." He fled from death, and yet prayed for death! He was never to die. How unwise are our prayers when our spirits sink.

5. His reason for the wish was untrue.

II. GOD'S TENDERNESS TO HIM.

1. He allowed him to sleep. This was better than medicine, or inward rebuke, or spiritual instruction.

2. He fed him with food convenient and miraculously nourishing.

3. He made him "perceive" angelic care: "An angel touched him."

4. He allowed him to tell his grief (ver. 10). This is often the readiest relief. He stated his case, and in doing so eased his mind.

5. He revealed Himself and His ways. The wind, earthquake, fire, and still small voice were voices from God.

6. He told him good news: "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel." His sense of loneliness was thus removed.

7. He gave him more to do — to anoint others, by whom the Lord's purposes of chastisement and instruction should be carried on.Let us learn some useful lessons.

1. It is seldom right to pray to die. We may not destroy our own lives, nor ask the Lord to do so.

2. For the sinner t is never right to seek to die; for death to him is hell!

3. For the saint it is allowable only within bounds.

4. When we do wish to die, the reason must not be impatient, petulant, proud, insolent.

5. We have no idea of what is in store for us in this life. We may yet see the cause prosper and ourselves successful.

6. In any case, let us trust in the Lord and do good, and we need not be afraid.

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