“Spiritual sorrow is the architect of the temple of praise; or at least, like Hiram, it floateth on its seas the cedars for the pillars of the beautiful house.
To appreciate mercies we must feel miseries; to value deliverance we must have trembled at the approach of destruction.
Our broken chains make fine instruments of music, and our feet just freed from fetters move right swiftly, dancing to the song: we must be glad when our bondage is yet so fresh in our memory.
Israel sang loud enough when, in the sea of Egypt, her oppressors were drowned, because she knew too well from what a thraldom she was rescued.
Shushan was glad, and rest was in the city, when the Jews had clean escaped from the wiles of Haman.
No Purim was ever kept more joyously than that first one when the gallows were still standing, and the sons of the evil counsellor yet unburied.
We may mourn through much of the long pilgrimage to heaven, but the first day is dedicated to feasting, because yesterday was spent in bondage.
Were we always mindful of the place from whence we came out, perhaps we should be always rejoicing.”
–Charles H. Spurgeon, The Saint and His Savior: The Progress of the Soul in the Knowledge of Jesus (New York: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co., 1858), 181-182.
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