| commanded 1 Kings 17:9 From Charles Spurgeon: "A second truth we learn from the text is the doctrine of the secret operations of God upon the human heart. This is illustrated here, for we read, 'I have commanded,' and yet we do not find that the Lord had spoken a single word to this woman, certainly not by Elijah, and I do not know that there was any other prophet at that time within reach of her. No command had been given, and yet God said, 'I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.' She does not appear to have been at all aware that she was to feed a prophet. She went out that morning to gather sticks, not to meet a guest. She was thinking about feeding her son and herself upon the last cake; certainly she had no idea of sustaining a man of God out of that all but empty barrel of meal. Yet the Lord, who never lieth, spoke a solemn truth when he said, 'I have commanded a widow woman there.' He had so operated upon her mind that he had prepared her to obey the command when it did come by the lip of his servant the prophet. Even thus, and blessed be God for this comforting truth, long before the minister is sent to preach the gospel, God prepares the hearts of men to receive the word; long before the actual living message comes as a matter of instruction to them, there have been secret operations, both of providence and of grace, which have been making ready a people prepared of the Lord, who shall be called in the day of his power." (June 21, 1868, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 14) |