the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Self-Seeking
Spurgeon's Illustration Collection
or
A certain king had a minstrel whom he commanded to play before him. It was a day of high feasting; the cups were flowing and many great guests were assembled. The minstrel laid his fingers among the strings of his harp, and woke them all to the sweetest melody, but the hymn was to the glory of himself. It was a celebration of the exploits of song which the bard had himself performed, and told how he had excelled high-born Hoel's harp, and emuted soft Llewellyn's lay. In high-sounding strains he sang himself and all his glories. When the feast was over, the harper said to the monarch, 'O king, give me thy guerdon; let the minstrel's mede be paid.' Then the monarch replied, 'Thou hast sung unto thyself, pay thyself; thine own praises were thy theme; be thyself the paymaster.' The harper cried, 'Did I not sing sweetly? O king, give me thy gold!' But the king answered, 'So much the worse for thy pride, that thou shouldst lavish such sweetness upon thyself. Get thee gone, thou shalt not serve in my train.'
If a man should grow grey-headed in the performance of good works, yet when at the last it is known that he has done them all for himself, that he may be honoured thereby, his Lord will say, 'Thou hast done well enough in the eyes of man, but so much the worse, because thou didst it only to thyself, that thine own praises might be sung, and that thine own name might be extolled.'
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Spurgeon, Charles. Entry for 'Self-Seeking'. Spurgeon's Illustration Collection. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/fff/s/self-seeking.html. 1870.
