Comforted by God's Judgments
Rays of comfort begin to steal into the psalmist's heart. Thou hast caused me to hope; this is my comfort in my affliction; thy statutes have been my songs; at midnight I will rise to give thanks. Often prayer clears itself as it proceeds. It is the repeated testimony of all who have become proficient in the art of prayer that the seasons which begin with a struggle against depression, gloom, and the sense of absence, end in triumphant joy. Jeremy Taylor puts it thus: “So have I seen a lark rising from his bed of grass and soaring upward, singing as he rises, and hoping to get to heaven and climb above the clouds; but the poor bird was beaten back by the loud sighings of an eastern wind, his motion became inconstant and irregular, till the little creature was forced to sit down and pant, and stay till the storm was over; and then it made a prosperous flight, and did rise and sing, as if it had learned music and motion from an angel, as he was passing through the air about his ministries of mercy.”