CHEERING WORDS FOR THE AFFLICTED
Isaiah 43:1-3. But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, &c.
These cheering words were addressed by God to His peculiar people the Jews; but He has a peculiar people now, and all who partake of their faith and love may consider this Scripture as written for the purpose of imparting comfort and strength to their troubled hearts. It suggests four subjects for consideration: the afflictions to which the people of God are liable; the exhortation addressed to them; the promises by which it is strengthened; and the arguments by which it is enforced.
I. Compared with the miseries they have deserved, or with the weight of glory reserved for them, the afflictions of God’s people are light (H. E. I. 3703, 3704); but in other points of view, they often appear sharp and heavy. The text implies, 1, that these afflictions are certain; that they not only may come, but will come. It speaks of them as things of course (H. E. I. 47–55, 3674).
2. That they may be great; deep as rivers, dangerous as rapid torrents.
3. That they may be greatly diversified. They may be in the waters to-day, and may have deliverance, but to-morrow they may have to walk through the fire and the flame; to endure trials which are unexpected and strange, and far more severe and bitter than any they have previously experienced.
II. How suitable and encouraging is the exhortation which is here addressed to us: “Fear not.”
1. The power and greatness of Him from whom it proceeds gives to it a force which it would not otherwise possess. It comes from the only Being in the universe who can bless a sinner, or whom he has cause to fear.
2. The natural tendency of our trials is to excite fear. This fear may be innocent; it may lead us to avoid them, if God will, and if not, it will move us to circumspection and prayer. Such a fear our Saviour manifested in Gethsemane.
3. But there is a fear of another kind, and this we are here called on to lay aside: a fear which is the effect of unbelief, and the cause of murmurings, despondency, and wretchedness; a fear which tempts us to choose sin rather than affliction, which provents us from praising God under our trials, and from trusting Him to bring is out of them.
III. This exhortation God supports and strengthens by two most gracious promises.
1. He promises His own presence with us in our trials. “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee” (H. E. I. 198–202, 3677).
2. He promises us preservation under all our calamities. “When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” What does this imply? That our trials shall not injure us. In proportion as they tend to become temptations, grace will be ministered to us, and they shall not overthrow us. Nay more; the very calamities which appeared likely to destroy every spiritual grace within God’s people, to overwhelm their patience, their confidence and love, are made the very means of displaying and brightening them all (H. E. I. 204–214). By calling the suffering graces of His people into exercise, He will render them invincible. He will enable them to pass through rivers of trouble as safely as His beloved Israel passed through the Red Sea, and cause the fires of affliction to play as innocently around them as they played around His three servants in the furnace at Babylon.
IV. In the greatness of His condescension, God vouchsafes to add to His precious promises several arguments to assure us of their fulfilment.
1. The first is drawn from the relation in which He stands to us as our Creator. “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel.” He created us naturally, and has re-created His people spiritually (Isaiah 43:21; Ephesians 2:10). Here, then, is a solid ground of confidence. The Father of our spirits must be well acquainted with our infirmities and weakness (Psalms 103:13-14; Isaiah 63:9). Neither will He ever forsake the work of His own hands. He raised us out of the ruins of the Fall, made us temples in which He delights to dwell and be worshipped; and He will never suffer the structures which He has erected at so much labour and cost to be thrown down by violence, or worn away by storms (Psalms 138:8; 1 Peter 4:19).
2. The Almighty draws another argument from the property which He has in His people and the manner in which He acquired it. “Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” We are His by redemption also. And what a mighty price did He pay for us! He gave “Egypt for the ransom” of His ancient people, “Ethiopia and Seba for them.” But when we were to be redeemed, kingdoms and empires were too poor a ransom (Romans 8:32; Acts 20:28). Hence He estimates us, not by what we are, but by what we have cost Him. Will He abandon that which cost Him so dear? (Zechariah 2:8).
3. The covenant which God has formed with His people ensures the fufilment of His promises. “FOR I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour;” thus implying that He has entered into some engagement with His Israel; that He considers Himself bound to be with them in their troubles and distresses; that His own veracity and faithfulness are at stake, and would be sacrificed if Israel were forsaken or injured.
REFLECTIONS.
1. How rich in consolation is the Word of God!
2. How essential to our happiness is a knowledge of our interest in the divine promises (H. E. I. 306–308).
3. How full of confidence and praise ought they to be, who live in the enjoyment of the divine presence in the hour of trouble! It is tranquillising and sweet to have a beloved friend near us when our sorrows are multiplied upon us, but what is the presence of the dearest earthly friend, when compared with the presence of a sympathising God!
4. How blind to their own interest are they who reject the gospel of Christ!—Charles Bradley: Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 266–285.
I. The most eminent piety, the most exalted privileges, form no ground of exemption from the heaviest trials.—God, by His prophet, in this chapter multiplies descriptions of the character and dignity of His people, and yet in the same breath speaks of the severe trials that await them. The people of God have had to pass through severe trials; not merely to hear about them, &c., but to endure them. Abraham (Genesis 22:2). Jacob (Genesis 37:32). Martha and Mary (John 11:1, &c.)
1. Let us not presume upon exemption from them (H. E. I. 234–236, 3361, 3674).
2. Let us not wonder if trial increases in weight and severity. This may be intimated in the text—waters, rivers; fire, flame. There is an ascent in the path of suffering, a graduated scale of sorrow. Trials are proportioned according to our strength; to our missing the improvement of former calamities; to our insensibility to chastisements (Amos 4.)
II. The supports which God furnishes are equal to the utmost emergency in which we can be placed. “I will be with thee.” Enough!
1. Enough to temper the excess of trial, and to enable us to bear up under it. The text engages that the trial shall not reach beyond a certain point: “they shall not overflow thee.” Our supports shall be in every way equal to our necessity. Mr. Cecil says: “I shall never forget the encouragement when standing by the dying bed of my mother. I asked her, ‘Do you not tremble at entering an unknown world, not knowing what you shall meet there? ‘It is no matter what I shall meet there,’ was her answer; ‘He hath said, when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee’ ” (H. E. I. 198, 3677).
2. Enough to sanctify the calamities to the promotion of our highest interest (H. E. I. 215, 3696–3701).
III. The promise of support is as certain as the trial is inevitable (Numbers 23:19). “I will be with thee,” &c. Apprehended, this promise induces resignation, prayer, commitment to God, hope.—Samuel Thodey.
I. The character of the people to whom this promise is made. “Jacob,” “Israel.” II. What God has done for them in time past; or what are the steps which He has taken to make them what they are. He has created them; He has redeemed them; He has called them by their names. Therefore He calls them His; “Thou art mine.” III. What He promises to do for them in time to come.—Daniel Rees: Sermons, pp. 136–156.
We have here God’s redemption, calling, and adoption of His people set forth as a ground of fearlessness in danger, and of comfort in the season of greatest distress.—Charles Neat: The Protestant Preacher, vol. iii. pp. 383–390.
GROUNDS OF CONFIDENCE IN GOD
Isaiah 43:1-2. But now thus saith the Lord, &c.
I. Here we have four distinct grounds of confidence in God.
1. Our creation: “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel; fear not.”
2. Our redemption: “For I have redeemed thee.”
3. Our calling: “I have called thee by thy name.”
4. Our adoption: “Thou art mine.” Are not all these the very strongest grounds of confidence in God?
1. Shall we not trust in Him who created us? The ungodly indeed can derive no confidence from the consideration of God having formed them; their relation to Him renders their rebellion against Him an incalculable evil (H. E. I. 4488–4489). A man must be renewed and reconciled to God before his creation can be judged a proper ground of confidence in Him. But it should be rested on by those who have received the atonement. Is it possible that He who made you, and whose forfeited favour as your Creator has been restored to you, can ever leave you or forsake you? Shall He become the Father of your spirits, and suffer your spirits, and souls, and bodies to perish?
2. If creation is a ground of confidence in God to them who are reconciled to God and bear His image, what must redemption be? What a magnificence of love, grace, mercy, compassion, holiness, and justice do we behold in this wonderful transaction! Is it to be supposed that redeeming mercy, surmounting every obstacle to the salvation of a sinner, can suffer you, in all the helplessness of your corrupted nature, to be driven to and fro with every wind of passion, and at last to be destroyed for ever! No! if you would calculate the extent of the divine assistance offered to the people of God, you must calculate upon the scale of redemption (H. E. I. 4631–4632; P. D. 3204).
3. In calling you by His grace, God has given you a personal interest in the redemption of His Son, and in all the blessings of His salvation. The unspeakable condescension, friendship, and tenderness which God in this heavenly calling manifests are strikingly declared here: “I have called thee by thy name.” When you call each other by your proper names, you do not by this signify more familiarity, benignity, and confidence than God does in calling you by them. He speaks to you, as to Abraham His friend; when He addressed Abraham by name, He did not feel more love for him than He feels for you day by day, continually. Why should you fear, whom He calls by your names? He has thus made your redemption and all its blessings His personal concern.
4. He who has called you by your names has adopted you into His family. “Thou art mine,” my servant, my child, mine heir, the heir of mine everlasting kingdom. What can be a higher ground of confidence in God than adoption into His family, than the endearing and exalting relation of a child? What condescension and mercy in God, thus to select one of the tenderest relations in life, by which to illustrate the nature of His love to us! (Isaiah 49:15).
II. On these grounds God exhorts His people to display a fearless fortitude when they are exposed to trials: “Fear not.”
III. In order to render it easier for them to manifest the courage which His children may well be expected to display, He adds gracious promises which should be to them a pillar of fire, to illuminate, guide, keep, and cheer them in the wilderness, or in the deep waters, through which their passage to a better country has been marked out for them: Isaiah 43:2. Right on to the end, they shall have His presence and protection.—Miles Jackson: Sermons, vol. i. pp. 233–257.
Those relations of God to man which form the groundwork of the believer’s obligations, are in this passage adduced as the foundations of his confidence and peace; and this fact shows, further, that the two must stand or fall together. Men should think of this before they seek to lower the strict requirements of God’s law. We can only lower our estimate of what we ought to do for God, by first lowering our estimate of what God has done for us, and so stripping from our faith all that now raises it into heights above our reach, and depths beyond our fathoming. God is your Creator, Preserver, Saviour, King. These are the very grounds of the assured confidence of which the prophet speaks. Consider—
I. THE CHARGE GIVEN—“Fear not.” The quality of fear is described in the Scriptures under various aspects.
Thus it is spoken of sometimes as a feeling to be exercised. “Be not highminded, but fear;” and again as a thing to be avoided, “Fear not.” There is the coward’s fear, which cannot bear the very sight of danger. Such is the fear that makes a man shrink from examining into the true state of his soul before God, and that makes men hide from themselves the thought of death. There is another kind of fear, which never shows itself till the time of actual trial comes; beforehand, it is arrogant and boastful, but sinks into despondency and despair when it is put to the test. God’s people are free from both of these; they are deeply conscious alike of their danger and of the inadequacy of their own strength to meet it: but they stand fast, “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” A righteous, godly fear, the believer has; but the cowardice of the world, which is loud to boast, and slow to act, and quick to doubt, he must never know. It becomes neither the dignity of his calling, nor the faithfulness of his God. The believer and the unbeliever are sharply separated in respect of the objects of their fear. The timid child and the courageous man both have fear; but the one fears a shadow: the other, that which, not to fear, would show the absence of a reasonable courage.
What things ought we to fear? Shall we fear the opposition and hatred of the world; those who can injure the body, but cannot touch the soul; pain, or sickness, or temporal misfortune? Those may do so who make this world their all, but not the believer, who recognises in them the medicines of the soul. Shall we fear the devil? Not with God on our side. Or death? Not so; for it is the gate of higher life, and introduces us to life’s crown of glory. He who fears God need know no other fear. Such fear is not a base naked terror; it becomes a wondering reverence, and loses itself in love; for He is not against His people, but for them; “Fear not, for I am with thee.” But the absence of this fear makes everything else fearful.
II. THE REASON ASSIGNED. “Thou art mine.” These words were spoken to Israel after the flesh; yet, as the relations named—Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour—are not peculiar to them, but are realised by every believing heart, every believer may take to himself his share in this animating promise; for all these relations are adduced, not as reasons for anything we are to pay to God, but as reasons for that which we are to receive from Him,—they form the ground of our confidence (Psalms 119:94). The certainty of our hope does not depend on our holding God, but on God’s holding us; it is not in our power to realise His promise at all times, but we may rest on the immutability of that promise (2 Timothy 2:13). The believer’s hope is “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” To see to what a strong rock that anchor holds, turn your thoughts to the relationship spoken of in these words, “I am thy Creator, thy Redeemer, thy Saviour;” “I have called thee by thy name,” words which imply a personal, immediate interest. All is His work; the goodness which created, the grace which has quickened, corrected, strengthened, taught, sanctified, has all come from Him!
III. THE PROTECTION PROMISED (Isaiah 43:2). This does not consist of any absence of trial and danger; the expressions of the text rather imply their presence, many in number, and varied in kind (Psalms 69:1-2). No extraordinary interposition will preserve the child of God from those miseries “to which man is born as the sparks fly upwards.” The protection promised consists in the constant presence with the soul of its unseen but Almighty Saviour (Psalms 16:8; Hebrews 13:5-6).
CONCLUSION.—Contrast the condition of the believer, and of the unbeliever. Affliction is the lot of all; but while a man loses nothing, in the calculation of earthly happiness, by becoming a follower of the Saviour, in the calculation of heavenly happiness he gains all. There is more sunshine, even in this world, to the righteous than to the unrighteous. Both have to share the “ills that flesh is heir to;” but what a difference in the strength of the two to meet them! If for a moment the Christian’s heart sinks, then the promise comes back to him like a refreshing breath from above—“Fear not; for I have redeemed thee.”—Edward Garbett, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 204–222.
DIVINE CONVOY
Isaiah 43:2. When thou passest through the waters, &c.
I. THE PATHWAY THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE CALLED TO TREAD. Through waters and fires; used in the Scriptures as emblems of troubles and sorrows (Acts 14:22).
1. Temporal troubles. You can scarcely look into the narrowest circle of your acquaintance without finding sorrows, losses, cares, broils, contentions, all the fruits of sin (H. E. I. 47–51).
2. Spiritual troubles. Consciousness of utter inability to comply with the demands of the fiery law. Satan’s suggestions and temptations.
The troubles of life are—
1. to the ungodly, judicial punishments;
2. to God’s people, fatherly corrections, or trials of their faith (1 Peter 1:7; H. E. I. 66–70; 3678–3684).
II. THE UPHOLDING POWER THAT BEARS THEM ALONG. “I will be with thee.” Two views may be taken of this precious promise: there is such a thing as God being with His people, and they not knowing it; and there is such a thing as their sensible enjoyment of it.
1. God never deserts the objects of His love. But there have been many instances in which His people have had added to their trials the terrible fear that He had deserted them (Lamentations 3:8; Psalms 77:7-9; Job 23:8-9; H. E. I. 1644–1657).
2. But to those who humbly wait upon Him, He reveals His presence with them; and in that they find all they need to sustain them, and heaven begun below.
III. THE TERMINUS WHERE THE PATHWAY OF GOD’S PEOPLE WILL END. It is a mercy that the promise is “when thou passest through,” not merely into. God’s elect pass through waters and rivers, fires and flames, but they get to the other side. And what is found there? The rest that remaineth for the people of God (H. E. I. 2792, 2793; P. D. 1784).—Joseph Irons: Grove Chapel Pulpit, vol. iv. pp. 289–299.
I. THE WATERS AND RIVERS WHICH ARE IN THE CHRISTIAN’S WAY. [1393]
[1393] In most parts of our country, ingenuity and labour have been employed to lessen the fatigues and remove the dangers of travelling. Roads are cut through woods and morasses, and over mountains; inns are established; and bridges are thrown over rivers and brooks. But in countries which are thinly inhabited, or into which the improvements of modern times have not been introduced, travelling is full of danger and of toil. The stranger, if he has not a guide, is in perpetual uncertainty, is harassed by apprehensions; and if he reach his destined place, it is not till he is almost exhausted by fatigue, and after many hair-breadth escapes. At one time, he is almost faint with hunger; at another, he is parched with thirst; at another, either benumbed with the cold, or scorched by the heat, or overpowered by the severity of the storm, before he can reach a place of shelter, or find the necessary refreshments of nature. Now, he knows not at what place he shall enter the forest, to avoid being torn by the briars and thorns, or entangled in some impenetrable thicket. Then, he hesitates whether the thick mire be not too deep for him, or the marshy ground may not sink beneath his feet. In a little while he is distressed how he shall, by the best and easiest path, ascend the steep and woody mountain; or how, in descending, he shall avoid the precipices which appear below. Again, he arrives at the banks of some deep and rapid river, or approaches some torrent descending from the mountains, and swelled by the winter floods; and how he shall descend, and where he shall pass through, and whether the waters be fordable, or the streams be not too rapid, are questions which distress his mind and fill him with anxiety and fear.
Many such impediments were in the traveller’s way; and to many such hazards was he exposed in Canaan, and especially in the countries adjacent, many of which were mountainous and waste. On this account, frequent allusions to this state of things are made by the Spirit of God in scripture, especially in describing the Christian life. The Christian is represented as a man travelling through the waste howling wilderness to Immanuel’s land.… Many a mountain of difficult duty has he to ascend, and many a steep of painful suffering has he to descend on his way to his heavenly home. Many waters of deep distress, which sometimes rush unexpectedly upon him, like torrents from the mountains, and threaten to sweep him away into destruction, has he to pass through.—Peddie.
“Waters” and “rivers” are employed metaphorically in two opposite senses. Because, in a warm climate especially, waters are so necessary to allay the thirst of man, and to cool and invigorate the body enfeebled by excessive heat, and are so calculated to beautify the landscape and to diffuse fertility, everything that is comfortable and joyous is shadowed forth by “waters,” “rivers,” “streams” (Isaiah 41:18). But in other places, as here, by “waters” and “rivers” we are to understand afflictions and tribulations; because waters, which are so beneficial, when in over-abundance are so noxious; and because he who has to pass through them has a difficult and hazardous task to perform, and he who is plunged into them is in imminent risk of his life.
1. The waters of affliction are numerous. The Christian in his progress towards heaven has not one river only to pass through; there are many, including the Jordan, that lie between him and that happy land (Psalms 34:19; H. E. I. 3661, 3674).
2. They are often deep. Every stream is not a brook; there are rivers as well as rivulets; and all afflictions are not “light.” The stream is easily passed over in summer months, or when the sky is serene and settled, compared with what it is in the midst of winter, or when it overflows its banks in consequence of the descending torrents. When it goes well with the soul, and the Christian walks “in the light of God’s countenance,” and “in the fellowship of Christ,” and “in the comforts of the Holy Ghost,” the waters of trouble are easily forded; they seem not half so deep as at other times when the heavens above, as well as the things on earth, frown upon him. The union of many streams occasions a greater depth of water than can be found in any of them singly; and how deep must be the affliction of that saint who meets with combined distress of body and of soul (Psalms 42:7; Jonah 2:3).
3. They are frequently muddy. When the waters of a river are most plentiful they are usually least limpid, and the traveller who has to pass through them, besides the uneasiness which he suffers from perceiving their increased quantity, is distressed because he can neither see the bottom nor conjecture their depth. How often in times of affliction is it thus with the saints! The designs of Providence are wrapt up in obscurity. Their eye is unable to discover the reasons of the Divine controversy with them; neither can their anxious minds form any idea of that depth and severity of distress which they must yet suffer before they obtain deliverance.
4. They are in many places broad. The river is often confined by the height of its banks within a narrow channel, and whatever be the difficulty of passing through, the traveller soon reaches the further side; but at other times it spreads itself out to a great extent, and it is not till after many a weary step that he reascends to the dry land. The waters of affliction often extend over a great space (Psalms 90:15; Psalms 88:15). It is no small addition to trouble of any kind, when it is lengthened out. The soul is ready to faint because of its continuance; faith, patience, and hope are ready to die out (Psalms 13:1-2). Indeed in no case can we see the further bank of the river of trouble. A mist hangs over it. When we enter it; we can never say how long it will be before we reascend out of it. This only we know, that when the journey of life is finished, we shall be delivered out of all tribulation, and “the days of our mourning shall be ended.”
5. They are at certain seasons exceedingly rapid. They sometimes descend upon the saint with all the rapidity of a torrent, and ere he is aware he is in the midst of great distress. As in Job’s case, the messengers of woe come running unto us at a time when all is quiet, and we looked for joy (Job 30:14; Job 30:26; Job 30:31). Even when the soul enters the stream with full warning of what it is to meet with, it is often found more rapid than was supposed, and descends with a force which it is not easy to sustain (H. E. I. 54, 55).
II. THE PASSING THROUGH THE WATERS.
1. There is no getting to heaven without passing through the waters. The heavenly land, like Canaan to Abraham when he dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, “lies beyond the flood,” and through this we must pass before we can enter in and possess it. Affliction is the portion of saints in this world. Each of them in his order seems to say with Jeremiah, “I am the man that hath seen affliction.” The Great Head of the Church Himself passed through many waters of tribulation (Isaiah 53:3).
2. Some saints on their way to heaven pass through more rivers of trouble than others. Travellers who set out to the same place from different parts of the country pass through tracts different in their form and scenery, and some meet with rivers which others avoid. The Lord, in wisdom and sovereignty, diversifies the lot of His people.
3. The travellers to Zion pass through the same waters at different stages of their journey. The rivers wind. Hence they are met by the travellers from different parts at earlier or later periods, at greater or less distances. Let us not take it for granted that because we have never experienced trials against which others have had to contend, therefore we shall never meet with them.
4. Through the very same waters of affliction the Christian in his journey has often more than once to pass. We ought not to imagine that, because we have been in any particular period afflicted in a certain manner, we shall no more experience that distress. The waters through which you have already passed may wind about, and you may have to pass through them yet again. Never think yourself secure against any one trial, temptation, or affliction, while you are so far from the house of your heavenly Father.
5. The Christian, in passing through the waters and the rivers, much needs a guide and helper. Without one, he could never pass through them in safety. His own wisdom, courage, and strength are utterly unable to resist the impetuosity of the torrents that assail him. His fellow-Christians need the same assistance as himself. His help can come only from Him who says here: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.”
III. THE PROMISED PRESENCE OF GOD DURING THE CHRISTIAN’S PASSAGE THROUGH THE WATERS.
1. It is the presence of God Himself which is promised. Not merely by means of instruments. The Lord has more love to His people than to leave any of them to pass through the waters with no other comforter or helper than the best of men, or even the greatest angels. Their wisdom, power, and grace are finite, limited, and insufficient for an undertaking so arduous. He has therefore promised to be with them, and this is everything.
2. It is the special presence of God which is promised to be with them. By His essential presence God fills heaven, earth, and hell, upholding and governing all things. But if the promise has any meaning or comfort in it, it is a promise of special presence; a promise of His presence as a God of grace and love. How big with comfort, help, and deliverance is our text when thus understood! In the time of trouble, we wish our friends to be near us. Yet, often their sympathy cannot remove our anguish, nor their help effect our deliverance. But when we have God with us, He can do for us all we need.
3. It is the presence of the Lord in all distresses which is here promised. Were there one river through which a saint had to pass in which he had not reason to expect the Divine presence, he would have cause to be afraid. But as His presence is intended for the consolation and salvation of His people, the promise reaches to every kind of distress.
4. It is His presence at all times which is promised. He is not like a stranger who occasionally appears for the relief of those who are struggling with the stream, and are ready to be swept away by it. No, He abides with His people (Isaiah 54:10; Psalms 138:7).
5. The promise guarantees the presence of God with all the saints when passing through the waters. Partialities are unknown with our God. He loves all His children, and He will provide deliverance for them all. If this promise was made for any, it was for them that especially need His presence and help. The more helpless thou art in thyself, the greater is the evidence that He intended it for thee.
IV. THE HAPPY CONSEQUENCES OF GOD’S PRESENCE WITH THE SAINTS WHEN THEY PASS THROUGH THE WATERS.
1. He guides and directs them. It is His general promise to His people: “I will guide thee with mine eye;” and if there is any season in which they need Divine counsel and heavenly guidance, it is in the season of distress. But then He gives it to them as He did to Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:12; H. E. I. 176).
2. He comforts them (H. E. I. 202; P. D. 93).
3. He sanctifies to them the waters of affliction. Since God is with him, the swelling waters purify the believer, and cannot destroy him; they fit him for heaven, and cannot prevent his progress to it. Many, besides David, instead of suffering by affliction, have come up out of the waters “like flocks of sheep which go up from the washing” (H. E. I. 116).
4. He strengthens them to pass through the waters. Cry then unto Him (Psalms 20:1-2).
5. He delivers them from the waters. They cannot deliver themselves. But they are not therefore lost in the deep waters (Psalms 34:6). Deliverance comes not always as soon as they desire it; but it comes in due season; it never comes too late. In the most unexpected moment, in the most unexpected manner, He appears for their deliverance; so singular is it sometimes that they can scarcely credit it (Psalms 126:1-3). He does not always deliver them from every river into which they enter. He permits some one or other of them to carry them down the stream till they reach the waters of Jordan. But there they do not perish. He gives them victory over death, and by means of this deliverance sets them free from all their troubles.—James Peddie, D.D.: Discourses, pp. 395–424.
It is assumed that God’s people will pass through the waters and through the fire. These elements, so useful as friends, so terrible as enemies, represent trouble and distress. Water may be too deep to ford, the practised swimmer may be overpowered. Within the grasp of fire, injury, destruction, death are speedily accomplished. The sufferer is sometimes like one aroused from sleep in a burning house. Despair seizes him. Those who have no God, or whose faith fails to realise His sufficiency, relinquish effort and hope. The antidote is found in God’s all-sufficient promises. Here is one that assures believers of the Divine presence in trouble, and the Divine deliverance from it.
I. THE DIVINE PRESENCE IN TROUBLE. What is it in our nature that finds a relief in the presence of a friend in times of deepest sorrow? In the first burst of sorrow, the heart must be left alone. It prefers to be alone. The nearest earthly friend must not intrude on the sacredness of its grief. But the time comes when it craves for sympathy. The presence of a friend, even if no word is spoken, exerts the mysterious influence that brings relief and consolation. At suitable time and in suitable manner, there will be the sympathetic word. Perhaps the substantial aid. Whether or not, there will be the restful feeling of the weak when they depend upon the strong.
Your friend’s trouble may have been the hopeless ruin of his fortune. You could do nothing for him. But you made it in your way to call upon him. He will never forget it. He is sick; and time, to the sick, is weariness. You visited him. Dear to Paul the apostle were those friends who were not ashamed of his chain; who visited him in imprisonment and ministered to his wants. It is not merely that there is society to relieve the tedium of solitude, and divert attention from the presence of sorrow. Any one might do that. But more is wanted. A stranger, or one to whom the sufferer is personally indifferent, could not convey the mysterious influence that has help and comfort in it. The comfort comes from the consciousness that the presence is that of a friend.
Now, God is the best of friends. It is the privilege of believers to call Him friend. By faith their sins are forgiven. They are reconciled to Him. By His grace they are born again. The old enmity of their hearts is abandoned. Its place has been taken by love. Fellowship with God is the Christian’s joy. His friendship reflects glory on those who are honoured with it. It is this Friend who says, “When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee.” We cannot see Him. Sight is not necessary to the conscious presence of even an earthly friend. The room may be dark, not a word may be spoken, not a sound heard; but we feel that he is there; the influence is the same as if we saw him. God’s conscious presence fills the soul with faith, hope, peace. It is the consciousness of love and sympathy. It is the invisible, secret, gentle power of His Spirit that gives calmness and strength while trouble is pressing most heavily, and while external circumstances are the most distressing. “I will be with thee” (H. E. I. 198, 3677).
II. THE DIVINE DELIVERANCE FROM TROUBLE. If the believer is called to pass through the waters, they shall not overflow him; if he is called to walk through the fire, he shall not be burned, nor shall the flames kindle upon him. Trouble may come: but he shall be brought through at the last. It may seem like a miracle. It is like saying the action of fire and water shall be so controlled that their natural result shall not follow. No difficulty, no trouble is so great that the Lord cannot effect a deliverance; in some unexpected way deliverance shall come. The day is overcast with gloomy clouds; the atmosphere is depressed; the rain comes in torrents; the wind sweeps down houses and trees before it; universal wreck seems impending; when unexpectedly the storm abates, wind and rain cease, the clouds separate, a genial warmth is diffused, the sun shines out, the storm is forgotten. “All things work together for good to them that love God.” He suffers His people to pass through fire and water, not only that He may display His power and love in their deliverance, but often, because the fire and the water lie in their way to some good exceeding what they have ever enjoyed; which, without it, could not have been reached. Sickness is sometimes the pathway to health; temporal calamity to prosperity; sorrow to established Christian character; spiritual distresses to a profounder realisation of spiritual blessings. The cross prepares for the crown. Death is the gate of life.
Oh, how many such deliverances are recorded in the sacred history! Joseph from prison. The bush burned, but was not consumed. The children of Israel through the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan. Daniel from the lions’ den. The three Hebrew youths in the furnace of fire; but there was one with them “like the Son of God, and therefore upon their bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed.” Fire cannot burn, water cannot drown those whom the Lord preserves. Nothing can prevent the fulfilment of His word.
Consider the grounds on which your confidence may repose—
1. His purpose. The salvation of His people from every evil is part of His redeeming plan. Everything is subordinate to this. Hindrances have been swept away. He has spared no expense. “I gave Egypt for thy ransom. Ethiopia and Seba for thee.” He gave His Son.
2. His faithfulness. You can plead His word of promise. The truth of His nature is pledged. He will do as He has said.
3. His love. Is He not thy Father? He loves His children. His heart is set on their salvation. Will not love do all that is necessary?
4. His power. He can sweep away all material and spiritual hindrances that lie in the way. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
But there must be faith. God’s promises are made to faith. The blessing is according to faith. Let your mind rest in the promises in every time of distress, whatever its nature, assured that either He will remove it or overrule it, so that a blessing shall come through it. If there are losses, disappointments, bereavements, soul-troubles, the solemn hour of death, His presence, and His delivering power shall be the sufficient antidote.—J. Rawlinson.
God’s grace never shines so brightly as when it shines through the cloud of His people’s sins. Nor does it ever appear so glorious as when displayed in the depth of their unworthiness. When nature is at the lowest, grace is generally at the highest. When God has threatened His people for their sins, or chastened them for their follies, He then generally steps in with some revelation of His grace, or makes some precious promise. This was the case with Israel of old, whom God had visited with sore and terrible judgments; and then, instead of utterly consuming them, He comes forward and says, “When thou passest,” &c.
I. THE PILGRIM’S PAINFUL LOT. He has to pass through deep, sore, and successive trials. Persecution, temptations, conflict within. Temporal trials: losses, crosses, disappointments, and vexations. The fire tries the metal, and separates it from the dross, &c. So the believer’s trials refine him, &c.
II. THE LORD’S GRACIOUS PROMISE. “I will be with thee.” Nothing is so much needed, nothing so much prized by the believer in affliction, as the presence of God.
1. To direct thy steps, for I know all the way.
2. To strengthen thy faith, for I know how weak and feeble it is.
3. To cheer thy heart, for I know all thy sorrows.
4. To secure thy benefit, for I will surely do thee good.
5. To bring thee safely through all, and lead thee safe to glory.
CONCLUSION.—Our trials will sweeten home. Heaven will make amends for all. Whatever happens, God is still our Father, and we are His beloved children.—James Smith.