Thou Art My God
There are times in every life when everything seems tottering to its fall. Nothing is fixed, nothing sure, and every new thought brings only another possibility of ill. Times of national crisis, and of commercial panic; times of overwhelming grief. Hopes are all gone… The sick, faint heart sees only desolation everywhere, past all avoidance, past all remedy. Then blessed is the man who knows what it is to hide himself in God; to come out of the toss of the storm,and to rest in this: "Thou art my God." For then can he say, "Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear… For in the time of trouble shall He hide me in His pavilion… therefore will I sing unto the Lord" (Psalm27:3, 5-6).
It is in the day of trial and difficulty that the soul experiences something of the deep and untold blessedness of being able to count on God. It is not in gliding along the surface of a tranquil lake that the reality of the Master’s presence is felt, but actually when the tempest roars and the waves roll over the ship.
The Lord does not hold out to us the prospect of exemption from trial and tribulation-quite the opposite. He tell us we shall have to meet both the one and the other; but He promises to be with us in them, and this is infinitely better. God’s presence in the trial is much better than exemption from the trial. The sympathy of His heart with us is sweeter far than the power of His hand for us. The Master’s presence with His faithful servants while passing through the furnace was better far than the display of His power to keep them out of it (Daniel 3).
