ASSURANCE AMID THE RISING TIDE

Though this month our sights are being set very high, we cannot disregard the morass of evil through which we travel. For us the heavens are bright, but the earth is dark and the sky is red. Thank God for a glorious prospect and a blessed hope. This psalm is fittingly a follow-up of Psalm 93, for it presents the floods, 93. 3, and the mighty One, v. 4. A reading of verses 3-11 truly pictures the conditions through which we are now passing, and which will worsen as the days go by. Note the moral landslide and the total disregard of God in verses 3-7. Today’s distresses only foreshadow die coming great tribulation, but our hope is not from the earth-level but from the sky-level. We note the cry of the righteous, vv. 1, 2, and the cognisance of God, vv. 8-11. He that sitteth in the heavens shall have them in derision.

There are words of uplift for us, however, as skies darken above us and world conditions worsen. On earth there are masses of ungodly men, described in the psalm as proud, wicked, arrogant, workers of iniquity, brutish, foolish, yet God has His eye on those referred to in the psalm as “thy people”, “thine heritage”, “the upright”.

Here and there in these verses there are jewels of truth for us. Note the promise of Serenity amidst the dangers in verses 47; to those responding to the control of the Lord, and who answer to His teaching, there is the promise of “rest from the days of adversity”, vv. 12, 13. In verses 14, 15, His people are given the assurance of Security. “The Lord will not cast off his people” or “forsake his inheritance”; and the “upright in heart” will follow a straight path. When oppression arises, divine Support is granted, vv. 16-19, for His mercy holds us and His comforts delight the soul. The underlying thought of the word “delight” is “His comforts cuddle my soul”; what a warming truth, reminding us of the promise in Isaiah 40. 11. Then finally in verse 22 is the present reality of the Lord’s Salvation. When viewed by the enemy, v. 21, it may seem that God the Mighty One is inaccessible, but He is in reality available. Though earthly prospects are dim, we truly have all things and abound.

If clouds are lowering, fix your eyes on the silver lining.