A Friend in Adversity
Sabbath, July 9
"I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy: for You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities." (Psalm 31:7)
There are many "fair-weather friends" in this world; but the Lord is not one of them. He is not one who is friendly in our prosperity, but who does not know us in adversity.
Yet many people regard Him as such, thinking and saying when trouble comes that God has forgotten them. He cannot forget us in affliction, because He himself suffers it.
It is not merely that He shares our affliction; the case is just the reverse; all trouble comes primarily on the Lord, and when we suffer we but share a portion of His suffering. Assured that God knows us in adversity, we may be unmoved though supposed friends know us not.
Set at Liberty
Sunday, July 10
"You have not shut me up into the hands of the enemy; You have set my feet in a large room." (Psalm 31:8)
The Lord delights in liberty, and never deprives anybody of it. It is Satan that keeps a prison; the Lord has none. Moreover, it is absolutely impossible for the enemy to shut up anybody against his will; for nothing can succeed except what the Lord does, and He, instead of shutting people up, opens the prison doors. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17)
And His Spirit is everywhere: "Where shall I go from your spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall your hand lead me, and your right hand shall hold me." (Psalm 139:7-10)
God fills all things: "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." (Jeremiah 23:24)
Therefore the soul that dwells in God has unlimited room.
Mercy in Time of Trouble
Monday, July 11
"Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble." (Psalm 31:9)
This is our recommendation to the mercy of the Lord. It is our rags, our filth, our hunger, our sickness, and our forsaken condition that plead for us with Him; and no such plea is ever made in vain. "The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." (James 5:11)
And where He sees affliction, He is always "moved with compassion." (Mark 6:34)
If we are in trouble and distress, then we may be sure that the Lord is more attentive to us, if possible, than at any other time. "[He] comforts us in all our tribulation." (2 Corinthians 1:4)--Medical Missionary, Daily Bread, July 1904--Psalm 31:7-9.