August 20

But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. - Isaiah 49:14.

WE have here a mournful complaint. Let us trace it up to its source. There is a philosophical notion prevailing, and which is of a semi-infidel complexion, which supposes that the providence of God is general and not particular. It supposes that the Deity is engaged in managing concerns of whole worlds and systems at large, and regardless of individuality. As if it were beneath God to provide for what it was not beneath God to produce. But he who wings an angel guides a sparrow; and the mite lives by him as well as the elephant; and the glowworm shines by him as well as the sun. “He clothes the grass of the field,” and “the very hairs of our head are all numbered.” It is not, however, a philosophical notion, but a religious despondency, that thus affects Christians now, as it did the Church of old, and by whom the complaint was made.

First, This despondency arises from unbelief or weakness of faith. Faith may be real, and yet weak, and very weak too. Our Saviour said to his disciples, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Our comfort must always be therefore according to our faith. “In whom,” says Peter, “believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

There is always consolation here: in God’s “riches of glory by Christ Jesus;” but these can only be apprehended by faith. There is always fruit enough on the tree of life, but faith is the hand by which alone we can gather it. There is always water enough in the wells of salvation, but by faith we must draw it; so true is the language of the prophet: “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.”

Secondly, It arises from ignorance. This is very distinguishable from the former; a man may believe as far as his knowledge extends. There are persons who have a very defective acquaintance with the grounds of a sinner’s acceptance in the Beloved, and of the efficacy of the Saviour’s blood to cleanse from all sin, and of the perfection of his righteousness as entitling us to everlasting glory, and of the permanency of the everlasting covenant, “ordered in all things and sure,” and which places outstanding more secure than it was before we fell.

“More happy, but not more secure,

The glorified spirits above.”

Now, although it will be allowed that the believer’s safety does not depend upon the degree of his religious knowledge, yet his comfort must always be very materially influenced by it; and this is a reason why it is “a good thing for the heart to be established with grace.”

Thirdly, It arises from desertion. There is a suspension of Divine manifestations. Jonah felt this when in the belly of the fish: “Then I said lam cast out of thy sight.” “The Lord hath forsaken me,” says the Church here.

Fourthly, It arises from the conflicting troubles of life; although these indeed might, if viewed properly, be considered as proofs that God has not forsaken and has not forgotten us; “for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” But so it is that in our afflictions, and when they are various, and numerous, and some of them inexplicable, then we are ready to say-

“If I am his why am I thus?”

The fact is, all suffering is the consequence of sin, and therefore naturally reminds us of it. It seems to indicate wrath, and therefore we pray, “Do not condemn me.” God is the source of light and comfort; and when there is no light and comfort with us, it is not so easy to persuade ourselves that God is with us. “If he be with us,” said Gideon, “why then has all this evil befallen us?” When “deep calleth unto deep,” it is no easy thing for the Christian to possess the “peace which passeth all understanding.”

Lastly, It arises from the delay of God in the accomplishment of prayer. “God is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness.” He always has a time of his own, and this is the best time; and he never goes beyond this time; but then we expect him at an earlier time; and so when he does not come, or come so soon, we are surprised and confounded, and “hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” Blessed are all they that wait for him. “It is a good thing for a man both to hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”

We should always learn to distinguish between the acceptance of prayer and the answer to prayer. God always immediately hears the prayer of faith, but he does not always immediately answer it. He waits to be gracious.