Succor in sorrow.
It is bad indeed for us when our best friends become our worst enemies. Fire and water are two of our best friends so long as we have them under control: they warm, cleanse, nourish, fertilize, convey. But when they gain the mastery' over us they overturn and. consume, they injure and destroy both property and life; they thus become striking illustrations as well as fruitful sources of trial and distress.
I. THE GREATER AFFLICTIONS OF HUMAN LIFE. The terms of the text point to the larger rather than the lesser troubles through which we pass; though even the vexations and annoyances to which we are daily subject are experiences in which we need to summon our higher principles if we would act rightly and live acceptably to God our Saviour. But it is the sterner sorrows, the more serious calamities, which most imperatively demand all the resources at our command. We pass through the waters, we walk through the fire:
1. When heavy losses reduce our possessions and make us face narrowness of means, hard toil, or dependence on the charity of men.
2. When grievous disappointment overtakes us, extinguishing the bright hopes by which our path had been lighted and our hearts had been animated and sustained.
3. When sickness assails us, and our strength fails, and we lie long on the couch of helplessness or pain.
4. When bereavement throws its dark shadow on our homeward way.
5. When the failure of those from whom we looked for good or even great things sends a pang through our soul.
II. THE TRUE REFUGE OF THE SORROWFUL. "God is our Refuge … a very present Help in trouble." He is "the Lord our God … our Saviour." We may count on:
1. His sympathizing presence. "I will be with thee." Our Divine Friend will be with us, so that we shall be able to feel that he is looking upon us with tender and pitiful regard.
2. His limiting power. The rivers may rise high, but they shall "not overflow" the man whom God is befriending. His hand is on the adverse forces which oppress us, and there is a mark beyond which he will see that they do not come.
3. His sustaining grace. The fire may rage around his children, but such will be the resisting strength within that they "will not be burned." Their faith and love will not fail; they will triumph, in spirit, over the worst distresses.
III. THE CONDITIONS WHICH GOD REQUIRES. It is not every man, however he may stand with the Supreme, who may confidently count on this Divine succour. There must be:
1. Acceptance with God. God must be our God; Jesus Christ our Saviour; his service our portion. God makes no such promise as this to those who stand stubbornly aloof in waywardness or rebelliousness of spirit. It is his children who have a place of refuge (Proverbs 14:26). There must be also:
2. Submission of heart to his will.
3. Appeal for his help. "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee," etc. (Psalms 50:15).—C.